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Old 04-25-2012, 12:18 PM   #146
CarlW
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Makarov View Post
I know next to nothing about Buddhism (and it would be great if someone who did could step in and correct me), but as I understand it, Buddhists do generally believe in an unseeable, supernatural order to the world. In my view, although there may not be a personal God or Gods, that likely would be sufficient to characterize Buddhism or Taoism as a religion. Confucianism is more difficult to characterize (in my very unsophisticated opinion.)
Buddhism does not exclude the idea/possibility of the existence of gods, but believing in them is not necessary though depending on the various forms of Buddhism there may or may not be a greater degree of belief (also influenced by each individuals culture they grew up in) ie. Zen/Chan Buddhism vs Tibetan ###rayana.

In my opinion calling Confucianism a religion is like calling someone teaching you Manners a religion.
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