David’s blog on Dalits and the caste system is well worth exploring in terms of worldviews. Why are so many Dalits / untouchables believed to be cursed from birth? The following true story is illuminating. A Dalit woman living in India was asked why she wouldn’t take her baby son to the doctor. He was very ill. She replied that the illness was part of the boy’s karma. He was being punished for something he had done in a previous life. She asserted that it was the boy’s fate to suffer!
Karma defined – All the good and bad deeds we have committed in this life and previous lives give us spiritual ‘brownie points’. These spiritual ‘brownie points’ determine what kind of body we will inhabit in future lives.
Does anyone know which religions teach the doctrine of karma?
Answer – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Druidism, Theosophy, Cabala, Sufism and many others.
The world’s most famous philosopher believed in karma and reincarnation. His name was Plato. For Plato we don’t belong here but we belong in heaven. Our immortal souls have fallen from heaven and entered this prison of earth and the body. Salvation will only come to philosophers who live the life of reason. The rabble (i.e. thick people who aren’t rational enough) will be reincarnated in the bodies of women, animals, and worst of all… female fish.
It’s vital to understand that this belief in reincarnation has been phenomenally popular. Surveys indicate that 1 in 3 British people believe in reincarnation. Some religions even teach that we can be reincarnated into vegetables! Some people, including the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus, believed that there could be an immortal soul lurking in a humble tomato.
Karma is a very influential religious belief.
Mark is a lively storyteller and the author of four books, including The Spy, the Rat and the Bed of Nails: Creative Ways of Talking about Christian Faith. His work is focused on storytelling and how this can help us to communicate the Christian faith. He has written many articles for the Baptist Times, RE Today, Youthscape, Direction magazine and the Christian Teachers Journal.
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