Of all the assorted religious dogma I have encountered in my life, the concept of karma has always been among the most appealing. If only it were true that one would be rewarded for good deeds and punished for bad ones. If only we had future lives to look forward to such that our status in each would be sort of a divine accounting of what we had contributed to the world in our current lives. I find that notion so much more appealing than any of the Christian garbage about salvation through Jesus, spending eternity in heaven with Christians, etc. Sadly, this is yet another case where finding something appealing doesn't make it true. Just because it would be much cooler if you had that joint doesn't mean you have it!
With the idea of karma, there is a certain inevitability of justice. If one screws up enough in life, there is no forgiveness and no absolution of "sin" gained by repeated hail Mary's or whatever other magic rituals one's priest, witchdoctor, or other conduit to imagined gods commands. No deathbed confessions will save your ass. Your fate will be determined by your own behavior, just as it should be. The various Christian denominations seem determined to offer short-cuts - ways to get away with sin. Isn't this something they like to accuse atheists of (i.e., we are atheists because we want to sin)? I guess it should come as no surprise that they are projecting their own desires onto us.
In a karma-based system, there are no short-cuts; however, there are plenty of second chances. One has an eternity to get it right, but one must change one's behavior in order to do so. No amount of belief is going to cut it unless there is real lasting behavior change.
It is no surprise that Christianity thrives in the U.S. We're all about short-cuts, get-out-of-jail-free cards, and escaping responsibility for our actions. It is almost like Christianity was tailor-made for us, but I suppose it was just tailored to us. The Eastern religions of which karma plays a part could never endure here. They violate too many parts of our quick-fix culture.
There are many problems with Christian morality, but the idea that one can escape bad behavior through belief seems to be one of those we do not hear enough about. I think one could probably even argue that this sort of thing is inherently immoral.
