Do you believe in reincarnation? (Updated for the non-religious)

[Katy]

A relative recently mentioned they believe in reincarnation.  They had a long story as to why, it basically had to do with one of their children being ridiculously similar to an ancestor.  Then my mother mentioned she always thought I might actually be my grandmother, and mentioned all these reasons.

 

Then recently I was flipping channels and saw an episode of that lifetime show, "The Ghost Inside my Child" or something like that.  One of the kids sounded like he didn't think he was reincarnated, he thought his late uncle was just possessing him sometimes.  The other child was convinced she had a past life where her mother was her twin sister.  That did seem compelling, if not convincing.

 

DH says he's not sure he believes, but he would never put God in a box and say it just couldn't be true.

 

I remember a Sunday school teacher once saying all psychic sorts of stuff involved a demon called a familiar spirit, but prophecy was from God. They seem like exactly the same gift to me, and the verse about familiar spirits was incredibly vague.  So I'm not sure I understand where she got this huge theology she had all worked out about it.

 

So...  if you're Christian and you have a definite opinion about this I'd be happy to hear from you.   If you're some other religion, I'd like your opinion too.

[hornblower]

I'm atheist & I don't.

I know lots of people who do because they're into eastern mysticism & new age spirituality. Hey, I've been to have a past life & aura reading...  (I was told I was an architect or builder in ancient egypt & apparently carried some trauma because my big project was never finished.)

[TranquilMind]

Nope.  It is appointed to man once to die, and then judgment. 

 

No one comes back once passed away.    It's not that I put God in a box, but I know that He doesn't operate outside of the guidelines in His Word.  That show sounded creepy.  I've seen it listed but would not watch it. 

Yes, your teacher was right.  Familiar spirits (i.e. demons) can do deceptive things.  They are just the opposite of angels, who always point to God/Jesus Christ as savior. 

Prophecy is from God directly, not coming through a spirit, like psychic stuff which is a demonic replication of a spiritual gift.  And again, always within the context of scripture, as in God speaking to/directing his people.  Not Uncle Bill saying hi. 

 

So I guess that is my definite opinion, since you asked. 

[redsquirrel]

I can't vote. I do not and I do not believe in any God or Gods.

 

[73349]

I'm Unitarian Universalist (I marked "another religion" although we have Christian roots) and I do not believe in forelives, afterlives, or reincarnation at all.

There are seven billion people alive right now, give or take. When the world population was below a billion, what were all those other souls doing? Did they not exist yet, so some souls are new and others are recycled? What if the whole population dips?

 

I guess whether reincarnation is strictly within Homo sapiens would be a separate poll for those so inclined?

[Katy]

Oh I guess I didn't mean I thought reincarnation equaled going directly from death in some form to rebirth in some form.   I think it it's possible at all, that at least isn't logical.

 

I guess I thought maybe some people are reincarnated, but most aren't.  I'm not sure..  I actually think it's more likely that similarities between people are probably genetic, but that's a whole nother story.

[Tsuga]

No.

 

I mean some amino acids that currently make up my body will be reused and recycled eventually, yes, but other than that... no. I don't believe in the immaterial soul (though I do believe in the material soul).

[Tsuga]

I'm Unitarian Universalist (I marked "another religion" although we have Christian roots) and I do not believe in forelives, afterlives, or reincarnation at all.

There are seven billion people alive right now, give or take. When the world population was below a billion, what were all those other souls doing? Did they not exist yet, so some souls are new and others are recycled? What if the whole population dips?

 

I guess whether reincarnation is strictly within Homo sapiens would be a separate poll for those so inclined?

 

Maybe there is life on other planets and their species is dying out?

 

I don't believe that. I'm just saying, so long as you go in for reincarnation, why not?

 

[Ravin]

I can't vote. I do not and I do not believe in any God or Gods.

 

Why, do you deny that rainbows are pretty?

 

 

Reincarnation is sort of part of my belief system. I also believe in a multi-part soul-body complex, and some parts may be reincarnated while others aren't. The hyd, for example, is the spirit-mirror of the physical body and everyone gets a different one (except fictional people who conveniently on TV or in the movies look exactly like an ancestor, lol), but there are also things like hamingjya that are like spiritual DNA, that pass through family lines. Memory very rarely passes, but individual identity maybe does, most commonly in family lines but not always.

