So I was having a conversation with a coworker. I mentioned how as we age and develop various ailments what’s happening in a sense is that we are dying in little ways. We avoid death by staying healthy and fit for as long as possible because it’s in our nature. She, being the fundamentalist christian that she is, replied that when she died she knew she would get a new perfect body. I argued, well, you don’t know anything, you have belief or faith that that will happen. “No”, she said, “I know it’s true. It’s a fact that’s in the bible”. “But”, I said, “you only have belief that the bible is true. You don’t know something is true merely because it self-references itself as true". This basic logic statement puzzled her a bit. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Well, you need evidence to prove something, external evidence”. “Oh, but there is lots of evidence that the bible is true!”. (she also believes the bible is without error and the contradictions I’ve pointed out in the past are merely misinterpretations taken out of context).
Anyway, she asks if I’ve ever heard of the book "Evidence Which Demands a Verdict" written by a christian apologist. I hadn’t, but the internet is a wonderful thing, so I just did a little research. Didn’t find the book online, but I did find a good rebuttal: "The Jury is In". the verdict. apparently, is that christianity really hasn’t got a lot to stand on besides faith and belief. Scientific evidence isn’t there. And paradoxically, those who are looking for evidence to bolster their convictions are doing so because of a lack of faith -- and faith is the only saving grace of the whole religion!
Getting back to new bodies, last week I listened to an interesting podcast recorded in a Chicago diner a while back and was played on “This American Life”. the woman “Nancy” is in her early 40’s, and says the following (please excuse the grammar):
“where am I and what time is it? I don’t think I'm really here. I'm doing a two dimensional kind of thing, so there's part of me that’s here and there’s part of me that’s somewhere else. The future me. So what time is it? Earthly time it’s 1:15 AM and there is no time where my future self is. You know when you go to sleep and you dream, how you can bend and shape the events that take place in that dream? Well, what if that was your reality, and what if this were the dream? You know you can actually paint your future and you can make everything that’s ever happened, is happening and will happen has already happened. It’s shape shifting time and events so that you know why your soul is here. And that’s the purpose. To know why you’re here. To know why you came back. I know one past life I was a cowboy. And I was shot by accident. And I’ve met two of my four buddies that I was with together here. We agreed to come back on some kind of subliminal basis. So yeah, I was a cowboy in one lifetime, probably right before the turn of the century and my other lifetime I really don’t know but I know I was crushed. I don't know by what, but probably by a large building. I haven't identified the time yet; I'm still working on that."
Nancy may be easy to dismiss on first glance as a nut; a victim, perhaps, of too many acid trips. but on further reflection, her story holds up probably better than my christian friends. could it be true? are we the players in our own plays? if so, that could be the leverage needed to really make a change for the better in our world (if you have that intention!). because face it, without leverage you're not going to make much impact.
for more info see:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Reincarnation
