Our biggest choice concerns the biggest result. That’s where we will spend eternity. If Catholic Fundamentalism is right, we live in a world that has been programmed to keep us from indisputably proving whether or not we have a soul to spend eternity somewhere.
That provides the impetus for a question: “Does the realization that we live in a world that does not allow us to indisputably prove something as basic as whether or not we each have an immortal soul lead us to conclude that, in fact, we do have an immortal soul?”
There are a few beliefs that have been common when thinking of souls.
1. Some believe that their souls were in some other being before they were in their present body, and that they will be in some other being after they leave their present body.
2. Others believe there is no soul at all.
3. Some believe that their soul will attain paradise if they kill those who differ from them.
4. Others believe that their soul will go to Heaven if they love those who differ from them.
5. Some believe that, if there are souls, all, or nearly all, will go to Heaven.
6. Others believe that all, or nearly all, souls are condemned to a well-deserved punishment.
7. Some believe that souls, if they exist, go to some neutral place where there is neither joy nor pain.
The differences between #3 and #4 are most striking. Both Christians and Moslems have concluded that there are immortal souls. Both religions have also concluded that there is a Judgment. They further agree that at Judgment, souls will be assigned their just desserts for eternity. The main difference is that for one, loving and forgiving is the prerequisite to salvation. For the other, hating and killing is the only way to get to the same place.
As the old saying goes, “You pays yer money ‘n you takes yer choice.”
