Protestantism

» paper_turtle - Truth & Falsehood, Pt 1

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Another excerpt from:
"The Place of Scripture in Buddhism and Its Relation to Doing Good," Venerable Madawela Punnaji, A Presentation at the National Conference of Christians and Jews in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania April 29, 1990
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http://www.abva.org/Scripture%20in%20Bud...
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According to Buddhism, truth and falsehood are concepts derived from logical thinking. What is logical is considered to be true, and what is illogical is considered to be false. Although the conclusions, "true" or "false," should follow the process of logical thinking, we tend to decide that our beliefs are true, before we use logic to prove that they are true. In other words, we become emotionally attached to beliefs first and then use logic to justify them. This use of logic to justify emotionally held beliefs is called rationalization of beliefs. Therefore we tend to emotionally believe first and then rationalize. This emotional attachment to beliefs is called, "personalization" of beliefs, in Buddhism. To "personalize" beliefs is to identify oneself with beliefs and think, "this is my belief," or "this belief is me."
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When we personalize beliefs this way, what results is conflict and disharmony. When we cling to a view-point and say, "this is my view and this is the truth," we are in conflict with those who hold the opposite view. This leads to argumentation, dispute and quarrelling. The unhappy consequence of this is that we lose our "goodness." That is, by trying to claim any view as "true," we lose our "goodness." This is why the Buddha advises his followers not to accept anything as "true." Instead of seeking truth, his advise is to seek "goodness."
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[end of quote]
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It seems to me what was said above is validated many times over in the discussion threads here, nearly every day.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle