Why won't christians touch Buddhas?

[swdee]

This is very confusing for me.
I work in a place which sells stone carvings and some of those are Buddhas. Now the christian that works there refuses to touch it, even if it means losing sales.

I have asked this question to him and he responded saying Buddha is a god and the old testament says hes not allowed to touch foreign gods. BUT BUDDHA IS NOT A GOD!
He was simply a very wise man who taught the same teachings as Jesus - love, peace, loving your enemies etc. He lived many years before Jesus so his teachings were a loving light to the world at that time.
Another point he made was Buddhas worship him. NO THEY DON'T! A lot of Buddhists don't even believe in god and a carving of him is simply a reminder of the wise teaching that he spoke that they can meditate on them, like a christian would meditate on the words of Jesus.
This is a classic and sad case of a chrisian not knowing what they are talking about.
Lastly, and this seems the craziest to me, he told me that Jesus is 'the Teacher' (with a capital T) and Buddha is 'just a teacher'.
Oh well that makes all the difference.

So can somebody please explain to me in plain english, apart from what I've explained above, why christians refuse to touch images of Buddha.
I know what might spring to mind is the old testament saying not to worship images, but anyone with any knowledge of Buddhism wil know that Buddha is not worshipped as I've explained above. I use the staue as a helpfull reminder to me of his teachings to be more kind and considerate and I also love reading Jesus' teachings with the same message.

Peace, Steve

 

[aiki]

The Christian you've mentioned sounds a little superstitious. I'm a Christian and have no problem with touching an image of Buddha. Its just a lifeless thing, like a rock, or piece of lumber, and it has no more significance to me than they do.

Paul the apostle wrote about eating meat offered to idols. He made it clear that what was offered to idols was offered to what didn't exist and was therefore perfectly alright to eat. So, too, touching Buddha, who is no god, shouldn't be an issue for a Christian.

I wonder if your Christian's real problem is selling the image of a person whose philosophy on some fundamental points is very much in contradiction to what he/she believes as a Christian. Doing so may feel rather like promoting Buddhism, which any genuine Christian would want to avoid.

Oh, and many Buddhists do worship Buddha.

Peace to you.

 

[prgallo]

No problem touching a Buddha here either, never heard of that before.

Now worshipping a Buddha would be idolatry so that's out of the question.

If a specific Christian is uncomfortable touching a Buddha then they shouldn't, and that's OK too. It's their choice and there nothing wrong with "not-touching" a Buddha.

 

[ebia]

This is very confusing for me.
I work in a place which sells stone carvings and some of those are Buddhas. Now the christian that works there refuses to touch it, even if it means losing sales.

I have asked this question to him and he responded saying Buddha is a god and the old testament says hes not allowed to touch foreign gods. BUT BUDDHA IS NOT A GOD!
He was simply a very wise man who taught the same teachings as Jesus - love, peace, loving your enemies etc. He lived many years before Jesus so his teachings were a loving light to the world at that time.
Another point he made was Buddhas worship him. NO THEY DON'T! A lot of Buddhists don't even believe in god and a carving of him is simply a reminder of the wise teaching that he spoke that they can meditate on them, like a christian would meditate on the words of Jesus.
This is a classic and sad case of a chrisian not knowing what they are talking about.
Lastly, and this seems the craziest to me, he told me that Jesus is 'the Teacher' (with a capital T) and Buddha is 'just a teacher'.
Oh well that makes all the difference.

So can somebody please explain to me in plain english, apart from what I've explained above, why christians refuse to touch images of Buddha.
I know what might spring to mind is the old testament saying not to worship images, but anyone with any knowledge of Buddhism wil know that Buddha is not worshipped as I've explained above. I use the staue as a helpfull reminder to me of his teachings to be more kind and considerate and I also love reading Jesus' teachings with the same message.

Peace, Steve

Your friend seems to be a bit confused. He shouldn't be living under the OT law. One can debate whether or not a Buddha would count as a 'god' under that, but Christians aren't living under it anyway. I think a Christian perpective would regard it as a 'god' to some people, but many other things are 'gods' in that sense to many people in our world (material possessions, money, sex, 'my rights', creation itself, etc, etc) and that ought to illustrate the absurdity of a Christian refusing to touch these things.

 

[tapero]

edited..

