[Bennett]

Vibecrewangel,

I guess what I'm trying to say is that when you break any religion down to its purest form, you have philosophies that can be applied to your life with or without the presence of another religion. Take Christ, for example, many of his parables are lessons that could be taken completely outside of the religious context. However, he also taught others about the importance of praising God. So to me, it seems like people are quick to dismiss buddhism as a philosophy and not a religion because of the absence of God. Perhaps it is right to do so.

I think it would be very hard to be a true buddhist and a christian.
First of all, you wouldn't praise God any more than you would a dog, because they are both part of our impermanent world. For all you know, you could be the reincarnation of J.C. That didn't go over to well when I pronounced myself Jesus in my sunday school class.

I hope you don't take me as obnoxious or argumentative. I am merely conversing. I can see that we both have distinct perspectives on this issue, and I don't think that either of us could say anything to convince the other. I consider myself to be a buddhist, and someone telling me that it is a philosophy and not a religion isn't going to convince me, because to me personally, it is more than that. I look forward to more posts about quantum mathematics and physics.

A couple side notes: I agree with the Matrix comments, I've been trying to tell people how Buddhist that movie since it came out.
Also, on the subject of karma/rebirth/enlightenment... as far as enlightenment goes, all karma is bad karma. Enlightenment is almost a suicide of the soul, perhaps another reason why it might frighten people.