Frogprince, I use Chongo much the same way that the cartoonist Walt Kelly used the many characters in his famous comic strip (such as Albert Alligator, Pogo, Churchy La Femme, Howland Owl, etc...). The fictional character is larger than life, a humanized animal, exaggerated in some respects, intentionally humorous, and serves to satirize various things that are going on in our lives and all around us.

If I had the artistic ability, I'd love to draw Chongo's satirical adventures too...and I'd do it in the style of Walt Kelly or Frank Cho (the writer of Liberty Meadows)....IF I had that skill. As it is, I'm restricted to prose.

Chongo does reflect some of my own opinions, yes. He also often diverges sharply from my own opinions on a number of things, because he's an extreme character. He's got a bizarre personality and a zeitgeist all his own.

I don't believe anything about the afterlife in an absolute sense, although I do feel that there is probably some type of afterlife in the form of "soul" and "consciousness". I don't subscribe to any specific set of religious dogma regarding that....I just think it's fairly probable that there is a continuance of consciousness and identity beyond the life of the body.

Not saying I KNOW...because I don't know.

I find the many different ideas people have about it quite interesting. I really do think that the primary motive behind the OP was something along this line: "Oh, boy! I've found another religious nutcase who believes all kinds of idiotic mumbo-jumbo about life after death. I'm going to have much fun ridiculing him on Mudcat...and by implication, ridiculing everyone else who believes in tripe like that. We'll all get together and pat ourselves on the back for being such bright, rational, modern people who don't believe in any malarkey like that."

Hence the thread. And all the usual gang shows up to enjoy sharing together in their amusement at the utter stupidity of people who could have beliefs about anything otherworldly that isn't yet "proven" in an empirical fashion. Same shit...same crowd....same target...different day.

I'd say that was Chongo's main point, and mine also.

Just realize, though, that Chongo is like a character in a political comic strip. He is there for social satire, he's not there to be my personal doppelganger, because he's a lot different from me.

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Steve Shaw - "Asking for evidence is not asking for proof, nor is it saying that the other guy's notion is wrong. It's just asking for evidence, that's all."

Yeah, Steve. I have no problem with that. There are some great questions in life, though, where I don't think we'll ever be able to come up with any empirical evidence to answer them, because they are not matters of outer (exoteric) measurable phenomena. They are matters of inner (esoteric) meaning and consciousness. That's not stuff you can measure or observe by means of instruments, but it is stuff that still happens powerfully in our lives and affects us deeply.

I can't comment on the Shroud of Turin, as I'd have to do a lot of reading first in order to know more about it. I have no set opinion about the Shroud of Turin.