Will androids have souls?

[Divine Wind]

Last Sunday I introduced my girlfriend to the classic movie "Blade Runner" because of its spiritual examination of what it means to be human.

blade runner - best part [final version] - YouTube

After the movie we had a discussion about whether or not androids or any sentient but man-made creation could have a soul. She, being more fundamentalist than me, didn't believe they would, that only mankind have souls. I disagreed, thinking that, to some extent, all things that have the spark of life have an essence and self-aware beings would have a soul.

Traditional religion has been against mankind created life. Many stories, most a take on Frankenstein, warn against it but I think the sin there isn't creating life, but to think we're equal to God. Creating life for good purposes would be good. To create slaves, as depicted in Blade Runner or the Planet of the Apes series, would be bad.

Of course, this presupposes that we do have souls. Obviously atheists think we go out like light bulbs, so even androids, robots and genetically enhanced simians wouldn't have souls either.
Thoughts?

 

[Mr. H.]

After watching 170 episodes of STNG.... no.

 

[zzzz]

Interesting question. Does a clone of a man/woman have a soul? According to Jewish belief all things, animate and inanimate have souls of varying degrees or levels. So any man made object would posses a soul.
What is a Soul? - Life & Death

But Man does not make life. We can tinker around the edges but life itself is given by GOD. A clone takes living tissue that already has been given life. All man can do is take what GOD has given life to and change it like a clone. We cannot create life from nothing like GOD did.

 

[Divine Wind]

But Man does not make life. We can tinker around the edges but life itself is given by GOD. A clone takes living tissue that already has been given life. All man can do is take what GOD has given life to and change it like a clone. We cannot create life from nothing like GOD did.

Agreed...yet. It would be interesting if we never could create life from nothing since that would be proof of the existence of the Almighty. However, I think we will but that doesn't disprove the existence of the Almighty. In fact, like George Carlin's statement regarding environmentalists, maybe the Earth wants us to create styrofoam. As mentioned previously, I do not believe creating life is a sin. The sin is thinking we are equal to God in doing so. Further, using that life for our own pleasures such as slaves or sex toys would also be wrong.