for anyone with a voice

[PowerCosmic]

I think the only right you have is to strive for your rights. Your rights are what you can earn for yourself or are given to you by those in charge of you. There are no inborn rights that come with being alive. If the american government decides that it is going to discard one of the rights we consider "inborn" what are you going to do? you can fight, and you can die, but you can't make them to give you that right unless you are able to force them. A rights package doesn't come with being alive. The idea of human rights is extremely western, and is a positive development for humans in general, but is by no means inborn or natural.

[evilbutterfly]

Um, the one big rule of Buddhism is live for others and don't be selfish, which is supposed to bring you inner happiness. Basically, you can do nothing for yourself and must live entirely off of the kindness of others. With this, your whole statement of Buddhism supporting doing nothing but trying to be happy is complete crap. Buddhism is about making others happy, with the hope that such happiness will return to you tenfold.

[space_boye]

I'm not sure what Buddhism exactly means.

I know several of the members from my local buddhist temple, one of my closest friends goes there and I know the youth pastor as well.

However, both of them are burnouts, i.e, they smoke pot, chase women, and drink constantly.

I thought in general Buddhist's were supposed to be connected with nature on a certain level and hopefully strive to attain inner peace.

Perhaps I'm wrong.

-bye

[The_Q]

umm btw, what does being a buddhist have to do with living to have fun? thats called being a Hedonist.... alllso, doesn't everyone agree by now that Buddhism isn't a religion, its a philosophy. Ok i'm done bitching

By the modern definition of religion, Buddhism is a religion. It's far to mystical to pass as a philosophy. Philosophies are normally methods of living one's life properly. Religion uses the same principles, but adds a divine twist to it. Afterlife is often included.

As for rights, I do believe in them. I believe that, for the purposes of reality, not all men (or women )are created equal, that we due have certain unalienable rights, and that we also have certain very alienable rights. My right to vote, for instance, has been alienated just because I'm physically 3 years younger than I need to be ( Which is fine and dandy because now I get taxed without being represented. Life's a hoot, isn't it?).

Why would you even stop to consider men being equal. We're not. It's obvious that we're not. If we were all equal, I might have had more luck with the ladies. I'd be just as intelligent as Zildjian. I am sure that, despite what many moronic Americans think today, this means that everyone should have their rights given to them from the moment of birth (or conception, depending on how you view life ). Such rights are the "inalienable rights" that John Locke and Thomas Jefferson both agreed on (actually, it was congress that edited out the "right to own property" in favor of "pursuit of happiness". Same difference).

For the purpose of a balance between the consumers, their rights ought to be equal. Otherwise, the scale tilts in the favor of one and he'll eventually create a monopoly on many many products.

Q

EDIT: Yes, some may worship Buddha, but he himself preached that he was not to be worshipped.

[QreepyBORIS]

"Would you like afterlife with that?"

[evilbutterfly]

The Q, there are different sects of Buddhism. The original, formed by Buddha (aka Sidartha Guatama, though I'm not sure on the spelling) was simply a way of life. A set of rules to live by that he thought led a person to a paradise in the afterlife. He taught others to be selfless, and that's all Buddhism is: a way of life in which you are completely selfless and live entirely for other people (as I said before). It was only later that people declared Buddha to be a god. The funny thing is, Sidartha was a leen, fit man (after all, he had to live off of others and couldn't have been too well fed :P), not the fat Buddha that we see in statues. Buddhism is very misunderstood in this regard. I can't remember the separate name for people who believe Buddha is a god (like, neo-Buddhist or something), but I do know that it's different from the original, which is what I would call true Buddhism.

So really, a Christian can be Buddhist, too. But really, one could say that Jesus was fairly Buddhist. He was never concerned with himself (except, if you're picky, when he asked why God forsook him) and lived his life for others, even dying for them. Actually, many religions were started by a guy like this. I think this shows that Buddhism is definitly the way to go (or maybe that all religions are the same...but that's a different subject to discuss).