Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo
No Hindu people would ever eat beef (or kill a cow), nor would any Muslim eat pork. Most Hindu are strict vegetarian and Jainist always are. Jainist respect all life beings so much that they would never kill even a mosquito. They don't wear leather (and you can't enter a temple with any either) and they care not to crush any insects as they walk. Some go as far as wearing a mask (like the one in Japan when you've a cold) to make sure they don't swallow a mosquito when they speak or breathe. I have never heard of non practising Janinist and scarely any Hindus or Muslims take religion lightly. So, for some people you are religious only if you respect all the rules of your religion. But how can you pretend being shinto then, as there are so to say no rules ? How comes so many Europeans claim being Christian but never attend a church, even at Christmas.
Complete obedience to the religious rules is indeed a rarity in the Western/modernized world. I've recently been to Malaysia (Muslim) and Thailand (Buddhist) and the difference was striking. Muslims are very strict on their rules and in a way I find that admirable. Thailand was totally different. Although Thailand's Buddhism is Hinayana, which means quite monastic and ergo strict on the rules (at least for monks), I saw a monk smoking cigarettes! Anyway, an interesting topic...