Have you ever read any religious texts? (Bible, Quran, Torah etc.)?

[Comrade Nasser]

I've read the Quran and the Bible. I read a part of the Torah. And some Hindu texts (vedas, upanishads, etc.) . If you have read any religious texts did you ever connect with them in any sort of way? Which religious text did you find the most appealing?

I very much like the Bible and the Upanishads alot. I didn't really get to into the Quran and Torah though.

[Sasha]

sure, often the only books you are allowed in your first days in a police cell :grin:

[Comrade Nasser]

sure, often the only books you are allowed in your first days in a police cell :grin:

:laugh: well which ones have you read? Have you read any of the ancient hindu scriptures? So interesting lol.

[Zostrianos]

I've read more than I can count: probably half the Bible if not more, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, quite a bit of the Avesta. I love Gnostic texts: the Nag Hammadi library, the Books of Jeu, Pistis Sophia, but above all the Hermetica, especially the Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius, magnificent, beautiful texts.

[Comrade Nasser]

I've read more than I can count: probably half the Bible if not more, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, quite a bit of the Avesta. I love Gnostic texts: the Nag Hammadi library, the Books of Jeu, Pistis Sophia, but above all the Hermetica, especially the Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius, magnificent, beautiful texts.

Oh wow you read the book of dead? I want to sooooo bad! It's funny that i'm half Egyptian and I never even read it haha. Have you read any old Zoroastrianist stuff? That's interesting!

[Zostrianos]

Oh wow you read the book of dead? I want to sooooo bad! It's funny that i'm half Egyptian and I never even read it haha. Have you read any old Zoroastrianist stuff? That's interesting!

Yeah the Avesta is the main Zoroastrian holy book. I especially like the hymns in it. The Book of the Dead is a bit dry for the average person but if you like mythology it's a must, really rich in symbolism and ritual.

[Comrade Nasser]

Yeah the Avesta is the main Zoroastrian holy book. I especially like the hymns in it. The Book of the Dead is a bit dry for the average person but if you like mythology it's a must, really rich in symbolism and ritual.

Yeah i've read some Zoroastrian stuff. The old ancient greek stuff (not the western altered crap spit out by hollywood) is really good especially if you like greek mythology.

[Sasha]

Bible/Thora, Talmud, parts of the Koran, some Gnostic texts, some kabala stuff, the hara Krishna thing, all Greek mythology, Nordic stuff, the communist manifesto...

[Rugged Collectivist]

communist manifesto...

Oh you :grin:

I'm familiar with some of the Greco-Roman myths. I've read the first... i don't know twenty pages of the bible. I quit during the Noah parts because there was like 5 pages of "Methuselah, who lived for 900 years, begot a son named blah blah blah." I stopped there because I don't see the point of reading the bible if I cut out the boring parts and I couldn't go on any longer.

[Zostrianos]

If you classify spiritual philosophy as religious texts, then the list gets way longer for me; a lot of Qabalah (Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, Brit Menucha, a good portion of the Zohar, 3 Enoch, the Hekaloth texts, Ma'aseh Bereshith), as well as Neoplatonism (Iamblichus' On the Mysteries, a good part of Proclus' mystical works, Sallustius' On the Gods and the World (http://hermetic.com/texts/on_the_gods-1.html), some of Plotinus' Enneads), and I read most extant Pythagorean works as well (http://www.american-buddha.com/cult.pythagsourcebook.htm). Some Christian mysticism as well, like John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul which I really liked, and the other day I ordered the works of Dionysius the Areopagite.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Bible/Thora, Talmud, parts of the Koran, some Gnostic texts, some kabala stuff, the hara Krishna thing, all Greek mythology, Nordic stuff, the communist manifesto...

Oi. Everybody knows that the religious text of Marxism is the Critique of the Gotha Programme.

I have read the Bible, some of the Torah, parts of the Qoran, the Sefer Yetzirah, Ani's Papyrus, the Upanishads, parts of the Abbhidhamma Pitaka, the Flower Garland Sutra, and the most prominent works of Aquinas, Scotus, Occam, Suarez and the Modistae.

I have "connected" with these texts as much as I could connect to anything written in previous social conditions and extremely reactionary from my standpoint, which is to say not at all. Some of the prose in the Sefer Yetzirah, Revelations, and Ezekiel is alright, though. The Abbhidhamma Pitaka should be classified as a weapon - the one edition I have seen has something like 1200 pages with commentary, and it will, to put it mildly, put you to sleep.

