August 21, 2007
China bans Reincarnation
I couldn't pass this Newsweek story up, China bans reincarnation:
China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."
But it's okay, the Dalai Lama refuses to "refuses to be reborn in Tibet so long as it's under Chinese control."
But inside the humor is a serious shocker:
According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 20 percent of all U.S. adults believe in reincarnation. Recent surveys by the Barna Group, a Christian research nonprofit, have found that a quarter of U.S. Christians, including 10 percent of all born-again Christians, embrace it as their favored end-of-life view.
20%? That sounds absurdly high to me. There's one question I've always wanted to ask someone who actually believes in reincarnation: how is our population increasing? World population has boomed in the last 500 years - where do the new souls come from? To me, reincarnation is among the more absurd theories of spirituality.
God bless,
Jay
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I knew Christians at college who believed in reincarnation (and pre-marital sex and all that). It was kind of funny to watch atheists take them to task for heresy.
As for your question, people can reincarnate as animals and vice versa. So the increase in humans can be viewed as a promotion from the animal ranks. I think not animals are considered ensouled. Then again numbers and formal logic weren't exactly their strong point.
Posted by: Burnt Marshwiggle at August 23, 2007 1:48 PMThere's one question I've always wanted to ask someone who actually believes in reincarnation: how is our population increasing? World population has boomed in the last 500 years - where do the new souls come from?
Maybe it's because of health advances in that time period - we're not increasing, just recycling more slowly.
Obviously, I think reincarnation is hooey, but the logic seemed to fit. :)
Posted by: Joel at September 3, 2007 11:47 PM
