When it comes to people, there are in fact only three types ..... 'believers', 'not sures', and the 'non believers' aka 'the Religious', 'the Agnostics' and 'the Atheists'. Now it doesn't matter if we are born in Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or any other religion, we are all trained from childhood to the idea that there is in fact some sort of afterlife and that we all have some sort of immortal spirit, or soul if you will.
Now I am not discussing the nature of the belief: Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant; Shia or Sunni; a follower of Krishna, Jehovah, or Allah (I don't believe that Jehovah and Allah are the same god, just look at what Muslims are currently doing in the belief that Allah will take them to paradise for doing it .... that ain't the Christian god), no I am just talking about the belief in immortality through the possession of a soul.
Now this belief certainly predates the birth of modern religions, and there is considerable evidence that shows that there was an almost world wide belief in an earth mother matriarchal type deity, administered by shamans and later possibly druids, for thousands of years before the current religions took shape.
Archaeological finds suggest that both the early Homo Sapiens and that other early human species, the Neanderthal believed in some sort of soul .... they buried their fellows with ceremony and mysticism and most importantly seemingly with grave goods. These grave goods, to be carried by the dead into the next realm, only make sense if there was a belief that death was not the end, but rather the beginning.
So this belief in a spirit, or soul is likely to be very very old, but now, for perhaps for the very first time in human history, many people say that they are either not sure whether there is an afterlife (although maybe with a soul) or that there is not an afterlife and no soul. Many philosophers have debated it, and one, Blaise Pascal, described the reasons why it was best to believe in an immortal soul and god, in what became known as 'Pascal's wager' which is illustrated below.
Generally I lean towards the non belief end of the religious debate, but just occasionally I am given pause for thought ..... recently I was watching the episode of "The Simpson's" in which Bart Simpson sells his soul to his friend Milhouse, with much unhappiness until he got the bit of paper back from Milhouse.
This show made me stop and think. Even though I consider myself rational, and not subject to the superstitions required to believe in the supernatural .... if someone approached me and offered me a sum of money, say £10,000 or $15,000, for a signed bit of paper in which I gave them 'my immortal soul', would I do it?
The true answer?
I don't think I would, but I can't give a logical explanation as to why I wouldn't feel comfortable about doing it. This admission of my secret doubts has made me think about my belief in non belief ... this isn't as secure as I would generally like to think.
Now I am not discussing the nature of the belief: Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant; Shia or Sunni; a follower of Krishna, Jehovah, or Allah (I don't believe that Jehovah and Allah are the same god, just look at what Muslims are currently doing in the belief that Allah will take them to paradise for doing it .... that ain't the Christian god), no I am just talking about the belief in immortality through the possession of a soul.
Now this belief certainly predates the birth of modern religions, and there is considerable evidence that shows that there was an almost world wide belief in an earth mother matriarchal type deity, administered by shamans and later possibly druids, for thousands of years before the current religions took shape.
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| Mother Goddess figures 25000 yrs ago - Proof belief in afterlife? |
Archaeological finds suggest that both the early Homo Sapiens and that other early human species, the Neanderthal believed in some sort of soul .... they buried their fellows with ceremony and mysticism and most importantly seemingly with grave goods. These grave goods, to be carried by the dead into the next realm, only make sense if there was a belief that death was not the end, but rather the beginning.
So this belief in a spirit, or soul is likely to be very very old, but now, for perhaps for the very first time in human history, many people say that they are either not sure whether there is an afterlife (although maybe with a soul) or that there is not an afterlife and no soul. Many philosophers have debated it, and one, Blaise Pascal, described the reasons why it was best to believe in an immortal soul and god, in what became known as 'Pascal's wager' which is illustrated below.
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| Pascal's Wager about God. |
Generally I lean towards the non belief end of the religious debate, but just occasionally I am given pause for thought ..... recently I was watching the episode of "The Simpson's" in which Bart Simpson sells his soul to his friend Milhouse, with much unhappiness until he got the bit of paper back from Milhouse.
 |
| Bart Sells His Soul - Then Suffers |
This show made me stop and think. Even though I consider myself rational, and not subject to the superstitions required to believe in the supernatural .... if someone approached me and offered me a sum of money, say £10,000 or $15,000, for a signed bit of paper in which I gave them 'my immortal soul', would I do it?
The true answer?
I don't think I would, but I can't give a logical explanation as to why I wouldn't feel comfortable about doing it. This admission of my secret doubts has made me think about my belief in non belief ... this isn't as secure as I would generally like to think.