[Narodnik]

Well, I've been researching theology pretty intensly for more then a decade (graduated a semminary too), so, I've read encyclopeadic texts about pretty much every religion and it's denomination. In no particular order:

Concerning Christianity I've read the entire Bible multiple times, while cross-referencing and reading commentaries (of which I read the complete Mattew Henry's and Rashi's, and almost all of the Wesley's Notes), also I read all of the extant apostolic fathers writings, all of the Philokalia, Cappadokian fathers, Chrysostom's homilies, all of the oroses, canons, and documents of the first seven ecumenical councils along with the associated theological writings and historical recourses, we had to learn about all of the gnostic and the alternative groups of the first centuries so I'm familiar with them, I've read all of the canons and dogmas of the rest of catholic ecumenical councils, I've read the Summa, and a bunch of papal encyclicals, and a bunch of works of both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saints up to the 20th century, and I've read Calvin's Institutes, both Luther's cathecisms, a bunch of protestant sermons and theological writings really.

As far as Judaism is concerned I read the Mishna, Guide for the perplexed and the mentioned Rashi's commentary, but I've mostly read about various writters and books, and read excerpts.

Islam- I've read the Quran, along with Tabari and Ibn Kathir tafsir, I've researeched the sahih Muslim and Bukhari a lot, and I read a bunch of texts by Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyyah, and many other less know scholars. From the Shia, I've only read the Nahjul Balagha, and no other entire book, only excepts.

Hinduism- I've researched the Gita a bunch of times, I've read Praphupada's, Ramanuja's, Shankara's and Madhvacharya's commentaries, and I've read the most of the Upanishads and Brahma sutras.

Buddhism- I've read almost all extant english translations of parts of the Sutta and Abidhamma pitakas from the Tipitaka, read the Visuddhimagga, and a bunch of Theravada texts, as far as Mahayana and Vajrayana are concerned, I've only read parts of texts and about the various Sutras and teachings.

Sikhism- I've read the most of Guru Granth and Dasam Granth, the entire Varan Bhai Gurdas.

What else is there- I've read Heindel's Cosmo-Conception, I read Swedenbord's True Christian Religion and Heaven and Hell, I've read the most of Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenant, I've read the Meher Baba's God Speaks, LaVey's Bible, I've read all Kardec's five books, Crowley's Book of the Law.

I haven't read any Bahai, Zoroastrian or Jain text, I've only read about them, and quotes from them.


If you have read any religious texts did you ever connect with them in any sort of way?Well, I was an atheist (or an aphatheist more preciselly) for most of my life, then I got interested in religion and became a pious catholic (I was born catholic), to the point of joining the sedevacantists. I then wandered- why I am questioning my acceptance of the official church, and not my acceptance of Christianity. So I dropped catholicism/ christianity/ organised religion in general, became a vague general theist, and started researching various religions and their denominations, did that for about 6 years, and when my research of Islam came, I found Sunni (Salafi) Islam really appealling because of the prayers and it's theological monolithism, the most monolithic religion ever, so I started praying and was going to convert, but I strugled with the ethical tenets, for a time accepting them, for a time rejecting them, and after some time I dropped that, didn't convert, and now I'm just a vague general theist, something of a non-superstitial new-ager.

[Philosophos]

I used to be a christian and I've read the bible lots of times (not just the orthodox but others too) and I have to say that the orthodox is the most "correct" about christianity (maybe the less shittier).
The problem with the christians is that they take the "word of god" too literally. If these things in there are complete literal then christianity is not "all you need is love"...

When I was reading the bible (from what I believe) I was reading it in the proper way. I was trying to use my fucking brain to explain some things with core of jesus' sayings (love god by loving the people next to yo, share everything you have, we are all equals). Basically I was a communist before I even realised it :lol::lol::lol:

[Narodnik]

There was a Yugoslav partisan song than went

Nosim kapu sa tri roga
i borim se protiv boga
Ali ne i protiv Hrista
on je bio komunista

which means

I wear a cap with three horns
and I fight against god
But not against Christ
he was a communist

:D

[Tenka]

I've only read bits and pieces of the Bible (various translations) and the Tao te Ching (translation and "elucidation" by some Chinese-American woo-peddler). And, cover to cover, the Principia Discordia, but that was several years ago. There were less mentionable things, too. None of them was very appealing. The story of Onan in the KJV was blackly comical, though!