 

I also believe some people become spirits who watch over their descendants, and others go to the halls of Gods who favor them. In some respects one may do all these things simultaneously, or consecutively.

 

Mostly, it's not all that important what goes on in the afterlife. What matters is how one conducts oneself in the here-and-now, and takes care of one's descendants and reputation.

[DragonFaerie]

When my son was 5, he told me that he voted for Abraham Lincoln.  Who knows?  I tend to believe it, though.  I think that's where "old souls" come from. Besides, I'm not one to rule out possibilities.  Who am I to make any sort of determination that something absolutely does not exist?  What do I know?

[Firefly]

I think it's possible.  I am pagan.

[Rosie_0801]

Well, I've had dreams where dead relatives have told me there is such thing. 

 

On one hand, dead relatives in dreams aren't what us living people consider adequate sources.

On the other hand, they'd know better than we would, wouldn't they? :lol:

[Little Nyssa]

No-- I agree with Tranquilmind.

[Ravin]

Well, I've had dreams where dead relatives have told me there is such thing.

 

On one hand, dead relatives in dreams aren't what us living people consider adequate sources.

On the other hand, they'd know better than we would, wouldn't they? :lol:

In many traditional religions and knowledge systems dead relatives are a perfectly legitimate source of information. It's as reasonable to rely on your own dead relatives as on someone else's vision a few hundred or thousand years ago that got written down. (Both are scientifically unprovable religious knowledge systems).

[unsinkable]

I'm Catholic and I responded no.

[bolt.]

My Christan beliefs include belief in ressurrction and other specifics of an *individual* life and death. There isn't any way that I could also consider 'the usual' concept of reincarnation a possibility.

[umsami]

I'm Muslim and I think it's possible.  Official Muslim doctrine? Absolute not.

 

I do believe in Near Death Experiences and the like.  

[bolt.]

Prophesy is the gift in which one "speaks from God" -- generally giving instruction, exhortation or calling for repentance. I can't see anything much that it would have in common with psychic or demonic phenomena.

 

I don't know any verses about 'familiar spirits' but maybe it's from the King James Version or something?

 

I tend to think that anyone who is too sure and specific about the vaguaries of spiritual realms is probably adding plenty of info from conjecture and other sources. It's not a very specific in the Bible.

[HRAAB]

When I believe in an afterlife (it changes) I would consider reincarnation a possibility.  Actually, it seems more logical to me than one life, judgment, heaven or hell.

[PrincessMommy]

No I don't. 

[SKL]

Well ... I don't think I've ever met anyone who seems to be reincarnated.

 

But I have some weird ideas about the energy which is our soul/mind and what its limitations are/aren't.

 

I don't think reincarnation is any harder to accept than Heaven, or on the other hand, just completely ceasing to exist.

[fraidycat]

My little cousin used to say all kinds of stuff about "when I was big....." as a preschooler, then spout off stuff that was historically plausible. He also knew stuff about our grandparents (his great grandparents, passed before he was born) that led us to believe it really was possible.

[gaillardia]

I am Christian and I do not believe in reincarnation.

I have my own thoughts on how a child could know about things that happened in the family before the child was born.

Have fun with this big kettle of fish!

[elegantlion]

I find the idea fascinating, but it's not a part of my belief system. I would not, however, discount the idea that our brain stores something like genetic memories from relatives and ancestors and science just hasn't caught up with that understanding yet. 

[Luanne]

As far as someone being similar to an ancestor... there are these things called genes and DNA... it isn't unusual at all for someone to resemble someone else in their family (even if that person lived long ago).  That doesn't mean they used to be that person.

[unsinkable]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/the-creepiest-things-a-child-has-ever-said-to-a-parent#.nhK10NB15

 

 

 

Creepy things kids say.

 

Check out #7 and #10.

 

 

Yikes

 

And if you follow the link to the original thread, there are even more creepy answers. And funny ones, too. In a creepy way.

[LucyStoner]

No, and I have no religion so I couldn't vote.

