To any Jehovah's Witnesses who are reading this:
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Animals suffer. God doesn't prevent their suffering.
According to the Watchtower's publications and their denial of evolution, God must have specifically designed every animal to be just the way they are today: they have the capacity to feel pain, to cause each other suffering, and to die slowly of old age or starvation. That is, if predators and diseases don't kill them first.
It has been shown in this article that mankind cannot be blamed for the suffering and death that wild animals suffer. Disease and predators existed long before man.
If evolutionary development is not responsible, then God is.
Even if the Watchtower will never admit it in print, admitting to yourself that God does not care about animals would be the logical thing to do.
The evidence for this is all around, in the natural world and also in the fossil record of prehistoric predators and countless extinctions of entire species.
The existence and extinction of animals such as the dinosaurs, long before mankind existed, dispels any notion that God created all animals just for mankind to enjoy or use.
So what was the purpose of those species that no longer even exist?
If God created all things, and cares about his creation as Watchtower teaches, he would not have created the dinosaurs and then let them die out, with no purpose whatsoever.
The dinosaurs would have to have been created as part of either the fifth or sixth creative day, according to Watchtower's chart in the Insight book, those were the days when all animal life was created.
The following chart sets out the six “days” outlined in Genesis, and ALL of the earthly creations.
EARTHLY CREATIVE WORKS OF JEHOVAH
Day No. Creative Works Texts
Day 1 Light; division between day and night Ge 1:3-5
Day 2 Expanse, a division between waters
beneath the expanse and waters above it Ge 1:6-8
Day 3 Dry land; vegetation Ge 1:9-13
Day 4 Heavenly luminaries become discernible
from earth Ge 1:14-19
Day 5 Aquatic souls and flying creatures Ge 1:20-23
Day 6 Land animals; man Ge 1:24-31
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001061#h=12:0-19:63
Watchtower teaches that ALL creative work stopped on the 7th day, and man was God's final creation. God did not create anything else, nor did any other kind of life come to being through evolution.
So this means that all animal life was created in the last two 'days', or the last two periods of time.
Therefore dinosaurs must have been included in one of those categories mentioned in the chart.
Look at the 3 categories, sea creatures, flying creatures, and land animals.
Notice this Watchtower quote, talking about all 3 categories of animal life:
'After God’s creation of fish, birds, and land animals, God was pleased. The Bible says that he “got to see that it was good.” (Genesis 1:21, 25) All those creatures, from the smallest to the largest, had the Creator’s loving concern.'
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011444
So the dinosaurs, and all other animals, had the Creator's loving concern? The dinosaurs no longer exist. It's quite safe to say that the vast majority of the animal species that supposedly had the Creators loving concern became extinct.
More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct.
The Watchtower's teachings are totally contradictory.
They teach the following:
*God has concern for animals, he is their Loving Provider and he compassionately considers them.
*Many animal species became extinct long before Adam existed.
*God designed every part of a natural world that will kill animals by means of parasites or predators, as well as leaving them to starve and die slowly of various diseases.
*During a global flood, in his anger God literally killed almost every member of every land-based animal species on this planet.
*God will not resurrect any animals. (including the ones he destroyed himself)
The Watchtower expects you to believe all of these teachings, yet to believe all of these at the same time would be completely illogical.
Please, read the list again, from the top.
Watchtower claims that God cares about animals, that he is compassionate towards them.
This claim is evidently contradicted by the fossil record, by the natural suffering of animals both at present and before mankind existed, and even by some of their own teachings; such as no resurrection for all the animals he killed in a Global flood, and that he designed every part of the world that has made them suffer and even become extinct.
Why would a God who is a Loving Provider for animals, allow animals to suffer disease and starve to death?
Why would a loving God design a world where all animals have to suffer and die slowly or be eaten by predators, with no purpose or prospect of life in heaven?
Why would a God who compassionately considers animals drown almost every land dwelling animal on earth, despite their complete innocence, when other methods of destroying mankind were available? (According to the Bible, just one angel could kill 185,000 men in one night).
The Watchtower has provided no answer to these questions.
It's hard to imagine how they could print an answer without admitting that animal lives and welfare are irrelevant to God the Bible says is love personified.
No wonder they avoid talking about it altogether.
In this article on whether God was cruel to use the flood as a method of divine judgement, the Watchtower deliberately avoids discussing whether God was cruel to destroy all those animals. They do this by phrasing both the problem ('What you may hear') and the answer to it ('What the Bible says') as being only about him destroying mankind.
No mention of some people's view that God was cruel to drown countless animals. Very clever...
https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/wp20130501/divine-judgments-were-they-cruel/
Maybe that's why they have never written about the problem of animal suffering.
It'd be difficult to preach about the loving nature of your God, if your God views every species he created except one as not worth caring about.
Reading the Bible itself and studying natural extinction, parasites and predators going back millions of years may raise some difficult questions in your mind.
You may try to look for justifications.
Some Witnesses may say that none of the animal species could possibly have been given everlasting life, because the earth would have become overpopulated.
