Perhaps surprisingly, I think that this subject will inspire the most “spirited” debate. The very idea that we do indeed have a viable spiritual life after our physical deaths is a cornerstone of modern religion. For hundreds of years, the afterlife has been the only hope of redemption and reward for many human beings, while the prospect of eternal damnation has been a deterrent to immoral behavior. Just as imbedded in our culture and emotionally charged is the concept of communication with our deceased loved ones. Everyone has seen TV shows, heard of anecdotal evidence, or feel that we have personally experienced communication with the spirit world.
Allow me to be the “Devil’s Advocate”, so to speak. If we are to have a viable afterlife, we need to retain those characteristics that make us who we are, i.e. our memories, talents, creativity, attitudes and aptitudes, intelligence and sense of humor, i.e. our soul, and perhaps even the essence of our physical being ( after all, a lot of who we are depends on our physical image). These attributes live in the neurological pathways and biochemistry of our brains and our physical bodies. So, the first dilemma is to comprehend how we retain these characteristics in a non-physical world. If we don’t retain our souls, what’s left?; why bother?
For most people (especially guys?), their initial vision of heaven would be to enjoy all of the pleasures that they love with none of the pain : love without loss, food without fat and flatulence, sex without complications, no stress, disease, or financial worries, etc. Then they usually turn to the bigger pictures of worldwide peace, no famine, disease or natural disasters. In other words, most people picturing Heaven are picturing Heaven on Earth. Let’s face it, who really wants an eternity with no physical pleasures: no sex, food, music, pets, wildlife, earth’s natural beauty and all of our favorite sights, smells, sounds, tastes and feelings? That sounds more like Hell!!
God, being God, could certainly find a way to let us bring our personalities and our pleasures with us to the afterlife if that is the plan. We obviously have no proof. If our loved ones were able to communicate directly with us from the spirit world, then I would think that the first thing they would tell us is what that world is like. The thing that makes me most skeptical about mediums is that they convey messages about sentimental memories like family pets, special events and celebrations, favorite songs, etc., but never any messages with substance. However, if you can believe that these messages are real, then that in itself is ample evidence that a spiritual afterlife does indeed exist.
Logic does not seem to apply directly to this discussion of the afterlife. However, by examining the other logical conclusions we have arrived at, perhaps we can incorporate an explanation of an afterlife into a logical master postulate. Among other things, we have concluded that God probably doesn’t interfere with our lives on earth, or so many bad things would not happen to good and innocent people. However, there is enough evidence of minor miracles to conclude that perhaps the spirits of saintly humans and loved ones intervene for our benefit. In order to accept that, we are agreeing that a spiritual life exists. In addition, our overriding conclusion has been that God has given mankind a mission to collectively cure our earthly problems and create a Heaven on Earth. We also inferred that included in that effort are the souls and karmic power of all of our predecessors. At best, they are helping the cause from afar. At least, they are awaiting a day of destiny.
Once we accept the existence of a viable spiritual afterlife, that opens up another can of worms. Is the spirit of a concentration camp victim hanging out with the spirit of Hitler? Is there 100% forgiveness for our sins? Does everyone enjoy the same rewards? If so, why be good, generous & kind, here on earth? I don’t have all of the answers, but I believe that God rewards a good life on earth with a proportionate amount of karmic power. Perhaps these spirits do mingle, but with little or no power, these “tragic souls” are left to observe and share in the good works of the others. Keep in mind, that even though we all have free choice, we are also saddled with differences in genetics and environment that God gave us and that could predict certain behavior. As we have said, God is not cruel, so I believe that there is no Hell or eternal damnation for even the most evil behavior on earth. In less civilized times, the concept of Hell was a useful enforcer of good social behavior. After all, if every citizen decided to succumb to the worst of human instincts, no police or military force could contain them. Hopefully, we are all civilized now.
Lastly, while we are discussing the spiritual afterlife, we need to mention the concept of reincarnation. To start with, the transference of our personalities from a physical body to a spiritual form after death is a form of reincarnation. This spiritual incarnation might exist in another world, universe or dimension. But, with all due respect to my Buddhist brethren, I can not accept the idea of a spirit or soul occupying successive earthly bodies while it seeks enlightenment. As a father, when I saw my newborn children, I knew that each one was the embodiment of a new soul in the universe. I could not believe that my newborn represented Jack the Ripper trying to improve his lot in life. Also, the math and logic does not work with such a concept. There would most certainly be disparities between the number of souls and the number of bodies to accept them. However, we have yet to explore infinite other possibilities like alternate dimensions and universes that might also fit into a reincarnation theory, so the discourse should continue.