Contrary to what you might think, I kinda do care what you believe. To some extent, anyway. If you believe watermelons are of good nutritional value, hey, I don't care. If you believe I deserve to be put to death because I have a habit of not marrying the people I hook up with, then I kinda do care. It's really all about context.
So many people seem to carry these benign, psuedo religious/spritual beliefs now, it's really, really hard for me to care about those. If you believe that there's this guy, way up there, and he kinda indiscriminantly cares about everyone and doesn't really do anything other than watch this very large ant farm we call the universe (I don't see the value in believing that, but some people I know do believe it. Apparently it's a safety blanket thing), you'll have to forgive me for not caring. Similarly, a lot of really moderate Christians have told me I'm probably going to heaven, because I've led a good life (for a given value of good. Haven't murdered anyone in weeks!), but I should probably praise Jesus anyway. To anyone thinking that, I have to say, you've really given me no incentive to change what I'm doing. Similarly, the whole "there's no hell, you just get obliterated from existence" thing doesn't bother me in the slightest, because that's what I think is going to happen anyway. And I won't feel jealous of you on your theoretical cloud because, you know, I'll be gone.
So yeah, if you believe mildly religious, generally nice things that don't affect anyone or govern your life, sweet. Got no quarrel with you. I don't think you're being exactly rational or skeptical, but you've never professed to be so who gives a shit. I do have a bit of a problem when people call themselves open minded for accepting that kind of thing though. It seems to be white-people's beliefs du jour to try and amalgamate a bunch of vaguely eastern philosophies into their ways of thinking. Shit like Karma, or meditiation. Granted, causality and human social conditioning can kinda look a little like Karma, and there is a lot of value in just spending time calming down and focussing on breathing every now and then, it has positive effects on your mind and body. However, it can go a bunch of different ways, some of which piss me off.
If you think along the lines of: "yeah, Karma is just a term, interchangeable with causality or socialising, but I refer to it as Karma out of comfort or convenience" then you're OK with me. Your definition is sound and you aren't positing anything particularly weird.
If you think "Karma is a natural phenomenon, distinctly different from causality, empathy or the nature of social creatures, but I can't tell you how" you're just that first guy in denial. If you can't say WHY it's different, you don't really have a basis for thinking it is different. It becomes a case of "my hippie dick is bigger than your hippie dick." At that point, you either need to think long and hard until you become guy 3, or accept that you're probably just guy 1.
If you think "Karma is a natural phenomenon, distinct from any other natural phenomena that yield similar results and here's what it is..." you are pretty much alone in the word. I have not come across a definition that isn't circular or "stuff happened! Check it! It must be Karma!" If you have such a definition, please post it. Also, note: describing the effects of Karma IS NOT a definition of Karma. You're giving me an effect when a cause was what I asked for.
If you think Karma is a supernatural phenomena that affects the natural world, I shouldn't have to explain why you're wrong.
I suppose where I'm going with this is that all terms carry significant baggage, so saying something vaguely religious/spiritual in place of a natural or scientific explanation does give away your bias a little. Or, in a much ruder way, please shut up about your hippie shit, I don't care. Unless it affects me. Then go die.
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