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Sept. 11, 2006 I'm usually quite vocal about my objections to religious faith regarding Christianity. If you've been paying attention to anything I write, you'll notice that I very rarely mention other religions or criticize their various beliefs. That's because I was raised a Christian and so this is the religion I know the most about. It's easy to see the weaknesses in the belief system you are most familiar with. However, there is one concept that is shared by several different religions that I find it necessary to address. That is the concept of reincarnation. Briefly, for those who have no idea, reincarnation is the belief that our souls are eternal and that they have lived before on this physical plain of existence and that they will continue to live in other physical forms lifetime after lifetime until it is no longer necessary. In other words, if we die our souls will return in another body and we will continue doing this until we completely learn all the lessons we were destined to learn. The purpose, therefore, is to improve our eternal character making us more worthy of a place in paradise. There are several problems with the belief in reincarnation that deserve mention. It becomes apparent that we really have no knowledge of any past lives. Some people claim they do and point to various dreams, visions and other hallucinations as evidence that they existed previously. But if we cannot accurately remember anything from a previous life, how can we learn from it? If our suffering is the product of our own past actions, why should we try to ease the suffering of anyone else? Wouldn't this go against the Law of Karma? One question that clearly illustrates the ludicrous nature of faith in reincarnation is the question of population growth. If everyone alive today once inhabited a previous human body, how come the world's population keeps increasing? It would seem to me that if everyone has been reincarnated before and all souls are eternal then there would be no new ones being born, yet the population keeps increasing at an exponential rate. Another question posed by faith in reincarnation is the concept of sin and punishment. When hundreds or thousands of people suddenly die in a natural disaster or other catastrophe, does this mean they were all simultaneously punished for their past sins? How does this intelligent principle (karma) set up the conditions for these disasters so the desired result happens with complete precision? Or does it? Did all six million Jews deserve to die in the Holocaust? How about the Inquisition in the Middle Ages? Did all those people deserve what they got? What about the millions of innocent civilian victims of any war? The ludicrous nature of this discourse becomes quite apparent when we look a little closer at what this really means. Supposedly when someone dies, they deserved it somehow. If we try to prevent their death then we are guilty of meddling with karma (playing God). But if karma is true, then no one who is innocent can be executed. If someone is executed who is really innocent, then they deserved it. Is this logical? Of course not. It is a perfect example of circular reasoning or what Americans like to call a Catch-22 situation. In other words you are damned if you do and you are damned if you don't and there is nothing you can do about it but accept it. So, from this perspective it does no good to try to improve your life because you are the victim of karma. It does no good to help others either because they must endure the karma they need to complete their lesson in this life. The problem with this archaic faith should be quite obvious. It is fatalistic and provides no incentive for improving your life or doing anything that makes living more rewarding. The truth is that our very mortality is what makes life precious. We aren't going to get a chance to do it all again so we better get it right the first time. With regard to Christianity and the other monotheistic faiths, there is no paradise awaiting us on the other side of death either. So, whether you believe in reincarnation or life after death you will be disappointed by the fact that this one single life is all you get. Make the best of it. ------------ About the author: Keith Cantrell lives in a small town in Oregon where he was a fundamentalist, born-again, evangelical Christian for over 35 years. After many years of questioning and research he has finally become an agnostic. He has written a book entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Book" and it tells the history and origins of the Bible. It's the only book on the market that takes the Bible from cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation and explores who wrote it, where it came from and how it all got put together. It's the 21st century. Isn't it time you knew the truth about the Bible? This book is available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks and Amazon.com. Read it and tell me what you think! After all, I could be wrong! Email: kwcantrell@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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