[MD] Thoughts on Nihilism

[Matt Kundert]

Not usually, but it has the same kinds of turns of thought 
as other major religions (e.g., reincarnation).  If life is 
suffering, and nirvana is the "extinguishing" of suffering, I 
think the relationship (in some cases, self-established by 
adherents) between Buddhism and nihilism should be fairly 
plain.

I'm not talking about refutations: I'm just talking about us 
thinking more about the beliefs we keep and their 
relationships to other phenomena.  Steve's challenge was 
about what he called the "religious impulse," which doesn't 
seem to care whether you believe in God or not, and so is 
something we all must be vigilant of.  Steve talked a lot 
about Christianity, but since there's another relevant 
interest group here, I thought I'd point out that just 
because you like Eastern philosophy doesn't mean you 
escape the hook Steve was using.

Matt
 
> Matt,
> 
> How so?  Buddhism doesn't state that everything is meaningless.
> 
> Marsha 
> 
> On Jul 24, 2010, at 6:12 PM, Matt Kundert wrote:
> > 
> > Well done.  It should give Buddhists something to think about.
> > 
> > Matt
> > 
> >> The nihilism of the religious is often not recognized as such because
> >> it is often an optimistic sort of nihilism. The promise of the next
> >> world is thought to be the assurance of everything that one could ever
> >> think to hope for. But then, we know how that sort of thinking in the
> >> suicide bomber works out for the rest of us, so even optimistic
> >> nihilism can be something to be concerned about. Religious people who
> >> think that believing in God makes them immune to nihilism and the
> >> nihilism is part of "the atheism problem" should turn to the Bible and
> >> reread Ecclesiastes which has Solomon, son of David and renown for his
> >> wisdom, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is
> >> meaningless." Clearly even the Bible demonstrates that that nihilism
> >> is not just a problem for skeptics.
 		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_1