The Independent UTSA

Originally posted by

Prum saravuth

Here from meliving in Cambodia. I just want to know about religion in Cambodia. Furthermore, Cambodia is the country which is believed in Buddhism. Therefore, What is the most important things part of the Cambodia culture that relevant to Buddhism?

Buddhism is NOT a religion, that is a common misconception, I myself am a Buddhist, it is a way of life.

Originally posted by

Prum saravuth

Here from meliving in Cambodia. I just want to know about religion in Cambodia. Furthermore, Cambodia is the country which is believed in Buddhism. Therefore, What is the most important things part of the Cambodia culture that relevant to Buddhism?

To Chilan Sethuge who replied to Prum- You are both right and wrong. Buddhism is not a religion only in certain denominations of the religion such as in the American forms of Zen Buddhism. However in such branches of Buddhism such as Vajrayana Buddhism (common in Tibet) they do incorporate deities (God's and Demons). You can see such mythological beliefs in much of the Buddhist world that you don't often see in here the United States. I saw much of this form of Buddhism (as a religion) in Indonesia where I lived for over two years. In addition, massive Buddhist temples such as Borobadur (Central Java,Indonesia) are a testament to Buddism being used as a state religion to control and legitimize a rulers and dynasties. So yeah most definitely Buddhism can be a true religion with priest classes, deities, etc... but likewise as you said, it can be simply a way of life without any such aspects of organized religions.

Chris

you obviously have never herd of the story of Jesus Christ and that is most likely why U bash a God that you obviously know nothing about

Originally posted by

Lindsay

Religion = control. Religion is another form of government and few if any protest religion because if you do you are heretic, a non-believer, an infidel and your soul will burn in hell but not before you are burned (honor killing), maimed (flogged), raped (you are most likely a woman, and therefore not human even though without women there is no life, only death) or done any number of other horrible things in the name of some "invisible man in the sky"

If there was ever such a benevolent God, he or she has long since abandoned or has never given a shit nor quite frankly she he or she.

Originally posted by

Randy

I think its so funny that everything you guys are saying about how God doesnt exist its just for people to feel secure is in the Bible. God said in the Old Testament that Satan will get people to believe that stuff. You atheists wont believe in a spiritual dimension - a world beyond our eyes - yet you will believe that everything in this universe just appeared one day - was created out of absolutely nothing. You can look at a painting and know there was an artist who painted it just because you dont see him at that moment you still know he exists, yet you see the world around you and wont believe in a God.

I used to be an atheist. Then i was sick of feeling empty and got over my stubborness and accepted that God does exist. With Him everything makes sense. Carbon Dating has been proved not to work and the so called monkey "skeletons" all have parts from completely different places.

Can you see wind?
no.
but do you see the affects of the wind?
YES!

and Lindsay im sorry for whatever has happened in your life that made you hate God. But God gave you free will so that you can choose your life direction for yourself.

You guys are missing out on the Great God. He doesnt want to control you. He wants a relationship with you. Hes a God of love and Hes always waiting for you to come to Him.

Please do.

Well first off, carbon dating has not been proven not to work. It works IN THE RIGHT CONDITIONS. It is also only good up to 60,000 years. Because of this it is only used in the study of late hominids. In addition, there are a vast range of other dating techniques for later dating, many of which are used to corroborate each other. Pick up any intro to biology, geology, or archaeology textbook or google your heart out on that topic.
Likewise the "monkey skeleton" you refer to was known as the "Piltdown Man" It was ONE hoax done a long time ago in which a medieval human skull, an orangutan jaw, and a prehistoric chimp tooth were pieced together. That was proven a hoax in 1953 and today it is vastly easier with modern technology to identify such hoaxes. If you've ever met physical anthropologists who specialize in human evolution, you will discover that they RUTHLESSLY critique each and every major hominid discovery with often extremely heated debates. Anything that even looks remotely like a hoax is immediately attacked. The hobbit skeleton in Indonesia is one, for example, that has undergone enormous scrutiny and debate.

I've taken the time to read some of the "Christian Archaeology" journals. Their research is NOT published in mainstream archaeological journals because they often fail to use even the most basic scientific method that you probably learned about in middle-school. Those that are slightly better suffer from horrific methodological flaws such as discounting basic stratigraphy, geologic records of tectonic plate shifts, and other data that goes against their pre-decided conclusions.

I did not talk about the importance of religion by attacking science precisely because it falls flat on its face. I am assuming that you are a Christian. Believing in science and the theory of evolution does not mean that you can't be a Christian (or Jewish or Muslim). Adam & Eve for example, are actually BELIEVED TO EXIST in the genetic studies of human evolution. They are known as Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam. They are not necessarily believed to have been a couple or even to have evolved at exactly the same time period, however they are the first fully modern human beings believed to have existed somewhere around 170,000 years ago.

Put into a religious context, if you DO NOT look at the Bible in a literal fashion, but rather looking at the basic general meanings, things begin to make more sense and do not conflict with science.
If all religions did this, we wouldn't have nearly as many problems today. Sadly however, organized religion is used more often as a means of social control. That is why I am a Theist. In other words I believe in God, but not in organized religion other then for their spiritual content and some of their philosophies.

Chris

Originally posted by

Justine Langston

This is a fantastic article! But, either I'm blind, or you son't seem to have much information

What sort of information were you looking for? I wrote this article awhile ago, but I can dig up plenty of references if that's what you mean. If there is an aspect of religion that I did not cover, I would be happy to talk about that. As I mentioned to the individual who replied after you, I study terrorism and Islamic theology from an anthroopological perspective. In the process, I did alot of research on the psychology & sociology of religion (I also have a BA in psychology). If there is a specific issue you want me to address concerning religion I would be more then happy to. I feel very comfortable tackling the nasty grey areas of religion and politics. My goal for this article was to write something clear and simple and not with mounds of theory and statistics that would put people to sleep. But if that's what you seek I can point you towards such research.

Chris G.

Originally posted by

Bredeson Saus

I have to agree with teh poster above... :/ looks like a lot of hot air to me.

If you like I can track down studies done and published in journals concering the psychology and sociology of religion if you believe that I am pulling what I said out of my rear. Or you can google them. There are tons of such studies. For those who don't know me, my background is in cultural anthropology (as a graduate student) and I have done a large amount of research in this particular field with a focus on terrorism and Islamic theology. If something sounds false, please feel free to point it out and I can address it with references if that would satisfy you.