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The Soul
May 14, 2011 at 7:19 am
When I stopped believing in a god, a very queer thought came to mind. If god is man-made and non-existing, what about the soul, the very reason people believe? Is there actually such a thing as an immortal part of the human? I know two things; I have a body, I have a personality and I quite safely say that neither are permanent. Considering that the atoms in my body change all the time, that eventually it will decompose when I die, I think it's quite safe to say that it isn't going to be here forever. My personality on the other hand has changed already during my years on this planet, and a decent bang to the frontal lobe and it might change quite radically and I might not be "me" anymore.
So, what is the soul? Well, a musical genre, to be sure, but does it really have anything to do with the human body? Is it just another creation of man to freak people out that there actually will be retribution after death? That there is such a thing that can be collected by an utterly selective deity, seem to me ridiculous. I don't believe that there is anything in the human body that could be immortal. I think it's just another mean to scare people into obedience, a mean to make religion make sense.
But what do you think?
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
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RE: The Soul
May 14, 2011 at 9:15 am
The soul is the label ancient peoples gave to the part of you that is you, they theorised that it was seperate from the physical and went on to give it more and more properties.
So the soul is the firing of neurons, which was understandably missunderstood by ancient people, which has become so enshrined in our culture that the error persists.
Others will still argue for a non-physical soul but there is a s much evidence for that as there is for god. i.e non.
You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.
Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.
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RE: The Soul
May 14, 2011 at 9:33 am
Hence, when the neurons fail, your "soul" die. The statement that the soul is immortal is utterly false then? Nice to know that I'm not the only one who found it a bit crazy 
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
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RE: The Soul
May 14, 2011 at 6:20 pm
I think you're preoccupied with life after death. And I think that's a misconception.
I'd define it as the life force. It isn't the personality, but integral or essential to consciousness and personality.
It's the incorporeal essence of a person.
Most importantly it's our responsibility at each moment to aim to be good for the health of our souls.
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RE: The Soul
May 14, 2011 at 7:05 pm
I like soul music but I think that's just a label attached to good music. I don't sign on to any supernatural concept of a soul. Sorry.
 A man is born to a virgin mother, lives, dies, comes alive again and then disappears into the clouds to become his Dad. How likely is that?
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RE: The Soul
May 14, 2011 at 7:17 pm
I like soul better than rap but I think I'd rather get beaten with an iron bar than listen to rap.
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RE: The Soul
May 15, 2011 at 3:57 am
(May 14, 2011 at 6:20 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: I think you're preoccupied with life after death. And I think that's a misconception.
I'd define it as the life force. It isn't the personality, but integral or essential to consciousness and personality.
It's the incorporeal essence of a person.
Most importantly it's our responsibility at each moment to aim to be good for the health of our souls.
Essentially yes, that's the whole point with a soul, now isn't it? If people didn't think that they actually had something eternal in them, why scare them with tales of life after death? To me, if there is such a thing as a life force, it's purely biological. The concept of a body, mind and soul seems as foreign to me as e.g. the concept of the Holy Trinity. For me it's just three pieces that don't fit together. On the other hand, if I'm terribly mistaken and there actually is life after death, then I realize the part the soul has to play in a persons lifespan, and in that case I guess I'm screwed.
Could you please elaborate on what you see as good for the health of our souls and why it is our responsibility? I might not think I have a soul, but I'd really like to hear your thoughts on that. 
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
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RE: The Soul
May 15, 2011 at 4:31 am
I don't think the soul was used as tool to keep people obedient but merely a coping mechanism for death.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: The Soul
May 15, 2011 at 5:53 am
That's a really interesting thought. But I think that eventually someone saw the potential of it and started using it to scare people.
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
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RE: The Soul
May 15, 2011 at 7:41 am
@ Kayenneh
I think you're taking my point in the very opposite way to what I intended (missed the first line completely). The soul is also an immediate and essential part of us. The abuse of the concept (the guilt trip), like most things, is people trying to take advantage of people.. ie anti Christian.
What the soul definitely isn't is physical. In no way at all can it be remotely biological, chemical or physical.
To answer your question: our spiritual health is real time, just like our physical health. Doing bad stuff is detrimental to your spiritual health, and makes you sick. Instead of enjoying life you're brought down by guilt and sadness. If we foster our good aims we get better at it, and our health is increased. God comes into this via an improved moral focus. His perfect morality versus our own selfish morality.
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