Saturday, March 12, 2005

Look at me, I'm a Buddhist

I took the Belief-O-Matic test, and my top result was 98% Theravada Buddhist. (Unfortunately, while looking to see what exactly this form of Buddhism IS, I lost my full results). I did notice that I was only 7% Roman Catholic, which is the religion that I was raised with, but unfortunately I lost my results before I could see what percentage atheist I am.

There are a few flaws in this test, including the assumption that one must have religion and the assumption that one's moral convictions are the result of one's religion, but I did find the Buddhist result rather interesting. There are some things in Buddhism I just can't believe in - I find the idea of rebirth rather unappealing, and I believe karma comes back within one's own lifetime rather than in a future life when one can no longer remember what one did to earn good/bad karma. However, if an outsider looked at my life just on the surface, without examining my thoughts, feelings and inner life, I am currently living exactly as I would if I did believe in Theravada Buddhism. The only difference is that I am not involved in any religious community, but I think one can be a Buddhist without the help of others.

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