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Are thoughts and prayers really empty platitudes? Or is somebody yet again trying to make us feel inadequate and broken? Even though I no longer believe in God the way most Christians do, I still spend time praying, offering intentions, for people in my life. The idea those thoughts are empty is deeply hurtful, and I'm sure this is the case for many people who take "thoughts and prayers" seriously.
The not-so-thinly veiled anger and resentments of many in the Christian left bother me almost as much as the petty sexual morality of Christians on the right. Neither are wholesome attitudes. Many people who are enmeshed in exploitative systems of various sorts are not bad or sinful people, and personal attacks are unlikely to bring forth any real dialogue and opportunity for change. In many cases they are simply victims. As Thich Nhat Hanh said, those people need help, not our anger. He correctly understands that environmental destruction, for instance, is rooted in alienation- that "lack" that many Christians peddle in, in the first place.
If you're using thoughts and prayers as a smokescreen to oppose attempts to actually introduce legislation that could address the problem, then yes. They are worse than empty platitudes.
Alienation? I think there's more going on with Bolsonaro than alienation.
"Could" being the critical word. People at the turn of the last century thought something as simple as Prohibition would address the problem of alcohol abuse... and it didn't. At least not without serious consequences. Even the best of intentions can ultimately amount to something bad if they lack accompanying insight.
I think you aren't taking what I'm saying very seriously. You want to moralize the issue, when I'm saying that's actually counter-productive in the long term.
If you meet the Buddha on the road, Kill Him.One thing that Thich Nhat Hanh teaches is that no ideology, even Buddhism, should be accepted as absolute truth.
I can see why this would be confusing; most of us were raised in a very "take it or leave it" religious paradigm where you had to worship one and only one god because he would send you to hell if you did not. You better hope you had the right understanding of him!
Polytheism is decidedly looser and could not function in such as exclusionary framework for socio-political reasons. As populations integrated with those who had differing gods, they had to recognize that such gods probably exist for the other in as equal capacity as their own. As the empires grow up there come more elaborate frameworks for integrating them, such as Ptolemy's reign in Egypt or the Roman expansion into Celtic Gaul, Iberia and Dacia. The Babylonians had to do this to a lesser degree.
Generally speaking its a process of self-discovery where your immortal soul is not on the line and if you're a polytheist; you generally believe that different gods have different focuses in life. Why would you need them in equal measure at all times? Do we not have shifts of needs, moods, priorities and values? It's also key to note that the gods are generally not seen as perfect (by some human standard) or omnipotent; they're agents acting on the platform of the universe and have their own distinct motivations. This is hard to parse from a monotheistic concept but becomes more intuitive as you explore the philosophical arguments.
I know nobody asked but I might suggest John Michael Greer's World Full of Gods for a decent philosophical argument in favor of polythiesm. It's not really out to convert anyone because that doesn't have any connotation the same way it would in monotheist circles but its a fantastic rundown of arguments explaining polytheism.
People make tragic decisions everyday.That's your ideology talking. It's comforting for you to believe that, rather than to be open to the different experiences of other people.
There's a Buddhist nun named Pannavati who is a former Christian pastor. Becoming a Buddhist nun had nothing to do with not valuing her Christian past. Likewise, in the documentary Walk with Me, about Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village in southern France, one of the monks there is also a Catholic priest.
Some of us find we have approached the limits of what we can do in a particular faith tradition and we want to live life more deeply.
All pagan and new age philosophy does not answer the sin question.
The fact is that all sin is going to be punished,in the sinner or the substitute.Sometimes it's not the answer that is wrong, but the question itself.
They will think of it for all eternity if they do not repent.Some do... and some just don't consider it relevant or valid. However, almost no religions think of sin in the starkly juridical terms as Calvinism does.
They will think of it for all eternity if they do not repent.
Facts are not threats. They are certain my friend.It's just those sorts of threats that don't engender respect for Christians.
Facts are not threats. They are certain my friend.
The fact is that all sin is going to be punished,in the sinner or the substitute.
It is not a question to be debated.
God is going to punish each and every sin.
Every idle word. We are guilty in need of mercy.
That statement is a good example of the No TrueThose who leave are apostates they were not actually Christians
They were religious but never saved.
1jn2:19
That statement is a good example of the No True
Scotsman fallacy.
It also suggests that True Christians™ are unteachable
and therefore unable to learn from new information and
make changes accordingly.
It is also against forum rules to insist that someone isn't
or wasn't a Christian. I would advise caution on that
front.
The fact is that all sin is going to be punished,in the sinner or the substitute.
It is not a question to be debated.
God is going to punish each and every sin.
Every idle word. We are guilty in need of mercy.
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