Does anyone here believe in reinarnation?

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I like the idea of reincarnation. Everybody likes a second chance. I imagine that there is a choice involved. When you die you can choose to join the cosmos and return to being stardust in which case you are completely recycled or you can choose to be reborn. Scraps of memories may get carried forward.
In my story, you do not get to choose how you are reborn but there is a path that starts somewhere among the smaller invertebrates and works your way through mammals and then to being a human. Not that we can assume being a human being is some crowning achievement but it's all I know. Sometimes I think whales are one up from us. Once you are a human, you stay being reborn into that but can always return to stardust. Stardust supplies an infinite source for new souls to be cultivated. When stardust is used instead of a previous person then the result is an immense and new combination of previous life. Memories may linger but not as clearly.
If you live your life in some exemplary way, and being beautiful or a celebrity is not what I mean, then you can achieve a choice when you die of becoming some higher form of life. Maybe the higher form exists on another planet in another universe or simply in the fifth dimension or hidden folds of our reality.

That would really be swell!

Man-o-man....if only I had a second chance! Or many chances!

Oh, sideways here but that is a valid argument for religion. It’s undeniable that there are a lot of personal, social and political benefits to being a part of a religious group.

I tried it a couple of times when I was young and read the book but I found I can’t reconcile the inconsistencies, fallacies and hypocrisy.

I am very happy for you that you are able to do this.

As a Christian, I'm reminded of the story of Jesus healing the blind man. People assumed that he was blind because he or his parents had sinned. Jesus replied: "“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:1-7) So God had his own purposes that had nothing to do with the actions of the man (in this or an alleged former life).

Reincarnation fits with some major world religious views, but Christianity holds to penal substitutionary atonement (Jesus dying on behalf of our sins), which makes reincarnation a moot point entirely.

Biblical passages that talk about the earth crying out, or the trees of the field clapping their hands, or the mountains breaking into song aren't mean to be literal statements but metaphors for how even nature responds to its Creator.

On the other hands, I don't know of any biblical text that mentions demons reincarnating. The closest thing to that would be demons possessing living creatures temporarily - as we see multiple times in the New Testament. But the people (or, in one case, animals) they inhabit have a real identity that is more than the demonic presence that comes to inhabit them. Demons don't just take on flesh through some process of reincarnation.

Which scholars? Certainly many liberal religious scholars would argue, along with naturalistic philosophers like Carl Sagan, that religion developed as a response to natural phenomena that they didn't understand - thunder and lightning, earthquakes, etc. And religion has been used to control people - it still is today, in fact. But the former is an speculative assertion, and the latter is simply an observation about what power-hungry people do in the name of God. No real surprises there; it's the same thing we see in politics, but few people see anarchy as the solution to corrupt politicians.

As a Christian, believing in human depravity (which can be seen), I'd be surprised NOT to find people abusing religion.

Then that's just studying a religion for scholarly reasons. It's no different from studying Greek mythology. It's cool and interesting (and it helps in understanding pop cultural references) but no one is suspected of believing any of it. (I believe this is what you were talking about, correct me if wrong)

Oh god. The whole bible is bogus. None of it is scientifically proven but still so many choose to believe in such lies. Different religions were created for people who wanted power and money.

No, atheism is based on science.

No it is not. Lack of scientific evidence is what has led me to be an atheist but there is no evidence to support atheism just like there is no evidence to support any religious belief system.

Science tells us to be cautious and pragmatic. We have been using scientific theories to explain things knowing quite well that the theories may one day be proven wrong or displaced by a better theory. I am an atheist but if I found evidence to suggest the view point was wrong, I’d immediately re-evaluate my view. Few things can truly be proven.

Not believing in religion is the exact opposite of faith. Atheism is a lack of belief.

The whole Bible is bogus? That's really quite an astonishing claim. Do you mean to say that there's no verifiable, archaeological evidence for any of it? That the people, places and stories are all made up? Even uber liberal, agnostic scholars like Bart Ehrman would be raising his eyebrows at that assertion.

But the original thread under discussion was "Does anyone here believe in reincarnation?", not "What scientific credibility can be attached to religious claims?" So I'll leave this one alone.

Keep it on topic first, I do believe there is reincarnation. I went to Mercer County, PA and I had a feeling of lightheadedness pass over me as I was driving through and it hit me that I felt I've been there before. I knew we had distant relatives that lived up there, Mom went here as a kid to see them, but later on, I found out that my (5th) great grandfather was the second White man to settle there after fighting in the American Revolution under George Washington. Who knows but I'd like to think there was a connection. Sometimes I think I do remember I was somewhere else before I was born in this life. I really felt that way when I was little but when I concentrate hard enough, I still recall something, what it is I'm not sure.

AS to science and religion, I do think they converge at some point, where, I don't know. But I think there are many things that or current science can only partially explain if it can at all. I believe there is a God. Is he like an old man with white hair, well, I really don't believe in that although He can be one if He desires, but I do believe there is an intelligence in this Universe.

I would not say that. Atheists believe strongly and have faith in many things. They just reject the common human belief in a deity. Most of the Atheists I know of have a very strong set of moral beliefs that they cannot in good conscience violate.

I think most atheists are probably quite eccentric, like me. Not believing is one thing, but choosing to reject the belief altogether is another. Rejecting it comes with consequences. For me that was just isolation form a small part of the population. But it’s pretty liberal where I live and in some parts of the world you can be executed as a heretic for rejecting a belief.

I think my problem is I believe too strongly. I know there is a lot more going on around us all the time that we are unaware of. I also think there is nothing but circumstantial anecdotes and no real evidence yet to prove or disprove anyone’s beliefs. I believe if we are really lucky and the human race survives as a species. We may one day evolve to a point where we can start to perceive new data about our universe and we will theorize about yet bigger questions. I think we are sort of like a dog trying to understand the complexities of how the car works. We just are not that evolved yet.

I have sampled your religions and find them lacking. If I have to choose though, I choose Buddhism. It make the most logical sense and I won’t have to hate my neighbours, or think they will burn in hell if they don’t hold the same belief. Funny though, I don’t see too many seeking to end their suffering through enlightenment. Our better judgement is often at odds with our nature.

Buddhist or not, I still haven't seen any evidence for reincarnation.

I believe that after we die, we have the choice of whether to come back or not.
However I doubt that what you think is true.

Atheists such as Dawkins have faith in the scientific method, but only because of the abundant evidence for it that makes us rely on it 100%

I think this explains it perfectly.


When we build and design airplanes, we use science. It's not because we just have faith in science, but if we don't follow the laws observed by science then that plane isn't going anywhere.