Maybe religious belief is like sexuality and people fall along a continuum, sometimes changing positions during the course of their lives. Fundamentalists are dangerous whether they are religious or sexual.
> Unlike Yoshie, I've actually gone through a couple of religious
phases in my life (always Catholic).
Wait until you try Queer Dionysian.
> "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people
is the demand for their real happiness."
But I find nothing illusory about Buddhism. In fact, Buddhism forces a person back into the world and away from illusions: no creator god; no taking things on faith; a determination to decrease suffering that occurs in the world. Sounds like real happiness to me.
> To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to
call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions.
Buddhists would say that is giving up a life in samsara.
Did Marx know anything about Buddhism or other non-Western traditions or was he speaking only of Abrahamic traditions?
Brian Queer Dionysian Seeking an End to Suffering Through the Awakening of Consciousness and Sexuality