Reincarnation should be considered more likely than not on a rational basis

Thank you Thett3 for your respectful introduction. "It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection." "Voltaire http://www.reversespins.com... Now, I shall begin by expressing my concern for taking on such a subtle subject, I use the word 'subtle' because it aptly defines the Soul, which is the main topic of this debate. It is quite obvious to any learned person that the western culture and academic philosophers and scientists have very little by way of knowledge or information regarding the Spirit soul, so I can also understand how my propositions and my argument as a whole will seem abstract to many western thinkers, I myself am a westerner and am brought up in the City of London UK. But I have taken it upon myself to argue from an eastern philosophical viewpoint, which is greatly inspired by a genuine acharya ( spiritual leader ) A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada , Below I provide and encourage the reader to view the link to reference's of what established scholars and academics thought about His Divine Grace. One such excerpt reads, "...For those who have no access to the Sanskrit language, these books convey, in superb manner, the message of the Bhagavatam. In addition to being a scholarly work, it directly reflects the spiritual aspirations of a religious community which has gained considerable popularity in modern America." Dr. Alaka Hejib Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, -Harvard University another reads This is a work to be treasured. No one of whatever faith or philosophical persuasion who reads these books with an open mind can fail to be both moved and impressed...." Dr. Garry Gelade Professor of Psychology -Oxford University http://www.iskconbangalore.org... Again I encourage the reader to view the reviews of this great spiritual leader by a vast number of academics..... Now, I will be using arguments from analogy, along with scientific research and rational logic. With this in mind I further state that the Souls presence can simply be accepted on circumstantial understanding and will not be proven empirically instead a spiritual science will be applied.... Subtle as I mentioned before means, there is this thing, but this thing I can not see, that is the meaning of subtleness, I know you have a mind, and you know I have a mind, but I can not see your mind and you can not see my mind, similarly, identity, consciousness, I know you have consciousness, and you know I have consciousness, but I can not see your consciousness and you can not see my consciousness That is the meaning of subtle, and the spirit soul is yet even more subtle, So human life is meant for finding out about the Supreme Soul and the spirit soul. Now to begin with it's important to establish that the Truth means two things. 1 Material energy 2 Spiritual energy The material nature is an expansion of Gods plenary portion of energy, and is called God's inferior energy. God is the absolute source of all creation in both the material and spiritual worlds.... This is confirmed in the Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 10. The Opulence of the Absolute TEXT 8 I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts. http://www.asitis.com.................. Also, if any mainstream theology analyzes closely, they will conclude that God is the original source of all creation and nothing exists independently from Him, and everything is dependent on Him... The material energy is called the illusory energy in the Vedas, because it is transient and is not permanent, it is mutable, and it passes and fades... This is confirmed by the second law of thermodynamics, all material energy by it's very nature is subject to decay and change...In fact, ironically, change is the only constant in the material world. The material world is called the relative world and the spiritual world is called the absolute world, because everything in the spiritual world is absolute, the father and the son are one, the name water and the taste of water are the same. in the material world they are relative to each other...this is the inductive knowledge of the Veda. The Spiritual energy is the superior energy and will be my main focus in this debate, because I intend to show how you are not this material body which passes and fades, but that you are an eternal spiritual soul...a soul who's original nature is full of knowledge and bliss, and is acting due to it's covering of the illusory material energy.... You are not this body. Every one of us once possessed a baby body, then a child's body, then a teenagers body and onto adulthood, that body we had as a baby is no longer existing, but we ( the spirit soul ) are still existing, our baby body is completely destroyed, all the atoms have been replaced, and we have an entirely new body, also in the future we will again in this lifetime have changed our body, in ten years from now, the body you posses will be replaced with a new body, but you the spirit soul will still exist even though you have changed bodies n this lifetime, this is the process on how to accept the temporary nature of the material body and the eternal nature of the spirit soul. We are spirit souls Who are simply just dressed differently, one has the dress of a dog, one has the dress of a king, one has the dress of a tiger, and so on...the soul acts according to the body it has acquired, if one has a bees body then he will be attracted to the nectar and if one has a worms body, he will be attracted to the stool, similarly if one has a child's body then he will act like a child and adult human body is a very desirable body according to the Veda, because it qualifies the spirit soul to acquire knowledge of it's existence and also it is able to understand what it God, none of the animals can understand the spirit soul and the Supreme soul, so human life is very special in this regard compared to the animals.... Having used most of my opening argument in establishing the basics behind my case, I shall now try to reconcile western thinking with eastern philosophy, Further I would like to state a remark by a well loved scientist, astronomer and skeptic, Dr Carl Sagan, Who wrote in his book, The Demon Haunted World. ""there are three claims in the ESP field which, in my opinion, deserve serious study: (3) that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life, which upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation" -Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World, 1995. Sagan was a healthy skeptic and added in the same book: "I pick these claims not because I think they're likely to be valid (I don"t), but as examples of contentions that might be true." They "have at least some, although still dubious, experimental support. Of course, I could be wrong." This is the approach that is needed, without the scoffing and the quick, judgmental pronouncements. http://memexplex.com... Also I refer to Dr Ian Stevenson, who dedicated his life to the subject and conducted research of some 3000 cases of re- incarnation, mostly including small children who claim to still remember and have knowledge a previous life. Ian Pretyman Stevenson, MD, (October 31, 1918"February 8, 2007) was a Canadian biochemist and professor of psychiatry. Until his retirement in 2002, he was head of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, which investigates the paranormal. http://en.wikipedia.org............... I am almost at my limit of characters and have yet to fully explain my case, I will await the remaining rounds to further explain my position, I know hand the debate over to Thett3, Many Thanks