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Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy
I love the teachings of the "original" Buddha, I sort of despise the people that turn to buddhism as a "cop-out" from this world...
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Buddhism is one of the few religions where it's okay to be an atheist. Buddhism doesn't find worship of and belief in "gods" as useful vehicles for its main objective--liberation from samsara (the meaningless and endless cycle of birth and rebirth)
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If atheism is the absence of belief in gods, then many Buddhists are, indeed, atheists.
Buddhism is not about either believing or not believing in God or gods. Rather, the historical Buddha taught that believing in gods was not useful for those seeking to realize enlightenment. In other words, God is unnecessary in Buddhism. For this reason, Buddhism is more accurately called nontheistic than atheistic.
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Source:
http://buddhism.about.com/od/basicbu...dhaatheism.htm
That said, traditional Buddhism as practiced by MOST of its adherents (not New Age westerners) doesn't look or feel any different from most other religions and superstitions. A shame really since classical Buddhism was one of the earliest psychology-centered explorations into human nature and self-therapy. In order for most religions to spread, it by necessity has to incorporate many local pre-existing beliefs and paradigms. Another example: Taoism as taught by Lao Tzu and how it is practiced now. Many would argue the same about Christianity and they would be right if the focus is on Catholicism. However, if the Bible is used as a basis for philosophical purity, limiting interpretation within its pages offers some limits to the theological "crawl" I mentioned above.