Namaste,
Here's the background: One of my best friends who is a devout Roman Catholic is currently in a spiritual crisis. He is doubting Catholicism, and is fed up with priests telling him what to do and everything being a sin. He has had these types of experiences in the past. About a year ago he almost converted to Islam. He converted to Catholicism a few years ago and was a non-practicing Protestant as well as a pagan before converting. He has since said that he will either be a Catholic or a pagan.
He started talking to me about reincarnation and I explained to him how it makes a lot of sense that we have many lives and many chances to be united with God, not just one life like in Christianity. We also talked about the numerous studies of people, often small children, who remember their past lives. He was fascinated and deeply interested in that. We also talked about souls, and how every living thing has a soul. He said how that makes sense and that's what believed before he converted to Catholicism.
I also tried to discredit Christianity to him. He knows that I respect the core teachings of Christianity and the teachings of Christ, but I also have problems with Christianity. I pointed out to him contradictions in the Bible as well as some stark similarities between Hinduism and Christianity, especially Krishna and Christ. He seemed pretty interested in that, but he pointed the conversation back toward reincarnation and souls and then we came to the topic of this post
Here's the topic: I was explaining to him how reincarnation makes sense to me and how every living thing has a soul by saying how us humans are animals. We are superior and more intelligent than the rest, but ultimately we are still animals and we are classified as animals. We live and have souls just as every other animal lives and has a soul. Therefore, we should respect all life and not kill animals. He said how he agreed that all animals have souls, but that we are allowed to kill them in order to survive. (We had a heated discussion several months ago over vegetarianism and how the human body is not designed to eat meat, which he nor I wanted to get into again) He asked me why killing animals is wrong if the animal's soul will just move on. I said that killing animals damages the animal's soul as well as your own for ending its life prematurely. He asked me if I believe a soul can be damaged by something physical. I wasn't sure what to say so I just said that the act of killing can damage a soul and a soul can be damaged but not destroyed. I asked him what he thinks happens to souls when a human kills an animal. He said how the souls would just move on. I said how I don't believe that the soul is perfect and it can't be damaged. I said it definitely could be damaged, just not destroyed. He said that since it's spirit, it can't be damaged by something physical but it could be damaged by something spiritual. I asked him what is the argument against murder then? He said how humans kill animals in order to eat and survive, but man does not kill man in order to eat him and survive, therefore the murderer's soul would be damaged, but not the victim's. (Remember, we didn't want to get back into the whole conversation about how humans aren't supposed to eat meat) I pointed out to him how he therefore believes that the soul can be damaged by something physical (murder), and he said the soul would be damaged by the spiritual aspect of it and not the physical action itself.
So, the question is: When somebody murders another person, is the victim's soul damaged? We both agreed that the murderer's soul would be damaged, but what about the victim? I thought that the victim's soul would be damaged as well and the soul would move down. The murderer's soul would be damaged even more. That's why killing is such a bad thing, because it negatively affects all that are involved. He seemed to think that the victim's soul would just "move on" presumably to a higher form.
I know that there are many viewpoints in Hinduism and I will probably get different answers to the question, but I just want to know what you all think. Also, please pray for my friend that he may find spiritual comfort, wherever that may lay.
Hare Krishna
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