ash wrote on Apr 25
th, 2011 at 3:20pm:
what about budhists? considering they believe in reincarnation....does it also follow that the sins/guilt/onus of their *"former self" follow them as well?
ps * for want of better terms.
For a start, Buddhists don't usually believe in reincarnation in the literal sense, and you can't really infer something about Buddhism from a consideration of Christianity either.
I'm not a Christian as such (just for Easter
), but I was trying to explain the concept of original sin.
Here is a Wikipedia article that summarises it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_sinDo I agree with it? No, but I think it's a way of describing some kind of latent or hereditary malevolence, which is fair enough.
My own position is that all people are capable of doing good as well as bad. In some cases, it's obvious what is good and what is bad, but not always.
I like this Ancient Chinese tale:
Quote:There was an old man who had a beautiful horse. This horse was not only his family’s pride and joy, but it was also a means to an income for the family.
One day, the horse ran away. Fellow villagers visited the old man to give their condolences for such a stroke of bad luck, as the loss of his horse represented a staggering financial blow that would be hard to recover from.
“Good luck, bad luck: Who can tell?” replied the old man. “It is as it is. My horse is gone.”
Perplexed at the man’s nonchalance towards the apparent tragedy, the villagers went about their business.
A few days later, the horse returned with a pack of 12 wild horses in tow. Again the villagers gathered, this time to offer their congratulations at such a stroke of good luck. Now he had 12 more horses with which to make 12 times the income! What a godsend, they said.
“Good luck, bad luck: Who can tell?” replied the old man again. “All I see is that 12 more horses have appeared.”
The next week, while breaking in one of the wild horses, the old man’s son fell and both his legs were broken. What bad luck! The villagers exclaimed. Your son has broken both of his legs. That’s terrible. How will you get your work done? You are too old to do it yourself.
“Good luck, bad luck: Who can tell?” was the (now predictable and equally frustrating) answer of the old man. “My son has broken his legs. That is all I know.”
Shortly thereafter, the government forcibly removed all the able-bodied men from the village, as the country had gone to war. The old man’s son, however, was spared since his legs were broken.
Good luck, bad luck: Who can tell?