Many theists try and use Bhuddism as a peaceful religion or use them in statistics to make it seem there are more believers, most countires with high buddhists rates also have high atheist rates (china and i think Japan)..

When googled "is buddism a religion" the response i got was:

"Buddhism doesn't fit neatly into either category of religion or philosophy. When people asked Buddha what he was teaching, he said he teaches "the way things are." He said nobody should believe his teachings out of faith, but instead they should examine for themselves to see if they are true or not."

As to my knowledge Bhuddism does not require any god or diety, i find it as a way of life, not a religion, its different then other religions even hinduism, hindus have many gods, its a more polytheistic religion, where bhuddists have no god.. It irratates me when people tie in Bhuddism with religion, and most bhuddists are somewhat secular which is respectable.

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on to my next topic, what makes religion so prominent in the 21st century, there are many reasons, but which one is the most affective, or maybe its a collective of them all.. Im going to list as many possibilities that i know of that keeps religion alive today, if anyone has any other possibilities please comment!

-Fear of death
-Childhood indoctrination
-Scientific illeteracy
-Comfort
-Church school
-Right wing media (Fox News)

The funnt thing i find out everytime is without the methods i listed above religion would probably die out, but scientific theories that religious people love to bash on would be found no matter what..

Thoughts?