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**kaiayout** · 11-09-2010, 05:09 AM

I recently came across a document , Buddhism For The Modern Skeptic by Paul Davy ( http://www.justbegood.net/Downloads/...ptic%201_1.pdf ), and as a Buddhist who came to the teachings of the Buddha from a skeptical approach, I am not convinced that this work would be seen as helpful for a real modern skeptic.

I will list my major criticisms of this work at the bottom of this post (so as to not tempt anyone to read them beforehand) , though I would encourage anyone who might be interested in this topic to read the essay first before looking at what I have to say about it.

Briefly, and just off the top of my head as I write this at work, some of my major criticisms are:

1) Davy is not himself a skeptic, and seems to see skeptics as “having faith in science and rational fact”, equating it with superstitious faith.

2) Davy asks the reader to “suspend disbelief” on the crucial “Buddhist” issues of reincarnation (“re-birth”) and karma, in an apparent attempt to “sing the skeptic to sleep” on these issues.

3) Davy a) presents watered-down versions of karma and reincarnation beliefs, b) as if they (or the full-up, hindu-style versions) were intrinsic to the Buddha’s own soteriology, and c) fails to grasp, and thus convey, that such speculations and beliefs are not necessary to, or an intrinsic part of, that soteriology.

4) Davy’s recommendations for further reading (with a couple of notable exceptions) tend to steer the reader away from well-known authorities whose writings would be helpful to a skeptic, and toward writers who would seek to convince a skeptic to abandon reasonable doubt.

5) Davy recommends the skeptic to visit online discussion forums which push reincarnation and karma superstitions, and are even openly hostile to Buddhist skeptics, those who do not accept or buy into such beliefs, or who point out that the Buddha's own liberative teachings do not include the reincarnation and karma superstitions.

6) Davy takes some sutta passages out-of-context, particularly from the Kalama Sutta and the Apannaca Sutta, misrepresenting them as being recommendations that one embrace reincarnation-and-karma beliefs.

11-09-2010, 05:09 AM	#1
kaiayout Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 414 Senior Member	"Buddhism For The Modern Skeptic"...? I recently came across a document , Buddhism For The Modern Skeptic by Paul Davy ( http://www.justbegood.net/Downloads/...ptic%201_1.pdf ), and as a Buddhist who came to the teachings of the Buddha from a skeptical approach, I am not convinced that this work would be seen as helpful for a real modern skeptic. I will list my major criticisms of this work at the bottom of this post (so as to not tempt anyone to read them beforehand) , though I would encourage anyone who might be interested in this topic to read the essay first before looking at what I have to say about it. Briefly, and just off the top of my head as I write this at work, some of my major criticisms are: 1) Davy is not himself a skeptic, and seems to see skeptics as “having faith in science and rational fact”, equating it with superstitious faith. 2) Davy asks the reader to “suspend disbelief” on the crucial “Buddhist” issues of reincarnation (“re-birth”) and karma, in an apparent attempt to “sing the skeptic to sleep” on these issues. 3) Davy a) presents watered-down versions of karma and reincarnation beliefs, b) as if they (or the full-up, hindu-style versions) were intrinsic to the Buddha’s own soteriology, and c) fails to grasp, and thus convey, that such speculations and beliefs are not necessary to, or an intrinsic part of, that soteriology. 4) Davy’s recommendations for further reading (with a couple of notable exceptions) tend to steer the reader away from well-known authorities whose writings would be helpful to a skeptic, and toward writers who would seek to convince a skeptic to abandon reasonable doubt. 5) Davy recommends the skeptic to visit online discussion forums which push reincarnation and karma superstitions, and are even openly hostile to Buddhist skeptics, those who do not accept or buy into such beliefs, or who point out that the Buddha's own liberative teachings do not include the reincarnation and karma superstitions. 6) Davy takes some sutta passages out-of-context, particularly from the Kalama Sutta and the Apannaca Sutta, misrepresenting them as being recommendations that one embrace reincarnation-and-karma beliefs.
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