What's my soul like?
What is the soul? Is it something you could take out or study? Is it just a conceptual idea used to justify our existence as something more than just entropy? Is there a particular point when it enters the body?
I remember a CCD class in 8th grade where the teacher read a Bible verse that I'll never forget about how God knows us from the very beginning, indicating that we have a soul the moment we are conceived. This has stuck with me because I have this picture of a little thing that will have fingers and toes and a beating heart within the next few months and how it's important enough to God that He cares and knows from the instant you begin to form. However, science poses a problem with the point that conception is not a moment at all. It's actually probably a range of 24-48 hours. Sometimes several sperm could penetrate the same egg and the egg will have to take time to reject the extra chromosomes. Sometimes the genes from the sperm stay separate from the ones from the egg for a day or more, and then it takes another day for the newly merged genome to control the cell. Also, the conceptus is not always destined to become a baby. Maybe God knows this though. I don't know. You can't know either. This is where I become conservative. I hate the idea of abortion. But, I also hate the idea of rape. It's so tricky. Mostly, I just don't like the idea of abortion as an emergency contraceptive for stupid behavior. You can't just do something that can create a life because it feels good and then get rid of it when you get "unlucky" or it's inconvenient for you. I guess I'm just in favor of anti-abortion laws that leave a few exceptions. Anyway, back to souls.
About cloning: genes in a cheek cell can become a person through unnatural intervention, but that's true about an egg that's fertilized in vitro. Nobody denies that children conceived by IVF have souls though, so what's the difference? Do twins share souls? What do we really mean by soul mates?
I just got to thinking about all of this after my psych class today. Curious, curious.
I remember a CCD class in 8th grade where the teacher read a Bible verse that I'll never forget about how God knows us from the very beginning, indicating that we have a soul the moment we are conceived. This has stuck with me because I have this picture of a little thing that will have fingers and toes and a beating heart within the next few months and how it's important enough to God that He cares and knows from the instant you begin to form. However, science poses a problem with the point that conception is not a moment at all. It's actually probably a range of 24-48 hours. Sometimes several sperm could penetrate the same egg and the egg will have to take time to reject the extra chromosomes. Sometimes the genes from the sperm stay separate from the ones from the egg for a day or more, and then it takes another day for the newly merged genome to control the cell. Also, the conceptus is not always destined to become a baby. Maybe God knows this though. I don't know. You can't know either. This is where I become conservative. I hate the idea of abortion. But, I also hate the idea of rape. It's so tricky. Mostly, I just don't like the idea of abortion as an emergency contraceptive for stupid behavior. You can't just do something that can create a life because it feels good and then get rid of it when you get "unlucky" or it's inconvenient for you. I guess I'm just in favor of anti-abortion laws that leave a few exceptions. Anyway, back to souls.
About cloning: genes in a cheek cell can become a person through unnatural intervention, but that's true about an egg that's fertilized in vitro. Nobody denies that children conceived by IVF have souls though, so what's the difference? Do twins share souls? What do we really mean by soul mates?
I just got to thinking about all of this after my psych class today. Curious, curious.