 

[ydouxist]

Why won't Christians touch Buddhas?

I would say superstitious Christians wouldn't touch a buddah.

I attended a Buddhist wedding one time.

 

[JoshuaM]

This is very confusing for me.
I work in a place which sells stone carvings and some of those are Buddhas. Now the christian that works there refuses to touch it, even if it means losing sales.

I have asked this question to him and he responded saying Buddha is a god and the old testament says hes not allowed to touch foreign gods. BUT BUDDHA IS NOT A GOD!
He was simply a very wise man who taught the same teachings as Jesus - love, peace, loving your enemies etc. He lived many years before Jesus so his teachings were a loving light to the world at that time.
Another point he made was Buddhas worship him. NO THEY DON'T! A lot of Buddhists don't even believe in god and a carving of him is simply a reminder of the wise teaching that he spoke that they can meditate on them, like a christian would meditate on the words of Jesus.
This is a classic and sad case of a chrisian not knowing what they are talking about.
Lastly, and this seems the craziest to me, he told me that Jesus is 'the Teacher' (with a capital T) and Buddha is 'just a teacher'.
Oh well that makes all the difference.

So can somebody please explain to me in plain english, apart from what I've explained above, why christians refuse to touch images of Buddha.
I know what might spring to mind is the old testament saying not to worship images, but anyone with any knowledge of Buddhism wil know that Buddha is not worshipped as I've explained above. I use the staue as a helpfull reminder to me of his teachings to be more kind and considerate and I also love reading Jesus' teachings with the same message.

Peace, Steve

Buddha is not in the Bible specifically. But I have heard from a Chinese Christian who formerly was into a lot of Buddhism that they made meat sacrifices in China. I am assuming it has something to do with the Buddhism, even if it wasn't sacrificed to Buddha. Buddha is in no way the same as Jesus. Jesus taught to follow God's commands. To answer your question, Christians that don't touch Buddhas in general likely are doing it because whether the man called Buddha is considered technically a god or not, he is followed like a god, and constant images are made of him and people pray to him like he is a god. Buddha is made an idol, and the Lord teaches Christians to have nothing to do with idolatry. Personally, I would be willing to touch the statue in order to throw it away.

As a Christian, if I were to run a shop with stone carvings, I would not sell idols.

 

[nikcol77]

Buddha is not in the Bible specifically. But I have heard from a Chinese Christian who formerly was into a lot of Buddhism that they made meat sacrifices in China. I am assuming it has something to do with the Buddhism, even if it wasn't sacrificed to Buddha. Buddha is in no way the same as Jesus. Jesus taught to follow God's commands. To answer your question, Christians that don't touch Buddhas in general likely are doing it because whether the man called Buddha is considered technically a god or not, he is followed like a god, and constant images are made of him and people pray to him like he is a god. Buddha is made an idol, and the Lord teaches Christians to have nothing to do with idolatry. Personally, I would be willing to touch the statue in order to throw it away.

As a Christian, if I were to run a shop with stone carvings, I would not sell idols.

I DEFINITELY RESPECT YOUR OPINION, HOWEVER, IF YOU HAVE STUDIED THE LIFE OF JESUS AND THE LIFE OF SIDDARTHA GUATAMA (BUDDHA) THEN YOU ACTUALLY SEE THAT THEY HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN YOU THINK. JESUS AND BUDDHA SEEM TO SPEAK AND TEACH OUT OF A UNIVERSAL CONSCIENCE AND NOT JUST DOGMA THAT IS MAN-MADE.

 

[ydouxist]

I DEFINITELY RESPECT YOUR OPINION, HOWEVER, IF YOU HAVE STUDIED THE LIFE OF JESUS AND THE LIFE OF SIDDARTHA GUATAMA (BUDDHA) THEN YOU ACTUALLY SEE THAT THEY HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN YOU THINK. JESUS AND BUDDHA SEEM TO SPEAK AND TEACH OUT OF A UNIVERSAL CONSCIENCE AND NOT JUST DOGMA THAT IS MAN-MADE.

