Will
Clones Have Souls?
The Spiritual Future of Artificial Intelligence
There is much controversy today over the
cloning of human beings. Scientists have successfully cloned sheep and other
animals and it can only be a matter of time before we have walking, talking
replicas of ourselves. I am not getting into the discussion of whether it
is wrong or right, for that will be a debate that will rage for a long time
to come. Science and religion have always been at loggerheads with each
other. There is no wrong or right and many wars are caused by strong beliefs
that rely on the ego's view of the world. The only truth is spirits' truth,
not just the stand-alone human ego.
The Question here is will a clone have a
soul?
I asked this question recently on a spiritual
forum and the views of some very well respected spiritual folks were quite
mixed. I concluded that it all depends on how we define a soul and who we
think we are. These are deep probing questions and many philosophers of
the past have come up with a variety of answers, but humanity as a whole
has not settled on any one answer to date.
So what is the answer. Lets look into the
future and take one scenario:
A person by the name of Will is fifty years
old and lives as an atheist. Will has undergone many cosmetic surgeries
for vanity. Does Will have a soul? Of course he does; right? He may not
recognize God, but that does not mean God does not exist. Atheists may not
know if they have a soul, that does not mean they do not have one.
Now Will is very wealthy and decides they
would like a clone of himself so his image is left behind after he dies.
The clone is made and is physically identical to how Will looked when he
was young - all natural with no cosmetic surgery. The clone studies hard,
grows up very religious and becomes a priest. Does the minister not have
a soul? Will God disown the minister? Who is to cast the first stone? Is
the "Will" of God the same as the
"Will" of the clone?
What about the advancement with microchips?
Very soon we will have robots that can think for themselves. Maybe solar
powered, or they may even be powered by inhaling oxygen. Science fiction
is fast becoming science reality. Androids may well look just like humans,
but that is artificial life and a machine will not have a soul - or will
it? It may well be the machines become more intelligent than humans and
we are ruled by them. Extreme thoughts but possible some time in the future.
Now more than ever folks need to understand
who they are and the reason they exist. If we go through life with no idea
of who we truly are, we will get more and more lost in the high-tech revolution.
We need a sound foundation to build our lives upon.
Every life form contains a soul, and even
a clone will have a soul once the breath of life is infused into the body.
We will never be able to know who was born and who is a clone. Spirit is
in all life and those that want to think humans have an exclusive contract
with spirit will feel anger and hatred towards a cloned human, if they can
distinguish one from a naturally created human. Many folks will say a clone
has no soul therefore is not really human.
Many folks think they are superior to a dog
or cat. Many folks believe animals don't possess a soul. All this blind "dogma" has
been programmed in humans for thousands of years. That is why most folks
can't be happy. They have to guard their possessions and many humans believe
that they possess God exclusively of all other species of life. Some even
go so far as to think some other humans are not in God's camp at all. Many
different tribes of thought, lined up in divisions of ego's blind thinking
and so much time wasted worrying and hating others.
Oh! by the way, did I mention genetic engineering?
I heard today they can put genes in our foods to make us fit and well. Maybe
also to control our minds in case we feel like rioting against the clones?
Athletes are experimenting with all kinds
of stuff to make them compete faster. One-hundredth of a second can mean
the difference of big money sponsorship and athletes will try anything to
make themselves winners. The latest thing I read was wasp juice from the
larvae of killer hornets gives a big boost. Some seek a menu of caterpillar
fungus, seal penis and extract of sea horse. How lip-smackingly scrumptious!
With such competition in sports, it will
not be long before gene therapy is introduced and injected into sports folk.
We will be able to tailor-make our bodies. No need of the surgeon's scalpel.
So we will remanufacture a human being to suit a trend. We will become designer
beings. Stem cells are cloned cells so many humans will be injected with
cloned cells. Does this mean they will lose their soul? The possibilities
of modern science boggles the mind. The cures for many diseases maybe just
a few years away. No illness means longer lives. Can the planet cope with
a population explosion?
This is just a brief glimpse into the future.
What would folks say who lived two hundred years ago and could comment on
today's lifestyles? Whatever will be will be. Science will advance and humans
will survive in spite of their ego selves.
The moments of life are precious and few.
We are put on earth to enjoy our lives and what wonderment there is to see
a sunrise, to hear the birds sing, to gaze at a sunset. The free things
in life are enough. Simplicity in all things is the answer in any era. Everything
else is just the icing on the cake. How big a slice do we need?
Remember: Enjoy life and don't fret about
so-called advancements. All is perfection in the souls' world and that is
the real eternal world. We are all souls together and NOTHING CAN ALTER
SPIRIT.
We all need to recognize we are the energy
that drives the motor, we are not the motor. We are the energy that feeds
the mind, we are not the mind. We are the energy that feeds the thoughts,
we are not the thoughts. We take a ride on the carousel of life, but we
must remember not to go round so fast or it will make us sick and dizzy.
The seesaw makes for one down and one up and we don't want others down at
our expense. Best we all ascend in spirits' elevator together.
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