How to handle stories that float around the internet...

[Mawkish1983]

In another forum I was yet again instructed to read this:

http://bibleprobe.com/backfromthedead.htm

Now this story has been floating around the internet for a while. When I was [read: "acted as though I believed in accordance with the religion and claimed to be"] a Christian I never used to knowing resort to deception when talking to people who weren't Christians, yet I see this over and over again in forums such as Yahoo! Answers Religion & Spirituality (which is mostly populated by children). Recently, this story (see link) has began appearing more and more frequently. I don't know what the most skillful action would be: Should I just completely ignore it or should I try to formulate a sensible response? If a sensible response is in order, what could I say?

[Ben]

Thanks Mawk

Excessive capitalisation is a good indicator that something is amiss.
My advice is to ignore. The author is his own worst enemy.
Kind regards

Ben

[clw_uk]

When one has to resort to lies in order to make themselves/religion look better you know that person cant have a strong conviction in what he/she believes and feels insecure


To me it just seems someone was threatened by Buddhism and so made this up, self-defense nothing more




(thats of course if it is a lie, could be true but i doubt it)



metta

[Jechbi]

Hi Mawk,

I've never read this before. Seems to me that gullible folks will believe whatever they want to believe, but if you get a serious person with a relatively open mind who wants to discuss this story on its merits from a Christian perspective, one discussion point you might raise is the issue of whether the version of Christianity represented in this story turns "belief" into a form of merit-making and turns Jesus into an irrelevancy. Especially this chuckle-provoking paragraph:

I was told to look at another person who was in the fire. I saw a man with very long hair wrapped on the left hand side of his head. He was also wearing a robe. I asked the king of hell, "Who is this man?" He replied, "This is the one you worship: Gautama [Buddha]." I was very disturbed to see Gautama in hell. I protested, "Gautama had good ethnics and good moral character, why is he suffering in this lake of fire?" The king of hell answered me, "It doesn't matter how good he was. He is in this place because he did not believe in the Eternal God."

Gotama lived before Jesus Christ. So you could ask your friend: For people who lived before Jesus, how was salvation possible? If salvation already was possible through belief in "the eternal God," then why did the world need Jesus? And if salvation is possible as a consequence of one's belief, doesn't that contradict the New Testament teaching that salvation is by grace, "so that no man may boast"? And that "faith" is not from oneself? Doesn't that make one's beliefs a form of merit?

I think a sensible response might be in order if you think you have a receptive audience. But if the audience isn't going to listen, then don't waste your time.

[Mawkish1983]

I think a sensible response might be in order if you think you have a receptive audience.

Mmmm, maybe it's best I just ignore it then

[genkaku]

The people who believe in 'weird' stuff don't bother me so much as the ones who believe sane, sensible and profound stuff. With the 'weird,' the odds of pointing out contradictions seems to go up. But with the sensible and profound beliefs, the sense of virtue is aroused and runs the risk of never being challenged. From there it congeals into an acceptable "belief" system. Belief systems are really OK as a starting point, for my money, but over the long haul, they are bound to consign anyone to hell.

For this reason, among others, Buddhists practice and find out what's true: No one wants to go to hell.

My two cents, obviously.

[clw_uk]

I was told to look at another person who was in the fire. I saw a man with very long hair wrapped on the left hand side of his head. He was also wearing a robe. I asked the king of hell, "Who is this man?" He replied, "This is the one you worship: Gautama [Buddha]." I was very disturbed to see Gautama in hell. I protested, "Gautama had good ethnics and good moral character, why is he suffering in this lake of fire?" The king of hell answered me, "It doesn't matter how good he was. He is in this place because he did not believe in the Eternal God."

I didnt see this part

saw a man with very long hair wrapped on the left hand side of his head.

My memory may be wrong but didnt Buddha shave his head?

He was also wearing a robe.

Behold the robe that doesnt burn away when in a lake of fire

"This is the one you worship: Gautama [Buddha]

Worship? This is obviously a Christian writting this

"Gautama had good ethnics and good moral character, why is he suffering in this lake of fire?" The king of hell answered me, "It doesn't matter how good he was. He is in this place because he did not believe in the Eternal God

How nice of Hitler, sorry i mean God



Not exactly selling their religion

[clw_uk]

Interesting to note as well is that the Buddha wouldnt experience any suffering in hell so Gods punishment wouldnt work at all

[Mawkish1983]

I think it's cause less arguements and ill-feelings to just try to avoid these discussions

[clw_uk]

In case you thought otherwise my last post wasnt a criticism of Christianity but the archaic Theology of the person who wrote the article

[fig tree]

There is an attempt at rebuttal here: http://dhammaprotector.blogspot.com/2009/04/athet-pyan-shinthaw-paulu-back-from.html.

The story contains the standard fundamentalist Christian cliché/fantasy about how they're persecuted for their message, and yet how people keep being amazed by the message, and converting by the bucketful. The monk for instance allegedly finds the idea of hell with a lake of fire (as opposed I supposed to being fiery according to some traditional Buddhist description?) a big novelty, as well as the idea of a deity creating the Earth and people. The story itself is supposed to be wonderful enough to be converting hundreds of monks.

I don't know how to handle nonsense. Mostly ignore I suppose, but it seems like on some occasions a debunking is in order.

Fig Tree