Chad

Wouldn't that make abortion a more moral choice than giving birth? I assume aborted "childern" do not face the possibility of hell. As such, is a finite lifetime worth the risk of eternal damnation when the odds against choosing the right religion are apparently so high?

beoba

Well yes, but who ever said religious morality had to make sense?

ashibaka

Infanticide would be just as good, and you wouldn't have to worry about whether the fetus counted as a soul saved. You might as well kill all the children you see, before it's too late for them.

Amos

If in Catholicism heaven and hell are religion specific (implicit in "heaven is for Catholics only"), our right to freedom from Catholicism should tell you that the church itself does not stop non Catholics from killing their own children. In fact, the church does not stop Catholics from killing their own children but just speaks out against it. In other words, the church doesn't believe that killing your own children is a good idea.

Starboy

Chad, try this logic on for size. God (infinite being) needs an infinite number of souls (or at least a very large number) to keep it company in heaven. If you kill all the kids at birth it stops the breeding program. So if Christians are to get with the program it is their duty to make lots of kids, raise them as Christians so that they may make more Christians and so forth. Why god can't just make the souls he wants directly without this entire hullabaloo is another question. It does beg the question of why it wouldn't be okay to commit suicide and go to heaven after you had gotten the next generation well on their way.

Starboy

Amos

In Nothern Canada mythologies exist(ed) wherein it was the duty of the oldest son to kill his own father in the [spiritual] prime of his life.

luvluv

There is some very controversial theology implicit in your question. No one knows whether or not children get a free pass to heaven, or whether they are allowed to grow until they reach an age of moral responsibility and must at some point make a decision, or what. Nobody knows what the answer to any of these questions are, so no one can answer your question.

Strawberry

Just out of curiosity, do you have more details on this? Is this a native or European thing? Christian or not? Which particular culture?

Amos

Sorry I don't but is was referenced in a ethics class I took. They were either Indians or Eskimo (probably Eskimo) and the point here was the meaning of the word "prime" because of the well accepted idea that old people should be left behind (or killed) when they became a problem for the survival of the nomadic tribe.

Rousseau_CHN

If most people do not go to heaven...and you know most people will not...the Bible said, "The way to heaven is strait and narrow..."