Reincarnation--Fact or Phooey

[Paroxysm]

I was Shintōgo Kunimitsu in a past life.

 

[SuperFerret]

I've always believed in reincarnation. While I've mostly used Christianity as a base for my personal beliefs (due mostly to familiarity), I look to nature and science to formulate my views, and reincarnation actually (*gasp*) makes sense scientifically, as long as you believe in a sort of life energy/soul (which without such a thing defining "self", I can't conceive how you can't be a nihilist).

Two things support my belief in reincarnation:

1 - Energy is a universal constant. It cannot be destroyed, only changed. Thus, your "soul" has always been in existence and always will.

2 - Many things in nature work in cycles. Orbits, the water cycle, seasons, etc. Having "life energy" being recycled and reused just makes sense to me.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Which are? A couple of those are depressing.

Hell doesnt sound like fun to me. The rest of them I can deal with.

 

[SuperFerret]

An eternity of nothing is better than an eternity of agony.

 

[Hobgoblin]

An eternity of nothing is better than an eternity of agony.

Exactly.

 

[antsman41]

I saw a "He is coming back, May __ 2011" billboard the other day.

LOL

Religious freaks are dumb.

 

[Bat-Mite]

What is your definition of a "religious freak?"

But yes, those that scream that the sky is falling are generally idiots. They've been saying that for thousands of years and it hasn't happened yet.

 

[antsman41]

What is your definition of a "religious freak?"

But yes, those that scream that the sky is falling are generally idiots. They've been saying that for thousands of years and it hasn't happened yet.

Anyone who believes in a "higher power" or something to have laws and rules to hide behind.

We have science, and common knowledge to know rape, murder, and other things are bad. I don't need "sins" held over my head or have to answer to anyone but myself and my family.

We might as well start churches for Batman, Superman and the LOTR...

 

[Manic]

We might as well start churches for Batman, Superman and the LOTR...

I'll have you know I'm a devout Supermannonite. We're a proud, morally upstanding polytheistic people.

Praise be to Superman. May the holy mother Martha bestow peace and blessings.

 

[Shemtov]

In before 20 Page argument

I predict this thread will close by page 10.
BTW, I do believe in reincarnation.

 

[Hobgoblin]

BTW, I do believe in reincarnation.

Why is that?

 

[The Slang]

I think its impossible to know what happens to us after we die, so I dont worry about it. The way I see it we can
1. Go to Heaven.
2. Go to Hell.
3. Be reincarnated.
4. Just decompose.
5. Something else that we cant imagine.

I'm good with 4 out of 5 of those options.

I think that list is alittle biased. Why include the christian/muslim heaven and hell concepts, and not include the viking valhalla or Hedes' underworld from greek myth etc?

This is all based on the assumption that a soul exists. The only 'energy' required for life are chemical and electrical ones extracted from the surrounding environment. The concept of self is generated by the conciousness which is a product of the brain. There's no reason to believe that some undetectable force called 'soul' is the actual self hiding within the body.
This is like saying that there's an undetectable force within the computer which makes it respond to my keyboard, even though we can all observe that electrical impulses are causing the effect.
I've read alot about past life regression hypnosis, I don't think this is reasonable evidence for reincarnation.
I understand that the idea of no afterlife can be scary to somepeople, but I think if you really thought about it eternity could be a much scarier concept.

 

[SuperFerret]

His list doesn't exclude other afterlife theories. "Heaven" could merely be interpreted as the "good" afterlife and "Hell" as the "bad" one.

Also, there's no reason not to believe in the concept of a soul.

 

[SPIDER-MAN-ROX]

I definitely wouldn't want to come back as a dog or cat or some other type of animal if reincarnation does exist or was real but I probably wouldn't get to choose or I probably wouldn't even remember my former life. Aside from going to hell for all eternity reincarnation is definitely a scary concept, I would much rather go to heaven & be with loved ones than to be reincarnated.

Sometimes I wish that I would have never existed/been born to begin with than to think about where I go when I die because death can be a very tormenting experience even before it happens. One thing is definitely true, we will all have go into the grave one day to rot away whether we have a soul that passes on or not.

 

[Sam Fisher]

I don't know. I'll let you know when I die.

 

[The Slang]

His list doesn't exclude other afterlife theories. "Heaven" could merely be interpreted as the "good" afterlife and "Hell" as the "bad" one.

Not all theologies have a good one and a bad one. Some have multiple 'good ones' and 'multiple bad ones'. Christianities after life claims have no more evidence than any other.

Also, there's no reason not to believe in the concept of a soul.

Lack of evidence can be considered a reason. Caring about whether or not your beliefs are true can be a reason.
Saying there's no reason not to believe in a soul is like saying there's no reason not to believe that I'm actually in a coma and this is all a dream. There's no reason not to believe that invisible people watch me on the toilet. Your argument can be applied to countless insane scenarios, but that doesn't mean we should believe those things. Disbelief is the default position for an unsupported claim.

 

[The Morningstar]

There is no proof either way.

I'd like to think there is more to life after death than just... nothingness for all eternity.

 

[Danalys]

i had no problem with existence before life.

 

[The Slang]

Edit

 

[The Slang]

There is no proof either way.

I'd like to think there is more to life after death than just... nothingness for all eternity.

Nothingness for all eternity? You make it sound like you'd be sitting in the dark in silence forever. There's no time if there's nothingness, your experience just stops. It'd be like it was before you were born.

As for 'there's no proof either way' that doesn't really make sense. If your not making a claim you don't require proof. We already know we are here, if someones going to claim a soul exists they should have some evidence. I can't provide proof if I'm not claiming anything.

 

[The Morningstar]

How does it not make sense? It's pretty clear... We cannot prove if there is life after death or not. Therefore, there is no proof that there is... or isn't.

And that's what i meant when i said nothingness. We'd be nothing. I don't like the idea of there being nothing after death. I'd like to think our subconscience lives on in some form or another.

 

[Manic]

I think I get what The Slang is saying. It doesn't make much sense to believe in something when there's no proof that it exists. Sure, there's no proof that it doesn't exist, but that's no reason to believe in it.

But I ask, where's the fun in that?

 

[Hobgoblin]

His list doesn't exclude other afterlife theories. "Heaven" could merely be interpreted as the "good" afterlife and "Hell" as the "bad" one.

Thats what I was getting at. Most religions have some kind of concept of a "good afterlife" and a "bad afterlife."

I definitely wouldn't want to come back as a dog or cat or some other type of animal if reincarnation does exist or was real but I probably wouldn't get to choose or I probably wouldn't even remember my former life. Aside from going to hell for all eternity reincarnation is definitely a scary concept, I would much rather go to heaven & be with loved ones than to be reincarnated.

Reincarnation isnt random. The form you take in your next life depends completely on your actions in this one. Yes, you could be reincarnated as an animal, but thats only if you really, I mean really, screw up in this one. You could also go on to be reborn as a "better" person. In the Hindu concept, there is a human hierarchy. Untouchables at the bottom, Brahmans at the top. The Untouchables are basically the homeless and the Brahmans are the spiritual leaders.

Sometimes I wish that I would have never existed/been born to begin with than to think about where I go when I die because death can be a very tormenting experience even before it happens. One thing is definitely true, we will all have go into the grave one day to rot away whether we have a soul that passes on or not.

Death is just a part of life. It is as unavoidable as the sun rising in the morning. If I cant help it, I wont fear it.

 

[Shemtov]

Why is that?

My religion teaches reincarnation.

 

[Hobgoblin]

My religion teaches reincarnation.

Really? I had no idea that Orthodox Judaism taught reincarnation. I learned something today.