Do Asians Have Souls?

No, Asians do not have souls. End of article. For the record Asians are also aliens, Asians can fly, and Asians have no peripheral vision.

Okay, Asians aren’t aliens, Asians can’t fly, and Asians do have peripheral vision. But whether or not Asians have souls or not, I guess that’s a matter of faith. However, the idea that Asians are soulless solely (hahaha) because they are Asian is… well… obviously very racist.

Here’s an example of one such question:

Do Asians have Souls?

I’m in the navy and I’m getting stationed in japan in a while. my pastor says that Asians do not have souls. He tells me to keep my faith strong because Asians and Orientals don’t have souls. He says they are like dogs in that way. Anyone else have any info on this because im pretty scared. Its bad enough they let Mexicans into church

Or this:

Do Asians have souls and feelings?

I was wondering if Asians had souls. They all do is gain money, and think about money all the time. All of them want to graduate in business and math and all that crazy stuff. My friend Shannon has this Asian roomate, her name is Takashee, and Takashee once said that her favorite hobby was to do math. Ive neber seen an asian get involded in painting and stuff…

Do they have ffelings?

At least some people are joking (I think):

Do asians have souls or are they not real and part of imagination?

I need to know this due to the fact I saw one this morning at Starbucks.

One person even differentiates between Asian and Asian American souls:

Yes, true asians have evil rude penny pinching demon souls, american Asians have holy raptor Jesus souls

I have no idea what “holy raptor Jesus souls” means but it sounds fun.

Let’s take a step back. What exactly is a “soul”?

According to Wikipedia, they define a soul as:

The soul, in many mythological, religious, philosophical, and psychological traditions, is the incorporeal and, in many conceptions, immortal essence of a person, living thing, or object. The Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas attributed “soul” (anima) to all organisms but taught that only human souls are immortal. Other religions (most notably Jainism) teach that all biological organisms have souls, and others further still that even non-biological entities (such as rivers and mountains) possess souls. This latter belief is called animism. Anima mundi and the Dharmic Ātman are concepts of a “world soul.”

In other words, those that believe Asians don’t have souls are really saying that Asians aren’t human, animal or river.

I’m usually not surprised by these kinds of questions. I recognize people who ask questions on Yahoo! Answers are not always the most intelligent folks in the whole wide world but this one not only made me sigh, shake my head, and question the future of all humanity, it also made me upset.

The thing is, I’m not all that religious (more spiritual than anything) and yet I still find this really offensive. More offensive than any other stereotype based article I’ve written for 8Asians.  And that’s REALLY saying something.

Maybe what gets me so upset is the idea that there are some people out there who think that Asians are so different that they don’t have souls. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But really? What would give anyone the idea that some races have souls and others do not? I’m not Christian but I know for a fact it doesn’t say anywhere in the Bible that Asians (or any other group of people) do not have souls. Or any holy scripture or text for that matter, Christian or otherwise. (If you know of one, let me know.)

For the record, I do have a soul. I think. If souls really do exist.

PS: I would be remiss not to mention the South Park episode where they say Japanese and “gingers” do not have souls. I’m pretty sure they were being ironical.