Internet atheism: one of secularism's biggest enemies

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel

.....]The soul or spirit inhabits the human body, entering it at birth and leaving it at death, like putting on a coat and taking it off. in the analogy, the coat is an inert physical object, it is you inside of the coat wearing it that gives it life and makes it move. the coat is a garment worn by you. when you take it off it is a discarded garment.

Sounds amazingly like a body thetan in Scientology.

as a human, the body is an inert physical object, it is the soul inside of the body wearing it that gives it life and makes it move. the body is a garment worn by the soul. when the soul leaves the body (at death) the corpse is the discarded garment.

Ah, so animals and plants must have souls also. Otherwise, how could they have live, according to this.

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by mordant

Certainly. As in some ways the highest expression of some ancient cultures it is bound to have some valid and enduring ideas, some of which are well expressed.
As a teen I memorized I Corinthians 13 (the "love chapter") and still find it to be one of the best investments of learning effort I made in that time of my life (even if I can only still quote 3 or 4 verses of it from memory). It made quite an impression on me. Elevating love over hope and faith is blindingly obvious (hope and religious faith being essentially just wishful thinking anyway, while real love is empathy and compassion in action) but nevertheless ... the chapter makes an eloquent case for its premise, that love is the greatest of virtues.
Too bad that particular gem is set amongst so many gnarly old chunks of concrete and cast-off detritus.

[bUU]

Originally Posted by cupper3

Sounds amazingly like a body thetan in Scientology.

I may be wrong, but I believe in Scientology it isn't presented as an "analogy" but rather as an actuality. That's a critical difference that cannot be overemphasized. Viewing the conception as an analogy rather than an actuality distinguishes it as rational rather than irrational, in the same way that pledging allegiance to the flag is rational when it is viewed as a symbol of the nation, and would not be rational if viewed as the actual entity to which allegiance is being sworn.