I agree! There are differences however.
SIDDARTHA GUATAMA searched for truth. His teachings were teachings of self righteousness and denying selfish indulgences.
I don't believe self righteousness is attainable. Admirable but not attainable.
Here is an example.
Once a very old king went to see an old hermit who lived in a bird's nest in the top of a tree,
"What is the most important Buddhist teaching?" The hermit answered, "Do no evil, do only good. Purify your heart."
The king had expected to hear a very long explanation. He protested, "But even a five-year old child can understand that!"
"Yes," replied the wise sage, "but even an 80-year-old man cannot do it."
Jesus said, "I am the truth"
I wouldn't be surprised to see SIDDARTHA GUATAMA in Heaven.
Had he had ever met Jesus he probably would have followed him.

 

[JoshuaM]

Jesus also said there are none good but God. I find it interesting one suggests to follow the Bible that doesn't even believe Jesus is the Son of God and you seem to think you know more about Jesus than I. When you don't know Jesus, and you don't believe the Bible, it is sort of a double standard to say to follow the Bible and a contradiction to say you know what it is to follow the Bible.

You should also realize that surface similarities are not always the same at the core. Jesus' followers were the first Christians, even though they were not officially called Christians until later. As the prior poster said, Jesus taught nothing about attaining a higher consciousness, and never claimed a person can become super-good. What was taught was that through faith in Him, we can be forgiven by God's grace.

Avoiding Buddhist rituals, idols, etc is not because of supertstition, but out of obedience to God and discouraging what is not of God. Though as I said before, there is nothing in the Bible with Buddha's name as that co-worker said. Another thing, there is no unity of various gods. they are not the same gods, and most religions will agree to this. And a god is not always a theological deity, but it can also be money, a statue, etc.But statues and money are not equal with God no matter if we put them first or not.

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

This is very confusing for me.
I work in a place which sells stone carvings and some of those are Buddhas. Now the christian that works there refuses to touch it, even if it means losing sales.

I have asked this question to him and he responded saying Buddha is a god and the old testament says hes not allowed to touch foreign gods. BUT BUDDHA IS NOT A GOD!
He was simply a very wise man who taught the same teachings as Jesus - love, peace, loving your enemies etc. He lived many years before Jesus so his teachings were a loving light to the world at that time.
Another point he made was Buddhas worship him. NO THEY DON'T! A lot of Buddhists don't even believe in god and a carving of him is simply a reminder of the wise teaching that he spoke that they can meditate on them, like a christian would meditate on the words of Jesus.
This is a classic and sad case of a chrisian not knowing what they are talking about.
Lastly, and this seems the craziest to me, he told me that Jesus is 'the Teacher' (with a capital T) and Buddha is 'just a teacher'.
Oh well that makes all the difference.

So can somebody please explain to me in plain english, apart from what I've explained above, why christians refuse to touch images of Buddha.
I know what might spring to mind is the old testament saying not to worship images, but anyone with any knowledge of Buddhism wil know that Buddha is not worshipped as I've explained above. I use the staue as a helpfull reminder to me of his teachings to be more kind and considerate and I also love reading Jesus' teachings with the same message.

Peace, Steve

There's no good reason for Christians to refuse to touch Buddha statues. It's probably just ignorance: he doesn't realize Buddha isn't/wasn't a god, and never wanted to be worshipped. As you say, he was just a very wise man. I have no problem with handling a statue of Socrates or of Marcus Aurelius, so why would I have a problem with handling one of Buddha, or even with having one in my house? I don't have one, but there's no reason I wouldn't.

But Buddhism can be a lot of different things. In my "seeker" phase, before I was a Christian, I went to some meetings with the Nichiren sect of Japanese Buddhism, and found it to have some very cult-like aspects. I got some very bad vibes from it, and I wouldn't want anything to do with it. OTOH, I'm not at all uncomfortable with Zen koans or meditation. And I enjoy reading the Tao Te Ching. There's not much distance between philosophical Taoism and Zen.

 

[heron]

I agree that your coworker is either fearful or legalistic, and probably just trying to be obedient with what he knows.

Idols were very prevalent in Old Testament days. People travelled with their carvings, and kept them in their homes. Solomon allowed his wives to build shrines on the mountain peaks, and this divided the resolve of his kingdom. Shortly after Moses led 2 million people through the Red Sea that God miraculously parted, the people reverted to relying on their statue gods.

