My mother in law, a devout Catholic up to the day she died, would scoff at me when I told her I believed animals go to heaven, because no loving God could create these living beings and then cast them into nothingness when they die. How the Creator re-purposes that life energy is the big mystery though, isn't it?
But what about the creatures we bring in to our homes, our lives? Having a cat die recently, and another slowly dwindling w lymphoma, I wonder if they will join my departed dogs in some Heaven waiting area?
I had a really long discussion here about the various major religions of the world, and then decided that wasn’t where I wanted to go with this discussion, if there is one.
So instead, I will discuss their animals souls…
I was talking with a coworker the other day who informed me that animals do not have emotions. This is just after he told me that animals do not have souls and therefore will never enjoy the concept of heaven. Now, this coworker is what I refer to, as a "bible-thumper." He is, in fact, a born-again Christian. Please bear in mind that I have nothing against my fellow Christians, nor do I have anything against religion in general. I do, however, have a problem with passing along faulty information.
Animals do have emotions and they also have souls, and I'll tell you how I know that.
I also have never seen a cat find enjoyment from setting a human on fire. I've never gone hiking in the desert to find a child that dogs have left tied to a stake, without food and water, subjecting it to a painful death in the desert heat. I have never seen a chicken force two unwilling humans to fight in a ring with razor blades attached to their feet while the chickens place bets on who will be the first to die. I haven't seen a puppy place eight children in a gunnysack and drown them in a river. I have yet to see a bear kill a human simply to place a head on the wall of their cave.
Let me tell you what I have seen.
I have seen my own dog sleep next to me for a week to keep me a little warmer while I was ill. I've seen my dogs play games with me just to force a smile to my face. I have seen news reports of a cat rush into a burning home not once, not twice, but six times to save her kittens, nearly losing her own life in the process. Or ferret pull a frightened kitten out of a deep hole in the ground. I've seen monkeys scream in empathy when one of their own was injured. I've seen puppies whine all night long when they were separated from their mothers. I've known a dog that pulled a child away from a fire.
As for the soul thing? Well, it is my humble opinion that if you have emotions, any kind of emotions, then you have a soul. Ironically, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church recently stated that he feels the same way.
Now, I can't prove that animals have souls. But then, I can't prove that you or I have one either. And for all those people who firmly believe that animals don't have souls - well, I suppose then in heaven, you'll probably have the job of cleaning out all the litter boxes...
And...there are lots of ghost stories that feature dog and cat ghosts. Hmm, but that makes one wonder...did all the cows pass on to the big pasture in the sky because they were happy campers here on the mortal plane?
ReplyDeleteWhy are there no lion, tiger, and bear ghosts? Is it that we only fixate on the extended lives, after-lives, on the "poor departed souls" of those we love; thus, we only see (or think we see) the shades of Mommy, Daddy, brother Fred, sister Mary, and Scruffy "the Wonder Dog (or Cat)?
I have come to the conclusion, that life is whatever life is (and we'll find that out IF there is life afterwards); it is what we make of it, or try to, while we are here. (We can't really attribute its quality totally to others around us or conditions around us or even to our own efforts---ever notice the big dumb jerks who always seem to get ahead, no matter what, while others seem to just catch Hell from the big dumb jerks who promote the other big dumb jerks? There is no rhyme or reason to it all.)
Ya' just get what ya' get.
I am absolutely sure that they do. They have so much love which they share and the next level is all about love. Besides, I have watched a number of John Edward, Colin Fry, Gordon Smith and other readings on tv and quite a number of animals have turned up in those readings.
ReplyDeleteI have also seen a Doggy medium on TV who can communicate with them, and the living dogs. While alive they do it through telepathic images. But there is no language on the other side, just a universal understanding of everything.
Not to be bragging on dogs, but a recent NOVA episode posited that were it not for dogs, humans would not be the civilized basically humane creatures they mostly are---in short, dogs civilized us as we guided their deveopment.
ReplyDeleteBut then, agriculturalists insist that "Man rode into civilization on the backs of cows!"
Whether all animals have emotions may be debated, but I do know the higher vertebrates do have and exhibit emotions. I hurt Molly the Deranged feelings one time when I smacked her (lightly of course) for barking for several hours on end in the early hours of the morning while I was trying to sleep. Seeing the hurt feeling in her eyes made me feel horrible for scolding her. Molly the Deranged hung her head and you could see I had hurt her feelings.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, members of the monkeys and apes have displayed a wide range of emotions including hate. During one of the studies, a chimpanzee was seen plotting and carrying out a murder.
Maybe that is only because they lack the opposing thumb and strength to do so. Cats will hunt and kill just for the sport, not for the food.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that higher vertebrate animals have emotions. It is no doubt that the higher vertebrate animals are intelligent creatures. Molly the Deranged communicates to me through her barks. I have come to learn over time to distinguish the differences in her barks. I knew immediately the day she was attacking the snake that the situation was very different from others. Molly has a very distinctive bark when she wants to tell me she is hungry and wants food. The bark she uses when she is barking at a squirrel is very different when she thinks a real threat is about.
ReplyDeleteWhy would there be litter boxes; and by the way, do dogs have litter boxes? When I observe humans with dogs they seem to just let them crap where ever and leave the waste behind for someone to step in, or for little children playing on the common to fall in. Anyway, bodies are just for the earth plane, the soul leaves the body behind when it ascends (and the word is used to mean moving from a lower state to a higher state since we know that heaven is not in the sky) into heaven. There is no need for the bodily functions such as consuming food and crapping out the waste products.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the things that always puzzles me. Somewhere along the line Christians have been fed some falsehoods and they seem to think of heaven in terms of living on earth. Would we all sit around in heaven consuming food and drink for which we don't need then going to the toilet to crap out the waste products? Would the toilet be a magical one that never needs cleaning? These are important things to know. I would hate to think that heaven is more of the same old crap we have here on earth and that I have to clean toilets there just as I do now.
The thing is, if there is a heaven for people, surely there is room there for our animals.
ReplyDeleteJesus is refer to as dove. loin. lamb. and he choose a jackass to ride on. id say yes animals in heaven. a loving God who created them surely wouldn't forget them.
ReplyDeleteIt is my belief that all life has a spirit and when the physical life ends the spirit continues.I look forward to the time I leave my physical body.To be with all my friends those of human spirit as well as animal.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know that to be true...and killer whales will kill a seal and toss it about for fun as well. Humans are not alone in killing for sport.
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