Do Animals Have Souls? (page 7)

Woody22

i am with you cold steel I believe all creatures have a soul

woody22

cofty

I can't believe that with the order of the Universe, and the beauty, that good ultimately overrules evil.

Did you mean to say that the other way round?

I couldn't get past the first 10 seconds of Mr Smarmy in the video.

Heaven

I guess it depends on your definition of soul. In terms of there being life after death of any living being, well, we have no evidence to support that.

I have to say that several times in the past, even when I am fully awake, I have 'felt' the presence of my dead cat, specifically, of her jumping on my lap or on the bed or walking on me when I am laying down. The sensation is very real and physical. But nothing is there that I can see. So I have to conclude that my mind is pulling that memory and making me relive it. And it makes me smile. By the way, it is wonderful.

And Cold Steel... you have a lovely cat.

Cold Steel

Geeesh, Heaven, I've had the same experiences. I thought it was just me. I'd be lying on the bed and would feel the distinct presence of my previous cat. Then I would feel something jump on the bed and I'd turn around half expecting to see him. I also awakened in the middle of the night with a pressure against my legs, and yet I knew there was nothing there. But I'm happy to hear that others have had the experience.

I like moggys a lot and I had a weird experience I've never been able to shake off. I got up one night to look for the cat and he wasn't at the front door, so I checked the back door. I saw Moggy out on the deck and I opened the door and called him. He came running over and I opened the door and he slipped in. I closed the door and began talking to him, but when I turned around he wasn't there. He normally comes with me over to the steps, then waits while I give him a rubdown. During the rubdown, he rubs his head against the wooden posts overlooking the downstairs. Then we go upstairs where I feed him.

But he wasn't at the bottom of the stairs, so I began calling him, but he was nowhere. That's when I began remembering that commercial about the lady who accidentally lets in the racoon. When I couldn't locate the cat, I went back upstairs and closed the bedroom door and went to bed. The next day I searched the entire house with a flashlight and a .22LR pistol. I wasn't intending to shoot anything, but I wanted to have some sort of security. (My sister had been bit by a racoon once and had to undergo rabies shots when it turned out to be rabid.)

Well, couldn't find the cat or racoon, but Moggy came in the next morning as usual. I can't imagine what, if anything, I could have let in, but I had just buried my parents' moggy and I wondered if it might have been him. But it was about as real an experience I've ever had. I wasn't sleepy, the memory wasn't muted or indistinct in any way; I was sure I let in a cat...a tiger striped cat. So go figure.

cantleave

This is an awesome video involving 2 dogs

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=110511749155384&set=vb.409017369134302&type=2&theater

cofty

That's amazing cantleave.

It would have been funny if the last word of the video was "died" - sorry.

There was an brilliant example of inter-species altruism I read about a while ago involving elephants that opened the gate of an enclosure and kept guard until all the captured animals escaped.

LisaRose

QMBR :The moment we start mentioning concepts such as the soul we leap into a world of speculation. Pretty pictures of cats do not substitute for a serious discussion. I no longer believe in what I was taught by a fraudulent faith from a mythical book and therefore I must also reject such fanciful notions as souls, spirits and ghosts. If I were to learn that indeed there is something to consciousness beyond the brain and nervous system I would be thrilled. To get to that point would need evidence.

Well, excuuuuuuse me. . Actually, I do see your point, but since the topic was whether animals have souls, I assumed it was more of a philosophical and or religious discussion, not a scientific discussion. You seem to want to debate whether scientifically, not just animals have souls/spirit but whether anyone does. That seems to be another discussion altogether. I don't think science can prove or disprove whether we have souls or not, for me it's a matter of faith. If you don't believe it's possible for anyone to have a soul, then obviously you don't believe your cat does. I am not sure about it myself, though I don't hold to any particular religious belief, some part of feels that some sort of God does exist, and there is something of us that lives on after death. Within that wishy washy belief system of mine, yes I believe if humans have souls, it's possible that animals do too. We are just more evolved animals ourselves, right?

I really like the pictures of cats myself.

cofty

We are just more evolved animals ourselves, right?

We are animals but I'm not sure what you mean by "more evolved". Bacteria have been around for at least 3 billion years and have evolved ways to thrive in every possible environment.

The question of conscious existence after death is a scientific question. Supernatural claims can be tested in a controlled enviroment and proven to be false.

The idea of animals surviving death is just wishful thinking. Where do you draw the line? Horses, dogs, fish, birds, insects, bacteria?

Our minds are our brains. When our brains stop getting oxygen its all over.

Comatose

You asked for JW opinions. As a very recent JW and having all my family in, I can tell you the following. Witnesses think they are special and it all revolves around Jesus redeeming MANKIND. Not animals too. I've heard people wish their animals could be resurrected. I wished it when my pet died. I wondered if since I was guaranteed to be happy this would mean my pet got brought back. Then the emotion faded and of course logic returns.

So, no- a JW would not think an animal would be resurrected or have a soul.

And more importantly, just as Cofty said, brain stops, life stops, end. For every living thing.

JamesThomas

New22day:

Some thoughts (take 'em or leave 'em) from a (non-religious) book "Guardians of Spirit"
"We have forgotten what rocks, plants and animals still know. We have forgotten how to be -- to be still, to be ourselves, to be where life is: Here and Now."
"When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became possessed by thought. A Depth returns to your life. Things regain their newness and their freshness."

"What is it that so many people find enchanting in animals? Their essence -- their Being - is not covered by the mind, as it is in most humans. And whenever you Feel that essence in another, you also feel it in yourself."

"When you are present you can sense the spirit, in every creature and love it as yourself. "
This is beautiful; and the same direction I was going.
If we deeply see our "soulessness", an illusion of disconnection from all life, then we are open and free to move and awaken into genuine truths.

Do Animals Have Souls?

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