[smellincoffee]

I've read the Jewish and Christian bibles through several times, and have read some of the ex-canon books (those the Protestants dropped) as well. I've read part of the Koran, from The Essential Koran which would have probably emphasized the 'nice' parts of Islam, downplaying the arrrrr! kill all the infidels part, but Christians and Jews do the same thing with their book, which is just as axe-crazy. I've read the Gita, the sayings of Lao Tzu, and the Dhammapada, which is a collection of Buddhist sayings. I grew up Christian, later became anti-religious and anti-christian, then declared an armistice with it after realizing religion won't go away until the problems that cause it to spring into being won't go away. If you want to stop your bathroom floor from rotting, don't keep replacing it -- fix the leaking the toilet. That said, I've learned to appreciate the bible on human terms, seeing it as a collection of both ideas and actions both helpful and destructive. I find the book of Ecclesiastes to be excellent stuff. I enjoyed reading the sayings of Lao Tzu, though reading him is a bit like looking through a telescope with peripheral vision: you can't look at the star, or read the words, dead on. You have to look to the side, and then his point jumps out. The Dhammapada is the most direct; very verse had potency.

Were I to rank them in terms of my being able to understand them and apply worthy advice to my life, the Dhammapada and Ecclesiastes would be at the top. The texts which mean the most to me on a...'spiritual' level don't get considered as religious; Walden, The Meditations, Emerson's essays, Khalil Gibran's works..

[Vanilla]

I used to read the bible often, especially when I was required to for my religious education. I actually really liked it and found comfort in it, especially in the gospels and the book of revelation. Too bad I'm not a Christian anymore. I've also read some of the Koran and I like that one too.

[ind_com]

I have read/heard texts from Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and some smaller religions. None of them appealed to me much in the positive sense. Each has far more bad elements than good. Keeping aside that promote violence more explicitly, like Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, even apparently more peaceful religions like Buddhism are also designed to ideologically liquidate working class resistance to oppression.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I did Bar-Mitswa when I was 13 so I've read out of the Torah.
Nothing too fancy.

I barely remember what the things I had to read were about. I vaguely remember it being about having to leave the grain that felt on the ground and the corners of the land for the poor people.

[Astarte]

I've read many - most of the Bible, large sections of the Koran, the Bhagavadgita, the I Ching, Tao Teh Ching, Hua Hu Ching and many other Taoist works, the first volume of the 100,000 songs of Milarepa and a good amount of Buddhist sutras, the Corpus Hermeticum, most of the Nag Hammadi Codex as well as other pseudepigrapha and apocrypha, the Tetrabiblos, the Enuma Elish as well many other ancient Mesopotamian texts, Morals and Dogma, etc, etc ... there is a lot out there...

[Zealot]

I've read the entire Old and New Testaments and the entire Qur'an. I've read a few of the apocryphal gospels and some other religious texts here and there. I found the Qur'an more appealing and think that its traditional method of recitation is just beautiful. I also really liked some of the stories about the Buddha, which are sometimes humorous and sometimes enlightening. Jesus seemed like a pretty cool dude for his day and I think that the gospel's interpretation has been somewhat mangled, to say the least. In my opinion, he was executed for leading a movement against both Jewish and Roman authorities and in that sense he was something of a revolutionary.

[homegrown terror]

being raised catholic i was forced to read the bible. beyond that, i've read most of the writings of aleister crowley and anton lavey, as well as the poetic and prosaic eddas.

[Questionable]

Wow, I didn't know so many leftists here were into theology. I know Ismail has read quite a bit of religious texts too, but I thought it was just him.

I haven't read the bible since I was a kid in Sunday School, and I don't intend to pick it or any other religious books up again.

I do enjoy reading Marxist analyses of religion, though.

[Zostrianos]

I've read many - most of the Bible, large sections of the Koran, the Bhagavadgita, the I Ching, Tao Teh Ching, Hua Hu Ching and many other Taoist works, the first volume of the 100,000 songs of Milarepa and a good amount of Buddhist sutras, the Corpus Hermeticum, most of the Nag Hammadi Codex as well as other pseudepigrapha and apocrypha, the Tetrabiblos, the Enuma Elish as well many other ancient Mesopotamian texts, Morals and Dogma, etc, etc ... there is a lot out there...

I've had Morals and Dogma for a while (bought it out of curiosity for Freemasory) but never really read it, always thought it was a bit heavy.


