Buddhism

I was raised in the Presbyterian Church and raised to never question, to have the faith of a child as it says in the Bible...however, now that I am an adult, I have a problem with that. Throughout history wars have been waged, inquisitions begun, hate spread and intolerance and nonacceptance bred into children because of this "faith of a child" system. Why shouldn't people question? Why shouldn't people search for answers to their questions? Is that so bad to want knowledge? Of course it is, at least in the Christian and Catholic branches...it's bad because that's what Adam and Eve wanted...that's what that story was about isn't it? Don't question, don't eat that fruit because then you will know things like God...just trust. Well, Eve ate the damn apple and apparently (who really knows, were you there or is your blind faith telling you this...perhaps the "spirit" is talking to you? Really?) they were cast out and them as well as their descendants were sentenced to lives of misery. Sounds a bit coincidental don't you think? That someone is told that the reason we suffer and are forced into lives of work and misery is because of something that someone did millions of years ago...people that we have no proof of that ever existed...can you tell me where the Garden of Eden really was? What about the skeletons of Adam and Eve...or relics for that matter? Cause I can show you skeletons of the early man...and believe you me, they don't seem that intelligent, nor do they seem capable of naming every species of animal and plant on this earth...they couldn't even use tools for crying out loud!

And don't even get me started on the THOUSANDS of books that were PURPOSELY left out of the Bible...I believe that goes back to the beginning of the Catholic church and then deeming only 73 books acceptable. Well, does that mean that the Protestant Bible is wrong because they are lacking 7 books leaving them with a total of 66 books. Going farther back to 1611 there were an additional 14 books that were removed (these were called the Apocrypha). I have yet to find a Priest or Pastor who could explain why an average of 5000 books were either destroyed forever or hidden away (they are just now being found in the last 50 years or so hidden away)that makes sense...and yet EVERY Christian/Catholic that you find will swear to you that the Bible is the inherent word of God. Really??? So what, the 20 book difference in the last 390 odd years and in the difference between the King James version and the Catholic version were lies? Someone claimed they were God's words...and some other person proved that was a lie? What about translation? Are they all so dense as to say that there was NOTHING lost or added in translation? I'm no linguist, but even when my mother in law translates Spanish to English...there's something lost there.

Back to my title and the reason for my posting. I want something that will be a philosophy and a belief system that can hold up to questions--and that if there are no answers, will readily admit "I don't have answer for that, and that's OK". I've been reading a lot about Buddhism and so far, I like it. There is no Dogma...no forcible belief system. You take the lessons and apply them, if you don't buy it, then you don't buy it and it's OK, you move on to the next lesson. There are no threats of hell and damnation. There is no punishment for something someone did millions of years ago. It does allow for the belief of a God. I do believe in God. I believe he had a son that he sent to try and help us in this life. I believe that God loves us...however, I also believe that God has given up on us. We are on our own. Every now and then God will step in and help you out...but I believe that because His words have been so construed and used to propel hate and greed in this world that He's sorta thrown up his hands and said "You deal with it"...and is sitting back watching what we are doing. Why Buddhism if I believe in God? Because it's a great philosophy. It teaches love and compassion. It teaches a furtherance of understanding and it calls on it's believers to help people. It teaches that to end one's suffering you must realize the suffering of others and center yourself and attempt to help those that you can help. You can't shove your belief down the throats of others, just be open to teaching those that want to know.

I like it. A belief system that teaches one to center oneself so that when others need help - whatever the help may be - you can offer it.