[Buddha-l] RE: Problems with karma

[Bob Zeuschner]

This doesn't beg the question, it "raises the question".

 > curt wrote:
 >
 >>> Of course all of this begs the real question: why are poor people
 >>> poor, enslaved people enslaved, etc? Those who wish to pooh-pooh the
 >>> "they deserve it because of bad karma from past lives" theory should
 >>> be ready to provide some explanation of their own, or else it is
 >>> merely an exercise in darkness cursing.


And, no one in non Hindu worlds has ever needed an untestable "law of 
karma" to explain why some people are enslaved.
Bigger, more powerful groups of people enslaved them. For what reason? 
Several different reasons. They lost in battle and were enslaved. They 
could be used as cheap labor to make others wealthy. They were 
considered less than human, etc. etc.

For me, the big problem with the "law of karma" (besides the fact that 
it is not empirical) is that it ensures that there is justice no matter 
what.
If you rape and kill people and don't get caught, we don't have to 
worry. You will pay for it in your next life.
If you start a war where hundreds of thousands die needlessly, we don't 
have to worry. You will pay for it in your next life.
We don't need courts, or police.
If I am shot while driving on the L.A. freeway, it was my karma and I 
deserved it. Why bother to look after the shooter?

I teach karma as an important part of early Buddhism, but I personally 
do not consider it essential to Buddhist philosophy or Buddhist ethics.
It just seems to be wishful pre-scientific thinking.
Bob
Dept. of Philosophy