Some of the worship involved temple prostitution and child sacrifice -- very self-destructive and inconsiderate practices. (-; The words God spoke to people about idols were often like a parent would say, "Do I need to shake some sense into you? What is a piece of wood or stone going to do when you have the living God."

Many Christians also recognize the existence of evil spirits, and that might cause some caution.... wanting to avoid danger whenever possible. But I think what someone said about promoting a different religion was probably at the core of his actions.

I attended a Buddhist funeral (which was one of the most beautiful and touching ones I've ever been to) where they prayed to Buddha. I doubt that Siddartha would have approved of being worshipped, but religions sometimes evolve and branch from experiences and mixed beliefs.

And I don't think they were worshipping him as a supreme being, but as an ancestor they could rely on for advice and support. But many Christians would consider reliance like that an act of worship.

Many of the teachings sit in harmony between the two religions, and I think that's because both religions value wisdom. Through centuries of trial and error, it has been proven that consideration of others, self-restraint, and peace can improve life for oneself and in society.

 

[JoshuaM]

as previously stated.. as you can see, just because some people with Buddhas don't worship them, doesn't mean others do not, as reflected by praying to Buddha. Personally, as a Christian, I don't need some worshiped human who promotes self-realization and reincarnation to know love. I just need to be close to God.

In the incident about Moses, the Israelites were punished by God for making the golden calf and praying to it, etc. I believe the punishment involved a bunch of poisonous snakes..

When Jacob's wife stole idols from other gods and hid them, many troubles fell on them, and then with Solomon, and then there was the case of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednago.. i probably chopped up their names.. But a king was worshiping a false god that was not helping the community at all.. and those men refused.. the king put them in the furnace and they did not get harmed as they were protected by God.. and Daniel was thrown in the Lion's den and he did not get harmed.. but those encouraging the worship of the idols were not out of harm's reach....
Then as was mentioned, i too believe in evil spirits being associated with idols, which influence people to worship anything that is not God, and sometimes unknowingly worshiping the spirits..
Nobody unfamiliar with these spirits will understand this, nor understand the effects. I know a person that used to be heavily into Buddhism, and now whenever she tries to worship God or read the Bible she receives heavy headaches and hears voices that tell her to stay away from the Bible. By the way, nobody here knows this person as far as I know.. I think people that won't even touch the Buddha statues are worried that they will open a spiritual door inviting evil spirits. And the problem with humans, is nobody knows everything, and somebody may have experienced something while another didn't. so the person that didn't will call the other a liar, or try to prove them wrong until it happens to them... It could very well be that something happened to your co-worker involving idols or to a friend of his.

 

[heron]

And the problem with humans, is nobody knows everything, and somebody may have experienced something while another didn't.

 

[pistolhip2]

I've touched a budda...

 

[Eurasia]

I remember we once had a Buddhist statue in our house it was more there for decoration purposes, which my Mum bought.. I was a Christian and every time I passed the Buddhist statue I felt spiritually uneasy.. Eventually my brother got rid of Buddhist statue and as result I felt more at peace in my own home.. We now have a plague which reads God Bless our Home and every time I look at it I feel peace ..

 

[swdee]

Thankyou for all for taking the time to respond.
I see now that not all christians are like that and I will pass your comments on to him.
To the last post I'd jut like to say that that really is psychological.
Steve

 

[mpok1519]

I'm surprised Christians feel uncomfortable about images of Buddha, but feel no qualms against images of Saints, Mary, Apostles, etc, etc....

according to the ten commandments, people arent supposed to make images of them either.

But we still do. =)

So why is there a level of uncomfort when it comes to non-christian idols, when there are plenty of idols within the realms of Christianity?

No one should feel uncomfortable about pictures and art.

which is exactly what a statue is; ART. It doesnt matter what it is of; its just art.


((a plague that says God Bless? (lol side note: Plaque. that reminds me of a Simpsons joke. "Its time we give him, the plague." "Uh, you mean the Plaque Mr Burns?" "Hmm? Oh yess thats what I meant."))

 

[heron]

Statues tend to plunk down and give a statement of dominion over a place. They become a focal point, whether we want them to or not.

People get upset with politicians' statues too -- permanent symbols of acclaim when the celebrated might have also oppressed or had corrupt practices.

 

[mpok1519]

yeah, but, a statue of someone isn't supposed to inspire negativity....unless that was the artist's intent. =P