re tuff to be a christian please realize that i am frequently getting in trouble for straying from orthodoxy but here is my opinion in article apr geneva rutgers edu mdbs ms uky edu no name writes moreover the buddha says that we are intrinsically good as against christ s we are all sinners i never thought of these two ideas being against each other people might quibble about what intrinsically means but the reason we are sinners is because we do not behave as good as we are the message of christ is that each of us are not only good but great that we can approach perfection albeit perhaps through a different technique than you claim buddhism teaches because we do not realize our greatness we sin peter had no problem walking on water until a little doubt crept in doesn t david ask in the th psalm what is man that you god should care for him but you have made him just a little lower than the angels i probably exagerate in my mind what a scrawny little kid david was just as i probably exagerate what a gigantic monster goliath was but david s power easily defeated goliath s remember the rich young man who comes up to jesus and asks what he can do to enter the kingdom jesus says follow the commandments i always picture the smug look on his face as he says he s done that his whole life probably anticipating an attaboy from the messiah instead jesus gives him a harder task sell everything and follow him jesus is raising the bar the desciples say how can anyone do this if it s so hard even for rich people jesus says anyone can do it with god s help jesus says not only can we avoid killing people we can avoid getting angry at people not only can we avoid committing adultery we can control our own desires i realize this was not your main point but i wonder how other people see this parting question would you have become a christian if you had not been indoctrinated by your parents you probably never learned about any other religion to make a comparative study and therefore i claim you are brain washed please forgive any generalizations i am about to make your point about how hard other religions are is a good one just as your parting question is a tough question i think that muslims worship the same god as i do we can learn from their name submission hindus and buddhists and taoists etc claim that god is impersonal is god personal or impersonal i say yes but if i think a little more my answer is whichever is greater i think it is greater to be a personal entity with an individual consciousness but you re right that that might be a cultural bias if i think more i must admit that god s personal nature is as far beyond my conception as his impersonal nature is beyond the hindu s conception if somehow jesus could fit into hindu cosmology then maybe i wouldn t have a problem though that is hard to imagine are there any former or present eastern religion members here who could comment chris mussack
