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This belongs in the main forum. I will move it there after you reply to this.

It's all good. Just read the rules for each of the individual subforums, and that should help. If you ever have questions about where a certain topic should go, don't hesitate to ask. 3nodding

Karma, as defined by dictionary.com is seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation; the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation; fate or destiny. None of these principles meshes with what Christianity teaches really. The closest thing I could find was in Job:



Karma implies that some force greater than us is rewarding and punishing according to one's deeds, and that this punishment/reward system is somewhat directly reciprocal: for each good act or behavior, you are rewarded, and for each bad act or behavior, you are punished, but God doesn't really work that way. He generally gives a swift kick in the pants once or twice to remind people where they come from and where they are going, and the reward for "doing good," or living as Jesus commands, is eternal life. Essentially, there is only one punishment and one reward: eternity in Hell, or eternity with God, respectively.

Now, with the verse from Job, that is simple cause and effect, nature. If you go around causing trouble, it goes without saying that it will catch up to you, because that's how the world works. It's not fate, it's not destiny, it's not God- it's just the way things are.

Well, the way the world works, one can neither be too good nor too bad without at least someone having a problem with it. To further Fushigi's point: it's not fate, it's not destiny, it's not God -- one's situation is a combination of your (in)actions and other people's (in)actions.

See, I normally see karma within the same lifetime. The 'what goes around comes around' philosophy. Now, do I believe that my good and bad intentions and deeds are being calculated by some cosmic force to dole out good and bad things to happen to me? No, not at all. Most people have a kick in the butt and look back down the road thinking it's retribution for that time they were being an utter [unkind phrase here], and sometimes I catch myself doing the same thing. I don't know how much of it I believe, or how much is just a phrase.

That karma, like the rest of life, just isn't fair. blaugh

Karma's not a part of my belief system, although I do believe that our actions and the way we treat people tends to affect our environment as a simple matter of cause and effect.

Found something interesting on Wiki when I looked it up.