I am a Buddhist and if anyone wants to question my beliefs then they are welcome to do so...

What beliefs?

I'll ask igm if I want to know about his beliefs.
I was just wondering which beliefs you were referring to. I am not going to claim that there are no beliefs in Buddhism. That would be ridiculous.

I honestly can't think of one.

Frank, I think that Buddhists, like, Igm, IRFrank*, myself and others here who do not live in a Buddhist culture with an elaborate mythology, customs and ritual system are more inclined to "practice" aspects of Buddhism having to do with spiritual development rather than issues of doctrine or belief pertaining to aspirations of an afterlife. There are, of course, beliefs and ethics, but as I see it they are secondary compared to their primacy in Western Abrahamic religions. Western Buddhists (especially those following versions of zen and vipassana) focus more on something called "enlightenment", but that has more to do with a kind of psychospiritual "sanity"rather than the kind of holiness one tends to associate with Catholic saints.

*Pardon my presumption guys.

Because it would be ridiculous.

But if you cannot give an example of a buddhistic belief, why did you say there are too many beliefs in buddhism for you to consider it as anything but a religion?

JL, you are correct in your assumption, at least in my case. I will say, that in my case, Buddhism is a behavior system I try to follow. The 4 basic truths, the 8 precepts, are simple truths that guide my behavior. They are not divine. They are simple facts. Truth revealed. Frank, you can call that a 'belief' if you wish, but it is an easily justified belief. And it is much more 'believable' to me than accepting a supreme being concept. It is also more useful, in my opinion. I don't say this out of criticism, just explaining my position.

I realize that is a pragmatic approach and that there is much more to Buddha's teaching. But that is why I continue to meditate and follow Buddha's teachings. Yes, there is some 'faith' necessary to continue study, but to me it is rational faith in a teacher, based upon past success. Not faith in some outside supreme being that may or may not exist.

So, we can argue about definition of belief or belief system, but it is clear to me at least that Buddhism is different. Buddha never said, 'believe in ME'. He said, 'listen to what I have to say and believe it'. There is a difference.

Would you call mathematics a belief system?

I don't disagree with you. It is a belief system. But it is different than a belief in a God or gods.

I would say that there are beliefs and there are beliefs. Some are aspects of explicit ideological systems and some exist more passively within cultural configurations. We mustn't assume they are all the same because the share some traits in contrast to other kinds of mental behaviors.
In some religious systems certain beliefs are held because it is meritorious to do so (they'll get one into heaven). In Buddhism the beliefs that I acknowledge to exist are simply assumptions about how the world works: if you do this you might attain that, but only in this world, not in some afterlife.
The form of Buddhism I practice makes no reference to "souls" having other lives or even karmic justice and reincarnation except in the most metaphorical ways. My fellow practicioners and teachers rarely ever mention such terms.

That you did. I missed them at first.

I think what I am getting at is that while there are many beliefs in Buddhism, they do not have the same sacred status as beliefs do in other religions. You can believe what you want. Buddhism is about testing the merit of your beliefs, and discovering what the beliefs you hold do to you.
And the goal isn't to please some deity in the hopes of rewards in the afterlife. The goal is happiness. A simple enough idea, though who can manage to be happy all the time?