[Buddha-l] Buddhists taking a stand against Islamaphobia
Erik Hoogcarspel
jehms at xs4all.nl
Mon Aug 6 03:52:02 MDT 2012
r
Op 06-08-12 09:37, James A Stroble schreef:
>>
>>> ... Both Christianity and Islam
>>> reject forced conversion, ...
>> (snip)
>> massacred
>> Really? Perhaps they reject forced conversation in theory, but
>> practice is something else entirely. A non-Muslim who openly
>> practices her or his religion in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
>> Sudan, or Afghanistan will encounter quite a bit of coercion.
>>
>> Voluntarily,
>>
>> Greg
>>
> In theory? No, in doctrine. Yes, various religions, especially
> monotheistic ones it seems, do apply various forms of pressure to
> convert. But the point is that force cannot produce belief. Yes,
> confession, or a pledge of allegience, but not actual belief. That is
> what Dharma is, actual belief, on the basis of one's own investigation.
> Which is why the Abrahamic religions have to reject forced conversion,
> since such a conversion for whatever external motivation (join our
> religion now and get as free toaster! Limited time offer!) is not a
> sincere expression of belief, not an actual testimony of a subjective
> assertation of a judgement of truth, and so not an actual
> "conversion".
I don't know which history books you have studied, but my books tell me
that King Clovis converted his subjects to Christendom 'by the sword'.
That means that you could choose between conversion or getting your head
chopped off. And if you think that you are allowed not to be a Muslim in
Mekka, try to eat a sandwich in the street during Ramadan.
Dharma has many meanings, but the way you use it here it means not
belief, but the universal law (according to). So Bauddha dharma is the
way the Buddha saw the universe. It is not belief, because it works
whether you believe it or not. The Buddha never said you have to believe
him, he encouraged people to try it out, to falsify him. Quite to the
contrary of Moses who had everybody massacred who didn't dig his
commandments. The Christians moreover had their original sin as a
coercive force, because everybody who is not baptised or believe goes to
hell at death. Read Dante! Even if you believe you are not certain
according to the Christian theologians. Your picture of Christian
missionaries as giving the creed to aboriginals as a present or free
offer is what modern Christians like to think and what Mormon preachers
say, but even now they use a lot of 'bribes' and seduction in Mongolia.
Remember that Christian missionaries where kicked out of India, China
and Japan for a reason and that was not because they were bringing nice
presents.
About Muslim conversion it is enough to remind you that in the first
Muslim countries you had to pay much more tax if you didn't become a
Muslim, so most people just could not afford not to convert themselves.
And let's be honest which human being in his right mind would even a
split second consider becoming a Christian, Muslim or Jew if there are
no practical reasons?
Erik
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