Food for thought

[White Star]

Talking to some christian friends of mine following the death of our much loved old Yorkie the conversation turned to whether or not animals have souls and if they do can they go to heaven or hell according to the earthly life they had led. Right...OK...well, briefly summed up my answer was that all creatures have a soul and they return to the same spiritual home as we do to rest, learn and await re birth.
Their opinions varied it must be said, from the one where animals (including fish, insects etc) do not have souls and simply cease to exist at death, as they are created by God for us as food or simple companions. Another one was that all creatures apart from humans are incapable of recieving Gods word and so go to Hell at death by default. The other one was that they are still part of Gods creation but due to limited intellect are incapable of sin so maybe are called to heaven after all. After much scripture quoting, some more pagan input ( Fan the flames ??? Me???? Noooooo!!!) and the token atheist saying what a waste of time this conversation is everyone agreed to differ....so what do YOU think????

Blessings

[DJ Droood]

.so what do YOU think????

As usual, the token athiest is the only one talking sense.

[Kima]

Right...OK...well, briefly summed up my answer was that all creatures have a soul and they return to the same spiritual home as we do to rest, learn and await re birth.

Not sure about learning and rebirth in any literal sense, but I have to agree with you in that I believe we all go to the same place.

[Corwen]

We (humans, animals, plants, fungi, single celled beings etc) are all 'persons', beings certainly aware of their surroundings and possibly aware of their own existence, capable of relating to other persons, having desires/motivations and so in, in more or less complex ways. We are all equal in this regard.

I don't find talk of souls useful in any way, it is a concept loaded with baggage of various sorts, the presence or absence of souls has been used to justify all sorts of horrors. Not long ago your Christian friends would have been arguing if women or black people had souls for example. Perhaps it is progress that they now discuss whether animals have these invisible tokens of value, but it would be a greater sign of progress if they stopped wasting energy discussing the invisible and ineffable and concentrated their minds on how it is possible to live a compassionate and respectful life, with compassion and respect for all living beings.

[Crimson Stormfire]

i may be wrong but....

take the wolf {for example} in some native american cultures {if not all} it is believed that each wolf is an individual spirit, yet at the same time that spirit is tied to a greater whole known as the GRET WOLF SPIRIT and upon death that splinter spirit is rejoined with its former self as a part of the GREAT WOLF SPIRIT. i admit i may have "dummed it up" or oversimplified it but my point gets across yeah?

[Corwen]

i may be wrong but....

take the wolf {for example} in some native american cultures {if not all} it is believed that each wolf is an individual spirit, yet at the same time that spirit is tied to a greater whole known as the GRET WOLF SPIRIT and upon death that splinter spirit is rejoined with its former self as a part of the GREAT WOLF SPIRIT. i admit i may have "dummed it up" or oversimplified it but my point gets across yeah?

Well IMO each wolf is an individual being/person, but they are all wolves and therefore closely related (compared to being related to other species) and share a fate, this is just a different way of expressing the above.