[Buddha-l] Speaking of tests...

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Thu, 2005-10-13 at 17:51 -0700, Franz Metcalf wrote:

> I liked the previous tests, but the "Belief-o-Matic" really knocked my 
> spiritual socks off. Indeed, I can't decide which freaks me out more: 
> that Mainline Protestantism outscored Theravada Buddhism, or all of 
> these and MORMONISM outscored Mahayana Buddhism.

If it's any consolation to you, it was Mainline to Liberal Protestantism
that scored above Theravada. That is not surprising to me at all,
perhaps Liberal Protestantism eschews creeds and dogma, downplays the
importance of salvation through the crucifixion of Jesus and stresses
instead the example of Jesus as a human being, emphasizes social and
economic justice and personal moral integrity, respects science and
shows complete acceptance of other religions. It was against Liberal
Protestantism that Fundamentalism began to define itself

>From what I have seen of you, you have Liberal Protestant written all
over you. And I'd guess that the orthodoxy and rigidity of Theravada
puts you off a bit, as a result of which it's not surprising it comes in
below Liberal Protestantism in your scale of values. It also does not
surprise me at all that Mahayana comes out pretty low in your scale of
priorities. 

As for Mormonism scoring as high as it did, I think you had better
consider going to a psychoanalyst immediately. 

> 1. 	Unitarian Universalism (100%)
> 2. 	Secular Humanism (86%)
> 3. 	Liberal Quakers (85%)
> 4. 	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (83%)
> 5. 	Theravada Buddhism (74%)
> ...
> 10. 	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (48%)
> 11. 	Mahayana Buddhism (46%)
> ...
> 25. 	Eastern Orthodox (15%)
> 26. 	Islam (15%)
> 27. 	Roman Catholic (15%)
> 
> Or perhaps the scariest result of all: my top three and my placement 
> for Mahayana Buddhism are exactly the same as Richard Hayes's.

That IS sobering. Maybe instead of seeing a psychoanalyst, suicide is in
order. It's cheaper.

-- 
Richard Hayes