mortuus piscis wrote:

Goldenmane wrote:

mortuus piscis wrote:In Christianity It doesn't matter much if it's Lutheran or Baptist, the bible is the bible, the differences aren't that major, and the culture of the people practicing isn't major.

I beg to differ. Get a Southern Baptist from the US, an Australian Evangelical, a Catholic, and a Russian Orthodox follower, and compare and contrast. And that's just for starters.

I don't disagree that they have difference, but would you say the differences are as major as belief/disbelief in the supernatural & gods all together? Baptists and Catholics may disagree whether Mary was sinless, or just how far Jesus's forgiveness goes, but the basics are all still there. The difference I'm speaking of, is more along the lines of early Gnostic Christians Vs Orthodox Christians.

My agnostic-atheist views where already held firmly before my interest in Buddhism began taking off, I used those existing views as my B.S filter, and they steered me away from the more supernatural traditions. While belief in deities and supernatural may not be considered major for many Buddhists, for me it was because that was my starting point. If every sect of Buddhism had a culture of magic teeth and other supernatural nonsense, it would have been to difficult for me to relate too, but some of the major ones like Zen honestly don't. While I do still doubt ideas like rebirth, I've found the rest of the philosophy is pretty down to earth and basic, it's something I can live by without feeling intellectually dishonest. My practice of Buddhism involves meditation and practicing mindfulness, It doesn't involve me sitting around waiting for magic and miracles. I haven't come across a single Buddhist writing that suggests healing relics should be part of the practice, unfortunately no religion has been immune to their existence, because all religions have ignorant money hungry leaders and desperately sheepish followers.