Why should we use logic to analyze religious doctrines and faith itself? I would like to answer this question with another question: "Why not?". Why can we not question absolutely contradictory concepts which do not offer coherent explanations for the questions that echo within us? If we have intelligence, why should we be afraid to use it when it comes to the subject of "religion"? Why should we close our eyes and accept "blindly" a "truth", without exposing it to the light of logic and reasoning? If something that we consider "truth" is really "true", it will not be denied by logic and reason because the Truth, whatever it may be, will never be illogical, incoherent, or have any kind of contradiction. 

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Religious fundamentalists, who cling to dogmas that they regard as "absolute and unquestionable truths", often criticize the questioning and use of intelligence in the pursuit of a greater understanding of spiritual and religious matters.

 

But let us consider the following question: "Why would God give us, human beings, the gift of intelligence, if we could not use it?" Having the intelligence and not using it would be the same as having a flashlight and not lighting it in the darkness, afraid to see the things that are really around us and discover that they were not exactly as we thought they would be.

           

This prohibition on using intelligence brings up another question: "Who will benefit if we stop analyzing and questioning things?" Now, if we use our intelligence to analyze a theory that we believe to be true, and we are able to prove it is true, such an analysis will only confirm what we previously believed. However, if such analysis proves that such a theory is not true, anyway we will know the truth. In either case, truth seekers will gain.

 

So, what’s the reason to be afraid? Truth does not fear submission to the analysis of intelligence and logic because, having no inconsistencies or contradictions, they will strengthen it even more; Contrary to the lie which, when subjected to logical rigor, will have its inconsistencies and contradictions exposed to the light of reason, and will finally be unmasked. Therefore, those who fear the questioning do not sincerely seek the truth. Our commitment must be with the pursuit of truth, whatever it may be!

 

Just as we use our legs to walk, our eyes to see, our ears to hear, we need to use intelligence to analyze the information we receive, to compare it, to filter it, and thus we can conclude which is more rational, more logical, more consistent and, consequently, closer to the truth, because the truth, whatever it may be, will never contain inconsistencies and contradictions. The only tool capable of directing our intelligence in the search for truth is logical reasoning.

 

 

"If there were the need to hide the truth, God would not open the curtains of the firmament and would not allow us to know the beauty of the stars and the greatness of the planets." (Andrea Morinel)

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If we analyze in depth, in all ages of humanity, when there were disagreements about the veracity  or not of a theory, we will verify that what was later accepted by all as truth was, even before it was proved by science, the most logical and coherent explanation.

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If we were not allowed to question and discover the logic of the Laws governing the Universe, surely God would not allow us to visualize the immensity of galaxies. Using his intelligence, the human being built powerful telescopes that came to overturn the old dogmas that the Earth was the center of the Universe and that the Sun revolved around the Earth.

 

This theory (Geocentrism) arose from a mistaken premise: That God had created the Earth at the center of the universe and that everything would consequently revolve around it; and it was defended by the Church as an absolute truth. Subsequently, through logic and science, the opposite has been demonstrated. Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was the first to present a consistent mathematical model (Heliocentrism) to demonstrate that such a theory was not true and that the Earth revolved around the sun; which came to be later confirmed by the great astronomer Galileo Galilei.

 

However Galilei, because of this discovery, was condemned by the Church and taken to prison and only escaped being burned alive because he agreed to publicly swear that his discoveries were not true. This story clearly shows us how fundamentalism and radicalism were and are still used to conceal the truth for the continuity of political and religious domination. And let's not delude ourselves: The forces that have always struggled to keep the truth hidden from people are still active today.

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Fortunately, over time, the logic of truth always prevails. Today everyone knows, unquestionably, that the Earth really revolves around the Sun. But what would have happened if the geniuses who had opened the way to reveal this truth had not had the courage to challenge the so-called "absolute truths" preached by religions and had never questioned them? We would certainly still be living in the Middle Ages.

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"Three things cannot be hidden for long: the sun, the moon and the truth." (Buddha)

From this we conclude that logic is the only reliable tool that can guide us toward the truth, or as close as possible to it. Without it, we are hold hostages by absolute dogmas that can never be questioned, even being, in most cases, absolutely contradictory.

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Many Christian fundamentalists criticize the use of logic as a tool to the search for truth, stating that it "cannot be used to analyze God and his Laws". However, all of them, without exception, make or attempt to use their own logic, when they consider it convenient, although only partially, to present their arguments based on their interpretations of the religious texts upon which they base their belief.

 

Thus, within this personal argument, they end up analyzing God and his Laws. The difference is that such an analysis is neither impartial nor subject to the strict rules of logic, since it is limited to dogmas that fundamentalists do not admit in any way to be questioned.

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"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned." (Dalai Lama)

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The goal of logic applied to the study of religious doctrines is to demonstrate the flaws and contradictions in "human logic", not in the logic of God! When we consider God to be the most absolute perfection, we cannot admit that He is illogical, inconsistent and contradictory in His actions, otherwise we could not consider Him perfect. Therefore, religious doctrines also need to be logical and coherent, and should never contain contradictions!

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"The Logic of Reincarnation" has neither the pretension nor the goal of presenting an absolute truth about God and His Laws but, instead, demonstrating the errors and inconsistencies in interpretations that were created by human beings themselves, in their search for understanding the Divine Laws, which have been manipulated, since ancient times, with the objective of religious and political domination through fear, as explained in Part II chapter "The Danger of Fundamentalism".

 

Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8). Only those who are in prison can be freed! Those who are free cannot be released, because they are already in a state of freedom. However those who are attached to dogmas do not enjoy the most elementary freedom, which is the freedom of thought; Therefore they are bound and do not even know it.

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No one can be considered "free" if his thought is imprisoned, closed, sealed. Those who have the freedom to seek truth, whatever it may be, can be considered truly free, because their thinking is not imprisoned by any concept that cannot be questioned.

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Those who guide themselves through logic are completely free, because it is incompatible with dogmas or "absolute truths".