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So, would you agree with the statement: "absolute truth doesn't exist" ? Yes, I agree, religion is a "cultural universal" throughout human history. So why, out of the hundreds if not thousands of historical religions, do you, Juantoo, choose Christianity? Were you born into Christianity...

Robert Solomon has a nice lecture on Neitzxche's view of nihilism: Nietzsche on Nihilism and the Death of God (Existentialism: 10 of 24) - YouTube Actually, Solomon's entire lecture series on Existentialism is worth watching, IMHO.

Good points about truth as a moving target. How does one know when one has discovered "truth"? You say for you truth = real/reality. Let's consider the example of Santa Claus and a little kid. Everyone the kid trusts tells him that Santa is real. In addition to what he is told by those he...

Self-fulfilling prophecy? Power of positive thinking? As kids, my mom always used to tell us, if we were complaining about going on a particular (long) car trip: if you think this trip is not going to be fun, it won't be. If you think this trip will be fun, it will be. I am amazed how often...

Hi Juantoo, I can't speak for Radar, and I suppose his quote would depend on one's definition of "reality". But the idea I agree with is that science isn't about discovering "absolute truth". I have not yet met a scientist that claims to have used the scientific method to discover an "absolute...

How does a person know a right teaching from a wrong teaching? If God says homosexuality is to be punished by death (Leviticus 20:13), does it have to be that way? If God says bastards cannot enter into the congregation of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:2), does it have to be that way? My old...

This is an interesting question. It reminds me of the movie, "The Invention of Lying", with Ricky Gervais, have you seen it? Even just watching that trailer again makes me think about just how much modern humans don't tell the "whole truth" in our day-to-day lives. Also some interesting...

Hi Vaj, thanks for the insight. Do you have any particular suttas or other literatre that are a good reference for the Buddha teaching not to take the nihilistic view? It is indeed challenging to view Buddhism from within the confines of a different system (Christianity, which I no longer...

Am I the only one that struggles with the (apparent) existential nihilism of Buddhism? OK, let's say my children attain enlightenment someday. How is that end-state of Nibbana (freedom from suffering) any different than if they had never been born in the first place? i.e. why should they go...

IG's assumptions in this discussion: 1.) the bible was written by humans with no divine intervention 2.) Saltmeister's "divine spark" theory assumes some sort of divine intervention or divine choosing or choosing the divine 3.) the "chosen" people in the bible are only "chosen" because they are...

Well, in 4 decades of life I have no evidence of God's personal revelation to me. And believe me when I say I used to ask for a revelation back when I was a Christian. I think your opinion (of direct revelation = not needing interpretation) can lead to some pretty whacko stuff, after all many...

You seem to be coming from a belief in rebirth with this statement. However, many Buddhists don't believe in so-called literal rebirth, so your statement would not apply in that case, correct? If indeed SG believes in so-called literal rebirth, do you think each human birth is actaully a...

How is birth "lucky" if suffering is inevitable? Even though you learn the Dhamma you are suffering (Dukkha), which in the end outweighs the learning part unless you attain Nibbana, does it not? Otherwise, if being born as a human is very lucky, why would Buddhists ever want to put an end to...

I'm exploring some Buddhist beliefs, which at times seem a little nihilistic to me. For example, why would a person that truly believed in the Buddhist teaching of the Four Noble Truths ever bring children into this world? Wouldn't that be knowingly inflicting suffering on another sentient...

Most Christians that I know see it as much more than that. Your "divine sparks" theory doesn't hold water if the bible is simply a history book with some genealogy thrown in.

Allelyah - where are you from? Is English your first language?

You also have evidence of yourself. So faith/belief in yourself, which you have evidence of, is not the standard definition of "faith" as used when describing religion/spirituality. Do Luciferians have "faith" in anything supernatural, of which there is no concrete evidence? I think there is...

faith in what, exactly? I have always identified faith (belief without evidence) with theism not agnosticism. Can you please give 2 examples of this, where something in the SU is as real as things in the OU?

Would you then have to impose that social moral standard on other Luciferians that didn't agree? Wouldn't that be going against those other Luciferians' will? My understanding of what you've said in this thread is that Luciferianism is about the individual's freedom of will. (my will be done)...

"all that good stuff" that is a product of your mind, as you have said before. Maybe your definition of agnostic is different than mine. I don't know any agnostics that believe in supernatural powers, do you believe in actual supernatural powers that exist in the OU?