[Guest]

Nah. Not really. I guess my general view is that every person gets his or her very own soul, which remains somehow or other unique to that person. Although for sheer numerical reasons, it would be more efficient to recycle the gently-used souls. ;)

[IdahoHomeschooler]

I'm so agnostic that I can't commit to a belief in reincarnation, but I don't rule it out as a possibility ;). I tend to think we are recycled after death. Our physical bodies certainly are, and if we have an energy component to our souls, then that energy would go somewhere.

[Amy in NH]

Kinda sorta.  I believe we are all part of the same universal energy which can be "recycled" into new life.  I suppose you could call it reincarnation?  I don't believe we all have individual souls, though, so I'm not sure if that is really reincarnation the way most people think of it.

[TranquilMind]

Prophesy is the gift in which one "speaks from God" -- generally giving instruction, exhortation or calling for repentance. I can't see anything much that it would have in common with psychic or demonic phenomena.

 

I don't know any verses about 'familiar spirits' but maybe it's from the King James Version or something?

 

I tend to think that anyone who is too sure and specific about the vaguaries of spiritual realms is probably adding plenty of info from conjecture and other sources. It's not a very specific in the Bible.

Here are a few mentions of that particular topic: (Bible)

 

Leviticus 19:31 - Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.

 

Leviticus 20:27 - A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them.

 

Leviticus 20:6 - And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

 

Isaiah 8:19 - And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

 

Isaiah 19:3 - And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

 

2 Chronicles 33:6 - And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

 

2 Kings 23:24 - Moreover the [workers with] familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

 

2 Kings 21:6 - And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke [him] to anger.

 

Deuteronomy 18:10 - There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

 

 

Acts 16:16-18 - And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying

1 Samuel 28:3-25 - Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

 

1 Chronicles 10:13 - So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, [even] against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking [counsel] of [one that had] a familiar spirit, to enquire [of it];

 

 

Acts 16:16 - And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

 

 

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 -

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

 

 

1 Chronicles 10:13-14 - So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, [even] against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking [counsel] of [one that had] a familiar spirit, to enquire [of it];

 

 

[albeto.]

We like to think of consciousness existing independently of the brain, but all our information suggests that cannot be true. Furthermore, we know that damage to the brain can and does alter consciousness in predictable ways. Sensory perception and memories and all kinds of variables contribute to our conscious awareness of ourselves, our thoughts, our actions, our emotions, and our relationship with our environment. To suggest the brain can be damaged to the extent of death, that blood ceasing to feed the cells, that impulses ceasing to spread from neuron to neuron would somehow escape the ultimate damage of death, and subsequent decomposition of cells, is to assume a thing that not only goes against everything we do know about the natural world, but is to assume all evidence to the contrary doesn't have to be considered. We don't apply this standard with car safety belts because we know the natural world is understandable and predictable. So for this reason, I don't believe reincarnation is a thing that can actually exist. It does make for some great spooky stories, though. I say no, but I couldn't vote.

[Mergath]

I'm a Buddhist-Pagan-Agnostic, and I think it's possible.  I don't think we have a soul that's exactly like our living selves that hops straight into a new body or anything like that, but I do believe that some part of a living creature lives on after death and becomes alive in some way again, eventually reaching a higher state of existence.  

[Ravin]

No, and I have no religion so I couldn't vote.

Really? Not even for rainbows?

[Jenrae]

No, I don't, and I a Christian. Tranquil mind summed it up pretty well.

[Jasperstone]

As far as someone being similar to an ancestor... there are these things called genes and DNA... it isn't unusual at all for someone to resemble someone else in their family (even if that person lived long ago).  That doesn't mean they used to be that person.

 

It's amazing at how many people believe that they are a reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe, and similar 'famous' persons.

[Desert Strawberry]

I do. I'm Buddhist.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I chose "IDK" because I lean toward No (just cause I'm skeptical about EVERYTHING), but being agnostic/atheist, I really don't know.  But it sure would be nice, IMO a whole lot better then the Heaven/Hell stuff I grew up with.  All those demon stories gave me horrible nightmares for years.  

 

ETA: Thank you for updating for non-religious but I'm sticking with I don't know, 'cause, well I don't know :rolleyes:

[Laura Corin]

I couldn't choose on your poll: I don't and I'm an atheist.