... even apparently more peaceful religions like Buddhism are also designed to ideologically liquidate working class resistance to oppression.

Yes I'm sure that's what the Buddha was thinking when spent years in contemplation: what's a good way to ideologically liquidate the working class? :rolleyes:

Buddhism in its original form is meant to make your life better regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in. It's not about becoming passive and sheepish to oppression, it's to adopt a way of life that allows you to be happy despite the presence of oppression. If you find yourself in a situation where oppression is inevitable and fighting it will get you nowhere, what are you gonna do? Keep fighting, maybe end up imprisoned, or dead for your troubles (either from your oppressors, or from the inevitable stroke or heart attack that your stress will bring you)? Or do you make the best of the situation and achieve peace and a good quality of life? I might hate capitalism and want a revolution, but I don't think it's ever gonna happen in my lifetime. And so I don't lose sleep over it.

As for the people who say it's contrary to revolutionary struggle, how would you rather fight for the revolution? ranting about the system, stressed out, complaining, constantly angry? Or would you rather engage in that struggle with peace of mind and confidence?

Buddhism is a solution to suffering that allows you to be happy regardless of the circumstances. In its original form it's a way of life with no Gods, no afterlife, simply a realistic path that allows you to live in peace. And nothing prevents you from continuing the revolutionary struggle as a buddhist if you're so inclined.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I had a children's illustrated Bible as a kid. Some of the stories are actually pretty badass, like the conquest tales of destroying your enemies... there's some good cloak-and-dagger palace intrigue stuff in there as well. And some of the stories are interesting metaphoric parables, like Jacob wrestling with God or Eve eating the apple of knowledge, etc.

[Comrade Nasser]

Wow, I didn't know so many leftists here were into theology. I know Ismail has read quite a bit of religious texts too, but I thought it was just him.

I haven't read the bible since I was a kid in Sunday School, and I don't intend to pick it or any other religious books up again.

I do enjoy reading Marxist analyses of religion, though.

I really think you should comrade! I hope you do read some. Keep in mind you're just reading them for the most part to see other religions and how cultures branched off according to religion. Don't worry though, people often assume people only read holy books to convert. That's not true. BUT if you do find a religion so interesting and believe in it, we cannot hold you back from converting to that religion. If any one converted to a religion and wanted to stay that way, I still think they have a place in the movement. As long as they don't try to convert everyone. I recommend starting out with religious text from a culture you find interesting. For example if you love ancient Egypt read the book of the dead. If you're into ancient Arab culture you could read the Quran. Just a suggestion haha.

[Astarte]

I've had Morals and Dogma for a while (bought it out of curiosity for Freemasory) but never really read it, always thought it was a bit heavy.

Yeah, it definitely is a bit heavy, in more than one way. My favorite chapter is "Knight of the Brazen Serpent", a lot of good "astro-mystical" information in that section. Also, though Pike's personal politics should be considered extremely dubious if not outright reactionary the book has a few good things to say in regards to the "laboring classes" and how Masonry should relate to them.


Sympathy with the great laboring classes, respect for labor itself, and resolution to do some good work in our day and generation, these are the lessons of this Degree, and they are purely Masonic. Masonry has made a working-man and his associates the Heroes of her principal legend ... (chapter xxii, page 340)

[Zealot]

Wow, I didn't know so many leftists here were into theology. I know Ismail has read quite a bit of religious texts too, but I thought it was just him.

I haven't read the bible since I was a kid in Sunday School, and I don't intend to pick it or any other religious books up again.

I do enjoy reading Marxist analyses of religion, though.

I take religious studies as a minor because religion has always fascinated me. But what's more unusual is that I find the Religious Studies department to be the biggest bastion of anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism at my university. I don't mean among just the students either but also the professors and the compulsory readings we have to do. In fact, Marx has been required reading in a number of my religious studies classes but not once in political science. One of my professors actually impressed me with his brief exposition of historical materialism and the dialectic. Is that weird or is it weird :confused:

[Zealot]

I've had Morals and Dogma for a while (bought it out of curiosity for Freemasory) but never really read it, always thought it was a bit heavy.



