Catholic Answers Live - Weird Questions

Jimmy takes listener’s weird and wacky questions, offering a Catholic perspective in his responses.

Questions Covered:

 

• 04:15 - Since AI machines (drones, robots, “terminators”, etc) are not living beings, and are not dead, could they be considered “undead” in the same idea as zombies, animated skeletons, ghouls, vampires (Dracula type), etc? 
• 06:04 - Do vampires go to hell when they die or are killed? And if so, what would that mean for a person who was a Christian who turned into a vampire unwillingly also go to hell upon their death as they cannot use holy water or touch holy/blessed objects, lastly if vampires existed would they be treated as demons or demonic and would an Exorcist be the one to expel them. 
• 12:15 - Let’s say there is a scientist, and he created a time machine. He is a lover of history and wished to visit the time in which the Colossus of Rhodes was constructed. He takes the time machine to that time period. But, while visiting that time period he contracts a rare illness and passes. Upon death, and having died in God’s friendship, would he go to the Bosom of Abraham or Heaven? Since God exists outside of time, I would think He might go ahead and honor the fact that the scientist was originally from a time after the Resurrection. But, if so inclined, God could hold the scientist to the circumstances of the time period and send him to the Bosom of Abraham to await the Incarnation. 
• 14:28 - I firmly believe in the power of therapy. However, and I’ve seen it firsthand, sometimes the problem is spiritual rather than social or psychological. I have read that demons and tempters cannot read your thoughts (I know they can “read” your physical changes, and hear what we say, but not read thoughts the way guardian angels can). So, with that said, is there any danger to my clients to talk about their fears and troubles? I imagine that demons can overhear and then emphasize or enact them into their lives if wanted. I’m curious- is therapy spiritually dangerous in this way? 
• 23:00 - I’m writing a novel about vampires, and I was wondering: would it be immoral to have a catholic vampire who subsists by taking the Eucharist instead of drinking other people’s blood? Additionally, can vampires be saved, and what are the moral implications of a vampire using hypnosis, or a similar ability, to charm people into obeying him? Finally, is it morally licit for me to make the vampires in my novel descended from the Biblical Cain, as a result of the curse laid on him by God in Genesis 4? 
• 34:26 - I am a fan of all the Jimmy Akin shows, and I wanted to ask, regarding situation in authoritarian countries: If I was a Catholic, abducted by a government as a dissident, and I requested they provide me with a Catholic priest to hear my confession and maybe give me sacraments how do I know it’s really a priest not an impostor? And if he is an impostor and I don’t know that am I to believe that my confession was valid? 
• 39:23 - On weird questions you said it is possible that a human-animal chimera could have a spiritual soul. If so, how would it be Resurrected, as a chimera or as a human? 
• 43:44 - I just discovered Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World and am loving it. My question for Jimmy is: Should a Catholic have second thoughts about working for the FBI, CIA, or other U.S. intelligence agencies? I just listened to the Mysterious World episode about Frank Olson, and that, along with the episodes about the Waco siege, the Ruby Ridge incident, MKUltra and others show a clear pattern, in my opinion, of clear disregard for human life and human rights in some cases — and the above are the examples that we know of. 
• 46:30 - If Jimmy could spend a day with any historical figure, both living and not living, who would he choose, why would he choose that person, and what kind of conversation would Jimmy like to have? Mine would be Jack Chick, and I’d ask him what he thought of Jimmy!