[MD] Thoughts on Nihilism

[MarshaV]

Hi Matt,

It's not plain to me, but so be it (in some cases.)  



Marsha


On Jul 24, 2010, at 6:47 PM, Matt Kundert wrote:

> 
> 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.
> 		 	   		  
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