The peculiar thing is that most of these controversies are concerned mainly with the visible consequences or the matter-side. Much of the debate in the abortion issue, for example, is about whether or not it is murder, whether a fetus is a human being, when it is viable, and if the woman should have the choice to end her pregnancy. Those supporting capital punishment argue that society is justified in taking the life of a murderer, while their opponents think justice should not involve revenge. Our Western religious and philosophical traditions teach a threefold division of body, soul, and spirit. The majority of people would probably be at a loss if asked to describe what they think the difference between soul and spirit might be.
Eastern traditions go into more detailed divisions of man, whether fourfold, fivefold, or sevenfold.
The sevenfold division includes a physical body, an astral model body, vital or life-energies, desire, intellect, an aspect in which higher intelligence and intuition work together, and the divine spark that connects us with the whole. The arguments debated in these social controversies deal mainly, as said, with the physical body. The other human principles or aspects are hardly ever taken into consideration. Causes and effects influence us not only on the physical plane, but also on the astral, psychical, mental, intuitional, and spiritual levels. The greatest mistake we can make is to think that anything we do concerns only ourselves.