abaya

Well, "buddhism" could mean a lot of things. If we are talking about why people in a lot of Asian countries "go Buddhist," it's because it's 100% embedded in their culture. Most people don't really have a choice... nor do they want one (Asia has always been a difficult place for Christian missionaries to win converts). And those Buddhists (at least, the Theravada branch) espouse a very strict idea of reincarnation/nirvana, etc.

But if we're talking about why so many Westerners are "going Buddhist" these days, my opinion is that they're more drawn to the philosophy of the system, and perhaps even to the idea that there IS no hell. Also, frankly, I think it's an exotic fad... but that's another thread.

Well, in my Christian "training" (as stated above, it was Lutheran/Baptist/Methodist with a dash of Episcopalian and Catholic exploration--but all tinged with evangelicalism, to be sure), the idea of "saving people" from eternal separation from God (hell) was a big deal. It was central, in fact. Everything we were taught focused on imitating Christ, being a "witness" for Christ, spreading the Gospel, not doing anything that would cause our "brothers and sisters in Christ" (oh, what a term) to "stumble," praying for the "lost" (those who had not yet accepted Jesus), etc etc.

So in my (perhaps limited) experience of Christianity, the "coercion" factor was huge. Except we did not see it as "coercion," but as helping people escape eternal suffering... go figure. Looking back on that time of my life as a Christian, I don't know how I managed to justify this perspective to myself for so long... but I really thought I was helping people at the time.

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran