Was Judas a villain?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

But, as an atheist (not all Buddhists are atheists, I happen to be, just making sure no one jumps to conclusions) I just don't see the benefit of such mythology and self-delusion.

If it is something you talk about, why atheism over agnosticism? I'm actually reading my third book in a row on Buddism. So far, I find it very healthy for the individual but have some concern that the society that develops from it may lack the drive to improve. This may just be from my cursory reading of it so far, though, and not a valid criticism.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Griff

If it is something you talk about, why atheism over agnosticism?

You can be both. Atheist: lacks a belief in gods.
Agnostic: theres no way to tell whether there are gods.

Whether you think it's possible to know is a different question from what your opinion is on the matter, which is different from whether you have religious faith in that opinion.

[9th Engineer]

You have to personalize abit, you can't know ALL aspects of someones life, but you don't have to. If your relationship with someone is professional then you judge them based on their actions as a professional. If someone is a really lousy worker or does things which negatively affect you in that professional context then they come out as having a net negative. If they then go home and are a great dad/mom that's irrelevent to your opinions about them because you never come in contact with their personal life. Humans are a sum of parts, some parts of a person are productive while others are a drain on things around them, we're all a mix. The difference is whether the sum is positive or negative. And again, the crucial thing is that not every part of a person is relevent in the decision, only the parts that you can quantify.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

You can be both.

I hadn't parsed it that way. Thanks for the insight. g

Originally Posted by Griff

If it is something you talk about, why atheism over agnosticism? I'm actually reading my third book in a row on Buddism. So far, I find it very healthy for the individual but have some concern that the society that develops from it may lack the drive to improve. This may just be from my cursory reading of it so far, though, and not a valid criticism.

Agnosticism is probably a more accurate term, the fact is that if I have to make a statement I do not believe in a sentient "God".
However, personally, I do not spend any energy on it. There is just too much to deal with in the here and now. What happens next does not matter.
Either you do your best to be the best human you can be now or you do not, either way it just does not matter.
If there happens to be the very unlikely event of a "God" that wants me to "worship" them and do things "in their name" they can kiss my ass, for more reasons than I care to list and that anyone with any intelligence can figure out on their own. But, even with Christianity, I feel that that has been taken out of context... Biblically, we have free will and are here on our own, period. Though that is just a fun story for me. The study of religions is a hobby for me, nothing more.