When a person suffers from a delusion
it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from delusion
it is called religion.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance.
Robert Pirsig
Like most
Americans, I was introduced to Christianity as a child; and being a child never
thought to question what parents and society told me was correct. At Christmas time we had a tree, we listened
to Christmas music and I attended church services. After all, it was about the birth of Jesus;
and everyone knew if you didn’t believe in Jesus you weren’t going to heaven.
Without the
promise of everlasting life and a Heaven, there is no reason to adhere to a
religion.
I never
thought to question what happened to all the people born before the birth of
Jesus. And what happens to all the
people in India that are Hindu, the Buddhist in China, Tibet and South East
Asia? What about the other two
monotheistic religions, Islam and Judaism; they believe in the same Original
God as good Christians, but not Jesus.
Then there
is the idea of a human soul, which leaves open a basic question. Exactly when was this immortal soul
inseminated into the human lineage. I
am sure the monkeys didn’t have a soul, so we can probably leave out
Ramapithecus – a small ape that walked mostly upright.
But then, Australopithecus strolled across the
plains of Africa on two legs, lived and hunted in bands. But they
looked more ape like than human so maybe we should leave them out of Heaven.
Homo Habilis constructed shelters and made
tools – exactly what is the criteria for receiving a soul?
Homo Erectus had language and was the first
hominid to leave Africa, so perhaps he was soulful. I am sure Christians of the Bible probably
don’t want souls originating in Africa, so Homo Erectus might be it.
Then we have Neanderthal, a close cousin that
our ancestors mated with. There is Neanderthal DNA in most people of European
descent. Surely Neanderthal must have had a souls.
Cro-Magnon
was barely distinguishable from Homo-Sapien (our kind.) so he definitely deserves
a soul.
But of
course, they were all before Jesus.
So, at this Christmas time, perhaps Christians should pray to Jesus for all the souls that don’t have a ticket to join them in the magical wonder land of Heaven, but instead are burning in the everlasting fires of Hell.
I know which
afterlife I would choose.
the Ol’Buzzard
