I've been saving up to reply to this, but by now all I can say is that this is extremely well-put. No religion should have to resort to metaphysical coercion to enforce its ethical standard. Of course, that is kind of predicated on humans being rational, mature, and intelligent, which sadly seems to be an infrequent occurrence.
I will say that I've encountered much less of the former (dogmatic coercion) than the latter (thoughtful justification) in Buddhism, but my readings have been primarily in the fuzzier Western stuff, rather than the more dogmatic sects like Zen and Tibetan where reincarnation and karma and all that is more central.
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Date: 2005-05-13 01:20 pm (UTC)I will say that I've encountered much less of the former (dogmatic coercion) than the latter (thoughtful justification) in Buddhism, but my readings have been primarily in the fuzzier Western stuff, rather than the more dogmatic sects like Zen and Tibetan where reincarnation and karma and all that is more central.