Questions on clones
17 June 2006 — butchjax(questions presented by Omni)
Would YOU see a clone as a fully human being, with a soul if you believe in such things? If you said "yes," ask yourself: Would you hire a clone to work in an important position in your company? How about as a babysitter for your child? Would you be willing to be close friends with a clone? Would you adopt a cloned child? Would you date a clone? Allow your kids to befriend one? Want your daughter to marry one? Would you love half-clone grandchildren as much as "regular" ones? Could you ever feel really, REALLY sure that the unnatural manipulation of DNA hadn't produced something monstrous as a by-product?
Yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes….and to the last question, I have no qualms whatsoever. Here's the thing, I don't believe in physical requirements for souls. Our souls live with or without our bodies, therefore there is no requirement for sperm and egg or anything else for a being to have a soul. Thus, clones are no different than any other creature, it was just created in a different manner. Maybe there are more chances to screw up the dna, but dna is constantly mutating as it is. Do we consider those with downs syndrome monsters? Or any other genetic mutation? So what's the difference? I think it's all beyond silly to argue about, especially considering how difficult it is to clone anything, much less a human.
So officially I will go on record as saying, I have no qualms with clones. I don't know that I would clone myself, as it'd be wierd having a twin that was also my child. But someone else's clone? Sure, why not. Our personalities are obviously not all genetic or twins wouldn't be different. Now, it could be really interesting to see how much of our memories are held in our cells and dna, so I'd love to see some past life regression on clones. Talk about fascinating! 
But I don't expect to see much in the way of cloning for a damn long time.
17 June 2006 at 19:29
Good, someone with a developed spirituality thinking about this topic!! Here’s my question: if the soul forms totally apart from the physical world, where does it come from, and how does it get attached to a particular body?
17 June 2006 at 20:35
Sure, you gotta ask the hard questions, jeez! Those I don’t feel are knowable in human form. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an actual idea for how or when our initial soul forms. Nor do I know how it gets into our body, or when. Sylvia Browne’s granddaughter described what she saw once on the astral plane. Basically that the people go from the form they hold on the astral plane, and then shrink so they can ‘fit’ in the new physical body. So that’s one idea. But when it comes to my ideas, I have about zero. Lol!
So let’s see…I think the timing of the soul entering the body depends on each soul. Some maybe don’t like being in a body as much because they get bored and wait a little longer, whereas maybe others enter at the time of conception. It seems to me that there shouldn’t be a rule, which preserves my ultimate rule of absolute soul freedom.
How they get attached is simple: when the soul decides it’s ready to go, it enters the little body. I doubt there are human words to describe that, even if we understood it, so I’ll leave it at that.
Soul creation…maybe it spontaneously happens? Like the big bang, the primordial soup of energy just randomly spits out souls! hahaha, that’s hilarious in my mind. Again, I don’t think this can even begin to be understood from a human perspective, so I’m not going to worry about it. I figure, if I haven’t come up with an idea beyond my primordial soul soup, then I don’t really have anything. lol
What about you? What do you think?
18 June 2006 at 23:41
I think the soul is formed from the energy of our thoughts and emotions; the soul would grow gradually out of us like hair does. This concept appeals to me because it’s simple, doesn’t require the existence of additional unknowns, and is a logical cause and effect rather than a mystical process.
What do you think?
19 June 2006 at 13:01
Then where does the initial thought come from?
It’s that old chicken and the egg question…which is why I just decide not to think about it most of the time. 
I think the important thing is that it makes sense to you and doesn’t hurt your brain.
19 June 2006 at 14:16
I’m sorry, I’m not understanding the question; what do you mean by “where does the initial thought come from?”… you don’t think that the brain is producing thoughts?
20 June 2006 at 01:15
You said:
I think the soul is formed from the energy of our thoughts and emotions
Which is why I ask, where is that initial thought coming from. Or are you saying our thoughts create other souls, or the child’s soul?
20 June 2006 at 15:20
I think I see where I’ve explained myself badly; this can be a tricky subject to talk about, because we don’t always have overlapping frames of reference. I think I can do better:
I don’t see any soul, or any part thereof, coming from an outside agency and entering or joining with the body; I see the soul as growing from a process no more mysterious or magical than how your hair grows… spirituality without mystery, how’s THAT for odd, lol?
Thoughts and feelings are generated in the brain, and there’s energy released as part of that process; science has proven this. Energy can’t be destroyed, it can only change form; science, again. So, the energy of our thoughts and feelings exists in some form forever once it’s been generated; this means that there’s an ever-increasing amount of “mental energy” associated with each person’s body… and the soul is a bunch of energy associated with each person’s body.
Do we have 2 unrelated masses of energy associated with each of our bodies… or ONE? I say one; the soul.
Does that make a little more sense?