Yes I'm sure that's what the Buddha was thinking when spent years in contemplation: what's a good way to ideologically liquidate the working class? :rolleyes:

Buddhism in its original form is meant to make your life better regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in. It's not about becoming passive and sheepish to oppression, it's to adopt a way of life that allows you to be happy despite the presence of oppression. If you find yourself in a situation where oppression is inevitable and fighting it will get you nowhere, what are you gonna do? Keep fighting, maybe end up imprisoned, or dead for your troubles (either from your oppressors, or from the inevitable stroke or heart attack that your stress will bring you)? Or do you make the best of the situation and achieve peace and a good quality of life? I might hate capitalism and want a revolution, but I don't think it's ever gonna happen in my lifetime. And so I don't lose sleep over it.

As for the people who say it's contrary to revolutionary struggle, how would you rather fight for the revolution? ranting about the system, stressed out, complaining, constantly angry? Or would you rather engage in that struggle with peace of mind and confidence?

Buddhism is a solution to suffering that allows you to be happy regardless of the circumstances. In its original form it's a way of life with no Gods, no afterlife, simply a realistic path that allows you to live in peace. And nothing prevents you from continuing the revolutionary struggle as a buddhist if you're so inclined.

Buddhism made a lot more sense to me after smoking two bowls of 40x Salvia Divinorum. I don't know if a Buddhist would take that as a compliment or an insult but I can certainly imagine a lot of ancient religions being the product of a mushroom trip or some other "entheogen"/hallucinogen. That isn't meant as a dismissal either, but more of a "I have a better understanding of where you're coming from". Salvia can really make you see the world from some pretty mind-blowing perspectives. I'm not sure if meditation can act in a similar way but if it does I would be very much interested.

[Sasha]

Also, for a anti-church reworking of the gospel of Jesus may I recommend the book "the good man jezus and the scoundrel Christ"? It's very good...
http://m.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/04/scoundrel-christ-pullman-review

[bcbm]

Yeah, it definitely is a bit heavy, in more than one way. My favorite chapter is "Knight of the Brazen Serpent", a lot of good "astro-mystical" information in that section. Also, though Pike's personal politics should be considered extremely dubious if not outright reactionary the book has a few good things to say in regards to the "laboring classes" and how Masonry should relate to them.

i knew the freemasons were bhind communism!!

[Aristophenes McTwitch]

sure, often the only books you are allowed in your first days in a police cell :grin:

This is not true anywhere that I know of.

Anyway, I myself draw inspiration from alot of Sutras of Buddhism, as well as Sufi Islam...even if I still consider myself somewhat of an agnostic.

[Sasha]

This is not true anywhere that I know of.

Anyway, I myself draw inspiration from alot of Sutras of Buddhism, as well as Sufi Islam...even if I still consider myself somewhat of an agnostic.

Here it is, you have the choice between the bible, gossip rags and sticky playboys, i take the bible... According to dutch law they can deny you all books except your holy book, tried to claim LOTR was my religion but they didn't buy it...

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I think I tried to read the Bible (KJV) from cover to cover once, but I kept getting fucking bored. There are some exciting bits in the Old Testament, but also an awful lot of boring rubbish. The New Testament is similar, except the boring bits are epistles rather than interminable genealogical lists. By far my favourite book of the Bible is Revelations, which reads like a bad mushroom trip of apocalyptic proportions.

I've read bits of the Koran, which seems to have more hellfire talk and blowing smoke up God's ass than the Bible does. Despite the shortness of the chapters making online reading relatively easy, I'd like my own physical copy to go with the KJV Bible I rescued from a skip.

I borrowed the Baghavad Gita from the library a while back, but I wish I'd read more of it because I hardly remember what the content was like, and being a hefty volume (even if most of that was down to the original Sanskrit, transliterations and commentary being included along with the translated verse) was rather intimidating to read cover to cover. Although I vaguely remember finding it significantly less frustrating to read than the Bible and the Koran, which I suspect has something to do with the fact it's trying to tell an actual story. I think I've found the online version (http://www.asitis.com/), but I find that books of this nature are better read in paper form.

[Zostrianos]

In the Old Testament, the Song of Solomon is an interesting read found in an unlikely place. It's essentially an erotic poem

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

In the Old Testament, the Song of Solomon is an interesting read found in an unlikely place. It's essentially an erotic poem

That's one of the exciting bits of the OT. I was quite surprised when I read it - almost steamy, yet poetic.

Although I have to admit I burst out laughing at "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines" and "the voice of the turtle is heard in our land". I later found those were mistranslations(?), but still.

