The Problems with Eastern Religions

The Problems with Eastern Religions

Hemant Mehta (http://www.friendlyatheist.com, http://www.patreon.com/Hemant , https://www.facebook.com/friendlyatheist)

One of the frequent comments I get on these videos is that I pick on Christianity too much. I never talk about any other religion.

Well, there's a reason for that: I live in America. Christianity is a dominant force and the one that affects me the most on a regular basis.

But point taken: It's not like non-Christian religions are any closer to reality. At best, they inflict a little less damage on the world than faiths like Christianity and Islam can do in the hands of bad people.

And by the way, I was raised in an Eastern religion, Jainism, so I have some experience with them.

So, specifically, what are my biggest concerns about Eastern religions? Let me bring up two ideas that are pretty popular with many of them.

1) Many eastern religions believe in the idea of karma. That what you do now will somehow affect you in the future. If you do something nice, you're gonna be rewarded for it somehow. And if you're an asshole, it'll come back to haunt you.

-- It's a very nice concept. I would love to believe that it's true. But there's no evidence for it. The people who say it's real are just linking together a bunch of coincidences.

-- I hate to say it, but there are horrible people who never get punished for what they do. Hitler's not suffering any worse than anyone else. There are presidents who started wars that killed several thousands of people... and they're doing just fine now.

On the flip side, sometimes nice guys do finish last. Some of the greatest peacemakers in our history were assassinated. Just because someone lived a great life doesn't mean they're getting rewarded for it in the afterlife.

Karma isn't a scientific principle. There's no equal and opposite reaction to our actions.

And when we talk about karma, who decides what's good and what's bad? A higher power? Of course not. So let's say you're a doctor helping a woman have an abortion? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think it's good, but a lot of people don't. So how would karma work in that case?

The other concept I want to bring up is reincarnation, which is believed by Hindus, Jains, Buddhists.

Here's the concept as I was taught it growing up: Karma is bad. If you do bad things in your life, you build up a lot of karma, and when you die, your next life is gonna suck. But if you do good things in your life, you shed that karma, and when you die, you'll be better off in your next life. And if, after repeated reincarnations, shed all of your karma, you will break the cycle, attain nirvana, and become a deity of sorts.

Here's the problem with that.

-- Against, there's no evidence of it happening. Let's get that out of the way.

-- It suggests that children born with some defect -- maybe a genetic abnormality or a disability -- they brought it upon themselves in a past life. How awful to blame an innocent child for something he or she had no control over.
But I hope this is a good starting point for discussion.
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