A Brief Guide to Reincarnation

Contents

• Pros & Cons of Reincarnation
  • Advantages of Reincarnation
  • Disadvantages of Reincarnation
• Common Objections to Reincarnation
• What Scripture says about Reincarnation
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Advantages of Reincarnation

• You get another chance.

Disadvantages of Reincarnation

• You get what you deserve.

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Common Objections to Reincarnation

• It's not fair that some people have better karma than others.
  

  It's absolutely fair, because you create your own karma. Who (or what) you are in your next life depends on what you do in this life.

• It's not fair that your next life is exactly what you deserve. That's judgmental.
  

  You mean it's not merciful. The idea that God is merciful is a Jewish and Christian concept.

What Scripture says about Reincarnation

"And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." The Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2,verses 10-11

Comment: Scripture describes a life that doesn't go anywhere, as gaining nothing.

Scripture quote from the Illustrated Catholic Bible on CD-ROM, Harmony Media, Inc.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What is reincarnation?
  

  It means that after you die, you return to the earth in some other body. Serious reincarnation says you could be any kind of living creature, not necessarily human at all. It is a Hindu belief. And you get what you deserve!

• What is a sacred cow?
  

  Good Hindus are vegetarians. Any animal at all may be the reincarnation of a person who has died. People in India may be very hungry, but they will not kill a cow, to eat it. This is startlingly different from late twentieth-century America, which is hamburger-oriented.

• What is karma?
  

  Karma is perfect justice. If you were a jerk in your previous life, you are reincarnated as a frog in this one. The entire religion of Buddhism is devoted to escaping from karma into Nirvana.

• What does it mean to say, "My karma ran over your dogma."
  

  This slogan means someone likes Eastern religion instead of Christianity or Judaism, but does not say why. If a man came to your door with a big grin and said, "My car ran over your dog," you would think he was irresponsible and tactless.

• What does it mean to say, "It's my karma"?
  

  It means I am not responsible for my behavior, because my karma made me the way I am. This is a serious mistake, since irresponsibility is the opposite of karma. A person who is not careful could get reincarnated in the next life as a beef steer.

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