What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats? (page 3)

Nate Merit

Hello Skeeter!

Welcome to the board It's always good to see another EX Witness!

I would read the transcription of the case, but there is no link.

Have a great weekend!
Nate

All right, I read the case. My views of organized religion is confirmed. No one is coerced into checking out a religion, so anyone that has bad experiences has only themselves to blame. That goes for me myself also and my four year off-and-on involement with the Witnesses in my teens.

Why not try to get a Class Action Suit going against the WTBTS? I will jump on that bandwagon.

Nate

Nate Merit

Hi Brenda

That was a typo arising from my fingers trying to keep up with my mind. They just can't do it. I need to proof these posts before I post them.

I was a Buddhist for twelve years, a priest for about three and a half. Technically I still am. My training as a Buddhist was mainly in Soto Zen, though I had incorporated the Shin practice of chanting Namu Amida Butsu in my daily practice. Historically there has always been a close relationship between Zen and Shin and between Ch'an and Sukhavati. Having been meditating about ninety minutes a day since I was twenty, I had already had many of the various experiences of satori, and I took to Zen very readily and quickly. My sensei was Richard Christensen, abbot of Wolf Mountain Monastery in Arizona. He and I and Venerable Koshu Dari founded the Hongaku Jodo of America sect, a Pure Land Buddhist sect that combines the best of the two major forms of Pure Land Buddhism: Japanese "Shin" and Chinese "Sukhavati" (From the Sanskrit word "Sukkha" which means succour, and is obviously the source of the English word succour) I served on the board of directors as Secretary.

As to my Christian ministy, I was ordained by the Evangelical Church Alliance headquartered in Bradley Illinois, in 1980 at Grace Baptist Church in Inkster Michigan. That was in 1980. I was a nondenominational minister (The ECA is not a denomination, but an umbrella group for independent fundamentalist ministers of many persuasions) My theology was very much Free Will Baptist with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit thrown into the mix. Ergo, I refer to myself in those days as a pentecostal Baptist.

I have not had any other positions of authority in religion.

Nate

Bryan

From what I have seen, I would say that Unity Church does not use fear tactics.

Bryan

Have You Seen My Mother

Nate Merit

Hello Mysterious

You wrote:

"I would say a lot of pagan faiths and some eastern religions don't use fear tactics and threats. There is no negative result for not following them and therefore it is hard to instill fear in someone to subscribe to that belief system."

I'm only superficially informed about Neopaganism. Far Eastern thought, however, is another matter entirely. Most forms of "Hinduism" as well as Jainism and Buddhism do in fact use fear tactics. Rebirth into horrible hell realms or a horrible rebirth on earth unless one follows their instructions. Please do not patronize me on this. I was a Buddhist priest and rubbed elbows with plenty of other priests of various Dharma gates, as well as a Guru or two. (Nice rhyme)

As to religious Taoism (not philosophical Taoism), there are numerous little sects that do in fact use fear tactics. To please a friend I was inducted into one such sect and was promptly informed about hell and terrible rebirths unless I faithfully chanted "OO Tai Fo Mila." My friend was pleased, and I got to see the inside of a truly kooky little Chinese sect.

Nate

minimus

Islam doesn't.

Nate Merit

Hi Bryan!

Yes! The Unity School of Christianity is the anti-Tower. The exact mirror image of the WTBTS!

I love Unity, if if they are a bit overly positive for my tastes.

Thanks for the reminder Bryan.
Nate

Nate Merit

LMFAO! Yeah RIGHT Minimus!

Nate Merit

Hi DiamondBlue

As I said in my PM to you, but will repeat here for the benefit of others, Buddhism uses the threat of a terrible rebirth here on earth, or even in a hell-realm, as the stick of fear. Even Buddhist "fundamentalism" (Which is Theravada, the"The Way of the Elders") uses fear of a nasty rebirth.

Most of the world's Buddhists, however, do not believe in literal reincarnation, so this really only applies to a minority of the world's Buddhists. Vajrayana ("Diamond Vehicle"), better known as "Tibetan Buddhism" is a tiny minority of about five million out of over a billion Buddhists. Yet this tiny group gets so much press the world thinks they are normative, when in fact they are not. Most of the world's Buddhists are Pure Land, whether Shin ("Sheen") or Sukhavati.

Nate

Nate Merit

Hi sKally

I like it. Excellent acronym!

Nate

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

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