 

L

[Reefgazer]

I answered yes, only because once we die our bodies decompose and the elements are taken up by another living thing.  Since that happens again and again and again, it's only a matter of time (given infinite time) before those same elements that were in our body recombine by chance in the same way again.

[fraidycat]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/the-creepiest-things-a-child-has-ever-said-to-a-parent#.nhK10NB15

 

 

 

Creepy things kids say.

 

Check out #7 and #10.

 

 

Yikes

 

And if you follow the link to the original thread, there are even more creepy answers. And funny ones, too. In a creepy way.

Son of a....

 

WHY, Oh WHY did I link through to the original thread? At bedtime?

 

Agghhh! So much for sleeping tonight!

 

ETA: Just clarifying that I am not calling you names! Just angry at myself for clicking a known creepy link after dark.

[Twolittleboys]

I am Catholic and I am a bit divided on this. I kind of think we may have the option (not a part of Catholic belief though!) to experience more/other things and develop our personality further. It would help make life less "unfair" (for example for children that die young before they have a chance to experience much). I guess it also depends a bit on your view of Heaven. If Heaven is basically the same as life on earth (only of course infinitely better) it wouldn't matter so much as you would have a chance to "experience" things there (e.g. eating ice cream etc.) but if Heaven is a completely different state of being you would never get a chance to experience many things. I do feel I would like to have another go around and think that may be possible.

 

But it is definitely not something I am sure about and quite possibly it is only an incomplete understanding of God's plan/Heaven that makes me even wish for it.

[Pawz4me]

Logically -- No, I don't believe in reincarnation.

 

But -- I have some weird, extremely vague and brief flashes of memories of other times and places that make me wonder.  But IDK.  Maybe those "memories" are really just remnants of dreams I had when I was very young?

 

FWIW, I've often been referred to as an old soul.  I was one of those kids who never really behaved much like a kid.

 

I consider myself a Christian (of the very liberal variety), but I guess I'm enough of an agnostic to think there are things we just don't know (yet).

[Katy]

Sorry to the athiests, I guess I thought athiest is a category of religion, in the sense that that's where it falls on polls that ask about religion.  But I could see how the entire concept could be objectionable to athiests.  I should have worded the poll "not a christian" instead to be more inclusive.

 

 

Son of a....

WHY, Oh WHY did I link through to the original thread? At bedtime?

Agghhh! So much for sleeping tonight!

ETA: Just clarifying that I am not calling you names! Just angry at myself for clicking a known creepy link after dark.

 

I know, right?  I kept reading that thread until very late...  I was nodding off, and I'm still reading it.

[unsinkable]

Son of a....

 

WHY, Oh WHY did I link through to the original thread? At bedtime?

 

Agghhh! So much for sleeping tonight!

 

ETA: Just clarifying that I am not calling you names! Just angry at myself for clicking a known creepy link after dark.

Sorry to the athiests, I guess I thought athiest is a category of religion, in the sense that that's where it falls on polls that ask about religion. But I could see how the entire concept could be objectionable to athiests. I should have worded the poll "not a christian" instead to be more inclusive.

 

 

 

I know, right? I kept reading that thread until very late... I was nodding off, and I'm still reading it.

Oh, my goodness! I totally agree. Some of the replies are so funny, though. So it's like this mix of emotions of totally creeped out to LOLing so much.

[Heidi]

Oh, my goodness! I totally agree. Some of the replies are so funny, though. So it's like this mix of emotions of totally creeped out to LOLing so much.

 

 

Here's a direct link for anyone interested.  Best entertainment ever!

 

 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1d2v7i/parents_of_reddit_what_is_the_creepiest_thing/

[SparklyUnicorn]

No

 

it's fun to pretend I do and imagine what I might have been in my former life

[SparklyUnicorn]

You didn't put an option of "no and I'm not religious".

 

So I'm going with rainbows are pretty.

 

 

[Heidi]

So, I don't believe in reincarnation, but I do believe in a pre-earth life and a post-earth life, as in we existed as spirits before we were born and we will exist as spirits after we die, until the Resurrection.  I'm a Mormon/Christian.

 

 

[lailasmum]

No, I think our remains will get reused by other creatures, plants etc for food just as the elements that make us up have been parts of other physical things at various times. I also don't think we have a soul. I am an atheist.