[Astarte]

In the Old Testament, the Song of Solomon is an interesting read found in an unlikely place. It's essentially an erotic poem

Exoterically, of course it is an "erotic poem", but as a spiritual text its essential meaning can't be understood solely in this way unless one wishes to miss the point. The "conjugal bed" motif found in this text is usually considered metaphoric for the relationship of God and Israel in Judaism, mostly with God playing the male, kingly or solar aspect and Israel the female or lunar (though clearly roles frequently reverse in the poem as to illustrate the unity or even homoousia of the essential natures of the two substances). Likewise, Christian interpretation places Jesus as the solar role, while the dark, lunar or female role is the mundane Church. The divine and mundane attributes of solar/lunar, male/female, adored/adorer are very much so in flux in this poem though - which is meant to portray the interpenetration of the divine and earthly and hence the conjugal bed metaphor in spirituality which represents the the unification of "two worlds" - i.e. the metaphor of the unification of male with female and sun with moon ("1:6 Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun." who can be "darkened by the sun" but the moon after all as during a conjunction/New Moon which itself is also parabled by conjugal bed or marriage symbolism) used to exposit the relationship of God with Israel and or Christ with Church.

[Sasha]

I must admit though I like more "recent" religious works way better than the old stuff, Dante, Milton and Blake is where the really good stuff is at..

[human strike]

I was raised a strict Mormon so I've read large sections of all the doctrinal texts associated with the LDS church.

[Bostana]

Yes.
I read all three. (Well, the Torrah and Old Testament are the same thing). The Bible really contradicts itself. Not only that but it is pretty cruel, even by ancient standards. I think it was a few sentences after it says homosexuality is a sin, it says parents have the right to stone their kids. And it also says that if a man rapes a woman that he must marry that woman.

Now the Qu'ran doesn't contradict itself as much as the Bible does and in my opinion is less cruel than the Bible (only slightly though), ill give Muhammad that. However it is still very cruel as far as human rights go, for both books that is.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

The scriptures of both the old testament and it's new testament additions are nothing short of shitty novella where you prefer the antagonists over the main characters.

[Narodnik]

I was raised a strict Mormon so I've read large sections of all the doctrinal texts associated with the LDS church.
Regular CJC-LDS, or some of the smaller groups? I talked to a couple of Mormon missionaries from the CJCLDS, super nice guys, but not theologically versed.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I read through the whole Bible, that helped radicalize me.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Buddhism is a solution to suffering that allows you to be happy regardless of the circumstances. In its original form it's a way of life with no Gods, no afterlife, simply a realistic path that allows you to live in peace. And nothing prevents you from continuing the revolutionary struggle as a buddhist if you're so inclined.

Bullshit. This is not the buddhism practiced in the countries which have a majority Buddhist population. There are deities. There are hells. There is blatant sexism and ethno-supremacism.

The line that Buddhism is a 'peaceful religion' usually comes from people living in the west who've had an 'eastern philosophical epiphany' or something like that. It's wrong and doesn't coincide with reality.

Of course Buddhism isn't always transformed into this extremism, as with any religion. But to say that Buddhism is 'inherently' peaceful is like saying any other religion in the world is inherently peaceful - they aren't.

[Astarte]

"No thinking person will wish to claim that the present state of affairs represents a durable end-state [in regards to spirituality]. On the contrary, everyone is convinced that the tempo of change and transition has speeded up immeasurably. Everything has become fragmented and dissolved, and it is impossible to see how a "higher" synthesis could take place in any of the spiritual organizations that still survive without their having to be modified to an almost intolerable degree. One of the greatest obstacles to such a synthesis is sectarianism, which quarrels for the holiest of reasons in order to set itself up in the place of religion and brand anyone who thinks differently as a lost sheep, if nothing worse. But have any human beings the right to totalitarian claims? This claim, certainly, is so morally dangerous that we would do better to leave its fulfillment to Almighty God rather than presume to be little gods ourselves at the expense of our fellow-men." -Mysterium Coniunctionis

Hardcore ML's please replace "Almighty God" with "historical materialism".

[Comrade Alex]

I've read the book of Mormon numerous times, doctrine and covenants, and most of the bible along with many mormon texts (article's of faith, philosophy of Mormonism, teachings of Joseph smith etc) all are good texts I've also read selections of the Torah and Qur'an also nice reads and various quotes from Buddhist and Hindu texts also good
All are good texts that can help us live our lives more spiritualy