Lots of people say, I'm spiritual, not religious, but they end up just creating their own religion,

usually based on new age beliefs that became popular in the 1970s, which themselves are just

a repackaging of many ancient Eastern religious practices. And one of those common beliefs among

the merely spiritual is belief in reincarnation, the idea that after you die, you are reborn

into another body. According to the

Pew Research Center, one third of all U.S. adults believe in reincarnation, which includes 26% of

Protestants and 38% of Catholics. Now, these probably aren't the most devout members of those groups,

but it's still shocking to see see because belief in reincarnation has tragic

consequences. And that's what we're going to talk about today. But before we do that, I hope you

will hit the subscribe button and like this episode, not because you want good karma, but just because

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Now, one place where the tragedy of belief in reincarnation can be seen on full display

is the nation of India, home to 94% of the world's Hindu population, and about half the population

believes in reincarnation.

This belief also entails the corresponding doctrine of

karma, which says, basically, if you are bad in life, you'll be reborn into a worse life,

and if you're good in life, you will be reborn into a better life. This has been used to defend

India's caste system, which is a social hierarchy based on your family of origin. The lowest caste are the

Dalit, previously called the Untouchables, who were treated essentially like lepers and segregated in

society being relegated to jobs in areas like sanitation or dead animal disposal because they

were considered the most unclean group. Discrimination against lower caste is justified

...