Saturday, May 29, 2010

Did Lucy have a soul?

Hey Riickiiii... No, not that Lucy.
A long-time teacher and coach espoused in class (back in the day) that all you really need to believe is; God started it, somewhere along the line he put a soul in man and that some day he will end it. That's a rather simplistic view but it is a starting point. Over the years it has given me pause to think. Those types of points can be discussed in a Catholic school. That's one of the problems with public schools is a simple statement that challenges someone to think just gets parents in a uproar instead of classroom discussion (genus homo ignoramus). But that's a topic for another ramble.

I guess the first question is, at what point did God put in the soul? If you believe like I, that man evolved over time from the muck and at some point stood up and looked around with a sizable brain, he didn't start with a soul. The opposing view would be God dropped the metrosexual Adam into Eden with his iPhone and he stood up and said, hey, where's my latte? That would imply that the soul started from the beginning.

So where did the soul enter the picture? Did cro magnon man have it? What about our favorite neanderthal?, Or Peking man? What about homo erectus? Did Adam have a soul? Before the Original Sin, I would think he didn't need one. He was on a preordained path to be in heaven, to sit eternally with the Creator of the universe. But then a funny thing happened. Man sinned. At that point, there would now need to be a soul. It could forever be lost and thrown down asunder from God's eternal embrace.

So, what does that mean for homo sapiens? Stealing food as monkeys to survive isn't about right from wrong. Evolving humanoids would need to develop a system of right and wrong for the soul to be stained. At what point did the brain become the moral compass for our race? At what point did homo fill-in-the-blankus look to the heavens and say, hello God? I will not do wrong today.

I would tend to think at some point a spark in man's brain awakened and within a short period of time, a soul developed as mankind learned what it was to be above the other animals. He developed logic and reasoning which is a short step above right and wrong. That led to developing religions so our leaders could keep us on a more formal moral journey.

Just a few random thoughts on this Memorial Day weekend. Honor the fallen who have done battle for our freedoms such as this.

4 comments:

  1. anybody going to the cemetery to clean graves this weekend?

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  2. Are you comparing our beloved parents to cavemen? 50 lashes with a wet noodle for Baby Sis for non-topical comments.

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  3. Not fair - honor the fallen who have done battle for our freedom - right there in your post! Thought of Dad, then Mom, then what they used to do every Memorial Day - who grows peonies, by the way?

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