Pancho,

To answer a couple

of your statements...

As I understand the christian belief, animals do not have souls so would not go to heaven

or anywhere else. Once they die, they are gone.

Buddist, on the other hand believe in reincarnation, that our

souls progress through various stages of creation learning things along the way. Thus an ant has a soul the same as

a man does. Once we achive a certain level of knowledge we continue onto another existance.

Still others believe

an animal has a soul or spirit equal to or greater than our own. In many cases this seems to be a communal soul in

which all members of a given species are part of. In many cases a hunter must perform certain rituals prior to

hunting then give a prayer of thanks and ask forgiveness once successful. There are many beliefs beside our

predominantly christian belief here in the west.

I do agree that the christian religion and many others past and

present are about control. In the case of civilization it has had a tremendous influence both positive and negative.

I think any religion or belief system based on guilt would be like that.

You make a good point about our needing

to explain everything. I wonder at what point in the development of the mind that begins to occur. Do dogs see us as

gods or just really strange dogs? How about more developed creatures, say the chimpanzee or gorilla? It becomes a

very complex question.

On point 4, accountability is a tricky question. Must we be acountable to a higher

authority? Can man be trained to be accountable to himself? I believe he can and that anarchy would not be the

result. Rather that we could learn to work towards mutual best interests without the need for an external threat. It

would require a complete revision of the way we see things and respond to one another but I do not believe

government, as it exists today, is either necessarry or even in our best interests. There is only conflict because

we are taught that way. Why can't we be taught to not only tolerate and accept each other's difference but to make

the best of it and grow as a result?

Yes, man did create god, or so I believe. But I also believe there is no

harm in a belief of a higher power. If that is what helps people to live in their world, be happy and help one

another, then it's a good thing. It's when we try to force any belief system down another's throat that we start

creating evil. When a basic good is turned to control and guilt it is made evil. When violence and coercion of any

sort is used to make people do as another believes they should, it is always wrong no matter how good the

intentions. There are certain areas where you end up choosing between potential evils but that is what our

intelligence is for.

I disagree that every one believes something, some higher power exists. There are those

that don't and seem completely happy with it. They are hard to mark because most won't talk about their beliefs

for fear that they will be misunderstood. They have good reason for their concern.