Comment by Gaytor on April 2, 2010 at 1:17am

That's a pretty good idea.

Comment by Doug Reardon on April 2, 2010 at 1:57am

Well, I was raised Catholic, but I haven't believed since I was six, which was probably the first time I actually thought about it. So, can I really be considered an ex-Catholic?

Comment by Chetan D on April 2, 2010 at 11:14am

To Johan de Haan:
I agree. The only reason I suggested that was to do a bit of a non-academic type study to see whether its only ex-Christians and Jews who were questioning the dogmas or whether others were in it too.
It would be a bit of a diversity study. Perhaps include geographical location too. The most active members would be the ones likely to engage in the simple poll and it would, I think, show a good relation between where you are and what you believed in and the likelihood that you were free to think rationally.
I would hypothesize that the US would have a lot more members geographically followed by Europe, Canada, etc. whereas there wwould be very few ex-muslims followed by Eastern religions and gradually the Judaeo-Christian followers.
Thanks for the comments everyone.

Comment by Allen Sneed on April 2, 2010 at 12:22pm

I disagree on one point. Buddhism can be and has been in many instances religified, but it is not necessarily a religion. In its original form, there is no God(s) or supernatural element or need for faith or dogma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_science

Comment by Jānis Ķimsis on April 2, 2010 at 1:40pm

Isn't a big part of any kind of Buddhism reincarnation?

Comment by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on April 2, 2010 at 2:41pm

Actually Chetan, although I spend a lot of time criticising Xtianity, I DO spend time criticising other theisms and superstitions. Not so much criticising buddhism because buddhism is one of the more peaceful of the 5 "major world religions." However I would like to direct you to a discussion I posted criticising the danger and corruption of the "new age/ occult" industry:
http://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topics/for-anyone-who-doubted-the

Comment by Allen Sneed on April 2, 2010 at 2:54pm

Reincarnation is not necessarily a part of Buddhist theory. Since Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and Buddhism grew out of the Hindu religion and culture, belief in reincarnation has been maintained by many Buddhists. But it is not a necessary part of the original theory.

It's kind of like saying that just because many American scientists believe in the Christian God or because Einstein said things like "God doesn't play dice" that science is a religion. You have to separate out the philosophy of Buddhism from the separate belief systems of some of its adherents.

Basically, the Buddha said that all living beings are subject to suffering and that suffering is caused by attachment, or desires. His hypothesis was that the cessation of suffering can be achieved by overcoming attachment or selfish desires by recognizing that our concept of self is illusory (e.g. enlightenment).

As Buddhism spread it merged with various religious belief systems and has become religified (my word) to a great extent. Non-the-less, there are still schools of the atheistic Buddhist tradition.

From Sam Harris: "For the fact is that a person can embrace the Buddha's teaching, and even become a genuine Buddhist contemplative (and, one must presume, a buddha) without believing anything on insufficient evidence. The same cannot be said of the teachings for faith-based religion. In many respects, Buddhism is very much like science. One starts with the hypothesis that using attention in the prescribed way (meditation), and engaging in or avoiding certain behaviors (ethics), will bear the promised result (wisdom and psychological well-being). The spirit of empiricism animates Buddhism to a unique degree. For this reason, the methodology of Buddhism, if shorn of its religious encumbrances, could be one of our greatest resources as we struggle to develop our scientific understanding of human subjectivity."

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