DP,
I think you are drawn into arguments with people like these either out of compassion or ego. If you engage with them thinking you might help them, that could be compassion. If you engage with them to defend your beliefs or yourself (your self), then it is ego-related. I consider myself at the least an agnostic (a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality such as God*) is unknown and probably unknowable) and perhaps even an atheist (one who believes that there is no deity*). I do believe there is 'an ultimate reality', but that ultimate reality is Just THIS! It's everyday life - the ultimate WYSIWYG (What You See (and Touch and Hear and Smell and Taste) Is What You Get). Although I do not consider myself a Buddhist, I see no conflict between Buddhism and either agnosticism or atheism. Back to your question 'why are you drawn into arguments?', I think the simple answer is that it is fun for you, maybe challenging. You do learn a lot from arguments. They make you think about whatever the topic is in a different way than you usually think. They certainly can be uncomfortable, but I think they are healthy. Just remember, especially when arguing about religion: almost all arguments are based on logic, and logic is not the basis for religion. Faith is the basis for religion. Don't let your opponent drag you into a logical argument. Then you're on his territory. And if all else fails you can fall back on the 'fact' that logic and rationality is actually based on faith itself - faith in cause-and-effect. I myself actually consider science itself a religion which is based on faith in logic and cause-and-effect. When I think about this I'm always reminded of a valuable story which compares logic and belief: A European hunter was on a trip to Africa and was taking a trip up a river on a boat which was propelled by a steam engine. He hired a couple natives to keep the fire in the boiler stoked. When he hired them and told them their assignment he explained very carefully how a steam engine works and why it was important to keep the fire going. They understood, but inevitably they would eventually stop shoving wood into the fire, the fire would go out and the steam engine and the boat would stop. This happened over and over again. His African guide watched all this and finally decided he would have to sort this out. He told the men that there was a very powerful, angry, vengeful and HUNGRY god living in the boiler. If they didn't keep his belly full of wood he would become so enraged with hunger that he would come out of the boiler and eat them! The boat never stopped for lack of steam again. Sometimes logic is not the most appropriate tool to use. Another example is if a 3-year old child has just been run over by a car, talking to the mother about momentum, kinetic force, inertia and the crushing threshold of a human skull is not going to soothe her. Telling her that her child is now 'playing with the angles' or 'in the arms of Jesus' would be a better approach. .Bill! *Merriam-Webster Online From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of DP Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 12:20 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Zen] How to walk away from arguments i have this frustrating tendency to get into arguments with random people on the internet. I personally try to keep in civil, but I get discouraged by all the insults and obnoxiousness. Many of the arguments are about religion. I encounter a lot of so-called "internet atheists" who seem to design their arguments to provoke people and make self-congratulatory statements (although I wouldn't call them all trolls). They spare no religion, citing examples of Buddhist violence or badly misrepresenting concepts to make them sound like so much babble. (I have some Christian beliefs, but they are not very orthodox, which they find hard to understand and therefore I get a lot of "why not just give it all up?") So why do I feel the need to argue with these people? Why does my ego make it so I feel the need to confront everything they say, not give them the "victory?" __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5490 (20100929) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
