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| August 31, 2009 |
| Buddhism Strengthens Ties to Church [Excerpts]What in the recent past seemed exotic and foreign is now almost routinely folded into “the fold.”Buddhism is not only accepted as a mainstream American religion, it is a path increasingly trod by faithful Christians and Jews who infuse Eastern spiritual insights and practices such as meditation into their own religions.When John Weber became a Buddhist at age 19, his devout Methodist parents were not particularly pleased.
In recent years, however, they’ve invited their son, a religious studies expert with Boulder’s Naropa University, to speak at their church about Buddhism. “That never would have happened before,” Weber said. “They would have been embarrassed.” The Pew Forum’s Religious Landscape Survey in 2007 found that seven in 10 Americans who have a religion believe there is more than one path to salvation. A growing number of people are contemplating more than one each. And they are contemplating contemplation itself. There are Jubus – Jews who bring Buddhism into their practice of Judaism – and Bujus, who are Buddhists with Jewish parents. Then there are UUbus, or Unitarian Universalist Buddhists, and Ebus, or Episcopalian Buddhists. There are Zen Catholics. “There is a definite trend and movement that will not be reversed,” said Ruben Habito, a laicized Jesuit priest, Zen master and professor of world religions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “We are in a new spiritual age, an inter-religious age.” (Draper, The Denver Post, 8/9/09, http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13023827 ) [TBC: “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).]
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end of article……
On a personal note….I have experienced the problem of the introduction of Buddhism in our own church. Foreign films were being shown on weeknights so that the congregation could be “educated” because “knowledge is power.” Enough of us complained and the movies were stopped, but the lack of concern for the most part shocked me. When I researched the movies being shown, it became evident that they were part of a “unity” program to unite all religions by indoctrination of “common ground”.
DiscernIt 
3 comments
September 1, 2009 at 7:21 am
cheryl U.
I read this whole article a week or two ago. It boggles my mind that people who claim to be Christians can also openly embrace Buddhism or it’s practices.
September 1, 2009 at 7:40 am
Kim
Cheryl,
Boggle the mind is right. Here are some more quotes from that article.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13023827
Hair pulling stuff…..
September 2, 2009 at 3:00 pm
jb
I think Fox does a great job of making Homer look like budda!
Kimj- You do a great job of warning people of the dangers and I encourage you to continue, I just have to laugh sometimes at ‘christians’ who say things like, “Da Vinci Code is do alarming I don’t believe it, do you?” I just point to the cover of the book and say, “See here, where it says novel? That means it’s fiction.” Same with the shack etc.
God will save people despite all the crap out there, and we need to keep warning people, but many will ignore his calling all the same and I pitty the shepard who leads his flock astray. I was having coffee this morning with a friend who went to the same AoG that broke up because the pastor was a name it/claim it and wanted $$$$$$$$$$$$! I said, do you think I might be able to get some hymnals from them. He said, “They gave them away with the bibles.” I said what do you mean, they use to be under the chairs.” He said, “Yes, Pastor——- thought since there was no use for the bibles and we went to contemporary music he would give them away.” Few, atleast he didn’t just trash them.
Nothing suprises me in the ‘christian’ realm anymore.