[Buddha-l] Moralistic Therapeutic Buddhism?

[curt]

I'm shocked, shocked to learn that adolescent members of the <fill in 
the blank> Religion have, at best, a rudimentary understanding of the 
teachings of their own Religion. What is this this world coming to?

The article does make for some interesting reading. For instance there 
is this (unintentional) gem:

"The kind of responses found among many teenagers indicates a vast 
emptiness at the heart of their understanding."

Holy crap - these kids are Mahayana Buddhists and don't even know it 
(that's the best kind)!

Other horrifying findings in the article:

Christian teenagers know a lot about "their favorite musicians and 
television stars" but "are not very clear on who Moses and Jesus were" 
(Didn't they open for Black Sabbath back in the 70's?)

Most Christian teenagers have rarely if ever "discussed a theological 
issue with an adult".

Christian teenagers are "heavily influenced by the ideology of 
individualism."

Many Christian teenagers "go so far as to suggest that there are no 
'right' answers in matters of doctrine and theological conviction."

Clearly we are living in the Endtime, brothers and sisters. Let us pray.

- Curt

Michael LaTorra wrote:

>Benito Carral <bcarral at kungzhi.org> wrote:
>  
>
>>So if one wants to take some Buddhist techniques out
>>of  context  and use them for making easier his life in
>>Samsara,  that's  OK for me, but it's not fair nor wise
>>to call it "Buddhism." Buddhism is not a kind of Prozac
>>for making easier our samsaric existence.
>>    
>>
>
>
>Benito's statement reminds me of the issue now roiling the American Christian 
>community. A recent study found that most adolescent Christians (and probably 
>many of their parents) neither know nor care about the particular doctrines of 
>their Christian denomination or of Christianity in general. Rather, they 
>believe -- or want to believe -- in something less stringent and, dare I say, 
>less filled with highly implausible dogmas.
>
>Below is the opening couple of paragraphs from one article on this topic, 
>along with the URL/link to the entire piece.
>
>
>"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--the New American Religion 
>http://tinyurl.com/cy9yt
>Monday, Apr. 18, 2005
>
>"When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of 
>Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a 
>close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found 
>that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something 
>the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism." 
>
>"As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of 
>beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and 
>watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and 
>fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 
>3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself." 
>4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when 
>God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they 
>die."
>
>"That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. 
>After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the 
>researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith 
>and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever." ....
> 
>
>
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Michael LaTorra
>
>mlatorra at nmsu.edu
>
>Department of English
>New Mexico State University
>MSC 3E
>PO Box 30001
>Las Cruces, NM 88003
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>  
>