Therefore, they must die.
What they are not considering, though, is that exactly the same problem would be created if humans were to live forever on the earth.
For mankind to live forever on earth and not run out of space, which would be inevitable, at some point all reproduction would have to stop.
The same could also have applied to at least one of the animal species, maybe even more, if everlasting life on earth had ever been a part of God's plan.
If God exists, and if God did have have a plan, natural death is a part of it.
Realistically, both humans and animals must face an earthly death.
Claiming that not even one of the animal species could possibly live forever on earth, because of limited space or limited resources, merely highlights a problem with Watchtower doctrine.
If God gave everlasting life on earth to humankind, the earth would eventually become overpopulated with never-dying humans in this supposed future paradise earth.
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/earth-forever.php
Besides, surely a God that loves animals could have designed them to live for a set period of time, and then die instantly and painlessly?
Furthermore, the defense of 'animals need to die to create space on the earth' does not explain why a God that cares for animals has let countless species go extinct.
Remember, Watchtower teaches that God created all animals in the original creative period.
So, did God design too many animals to fit on the earth?
Or did he design some knowing they would become extinct?
If he cares for all animals, why did he let the dinosaurs all go extinct?
Were they not part of his Creation, that he supposedly cares for?
We have shown that the Watchtower publication's teachings on the subject of God and his supposed concern for animals are contradictory, illogical, or not based on reality.
Animals and humans suffer and die on this earth because we are all subject to degradation of our body, followed by death.
Whatever you want to believe about how all life was formed or came into existence, the fact remains that this has always been the case. (Even the Bible never speaks of anyone being offered eternal life on earth.)
An earthly death is inevitable, for all creatures.
Watchtower merely tries to avoid that reality by teaching doctrines that are illogical, unrealistic, and not even Bible-based as you have been led to believe.
We all read into things too much sometimes, imagining things have been written or said when they have not been, based on assumptions and preconceived bias.
It's human nature.
The Watchtower is no different when it comes to the Bible.
The problem is, they cannot admit when they were wrong.
This is because they claim to be directed by holy spirit.
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/directed-by-holy-spirit.php
Don't rely on others to think for you.
Look up the Bible references they provide in a Watchtower article, think about the context. Does the Bible actually say what they are teaching? I guarantee you, sometimes it will not say what they are claiming that it says.
Here is just one example:
"The righteous person’s concern for his animals finds precedent in God’s own care for them as part of his creation.—Compare Ex 20:10; De 25:4; 22:4, 6, 7; 11:15;
Ps 104:14, 27; Jon 4:11."
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002994
Reading Exodus 20:10 will show you it states nothing about God caring for an animal, or having concern for it.
The Israelites law was simply forbidding them from letting their animal work on the Sabbath, so that people could not find a way around the rule by saying that the animal was working, not them. Loaning the animal to someone else and collecting part of the profit was a practice in those days.
The Jews of that time were known for finding loopholes, if any rule did not cover every angle, they would find a way around it.
Bible > Commentaries > Exodus 20:10
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
"nor thy cattle, of any sort whatever that is used to labour, because if the cattle did not rest, servants could not, who are concerned in the care and use of them: in Deuteronomy 5:14, the ox and the ass are particularly mentioned, because laborious creatures; the one were used in ploughing, and treading out the corn, and the other to ride upon, and carry burdens;
and concerning the latter the Jews have this canon (l),"he who is going in the way, (or on a journey,) and has sanctified for himself the day, and has money with him, and has an ass;
and though he has with him an idolater, he may not put his bag upon his ass; because he is commanded concerning its rest;
but he may give his bag to the idolater to throw it upon it; and at the going out of the sabbath he may receive it from him, and even may not give him a reward for it;
''but not only those, but all sorts of cattle were exempt from labour on this day, as horses, camels, mules etc which, according to the Jewish canons, as they were not to be employed in work by the Jews, so they were not to be let or lent out to an idolater"
Taken in context, the verse does not state what they are claiming at all.
There are many more examples of this throughout Watchtower literature, but you will have to start thinking for yourself to notice them.
That is why they discourage independent or critical thinking.
I could be here all day long, but I will give you two more examples.
The next reference from that page is Deuteronomy 25:4
4 “You must not muzzle a bull when it is threshing out grain"
Does this verse show that God has concern for animals? Does it show that God cares about them?
Read 1 Corinthians 9:9, 10.
Also bear in mind the Flood account, the ten plagues, and other times in the Bible where animals were destroyed.
As 1 Corinthians 9:9, 10 shows (if you believe the Bible is inspired and not just Paul's own opinion), God did not implement that law out of concern for the bull.
Even the apostle Paul said that God did not make the law in Deuteronomy 25:4 for the sake of bulls. The whole Law was intended for mankind's benefit, or specifically so that the Israelites could become a clean and sanctified people.
Using this verse to show that God cares for animals is illogical. How odd that the Watchtower cross-references these two verses in the NWT, then quotes it to support a claim that God is concerned for animals and thus wants them to be treated compassionately.
Another verse Watchtower uses to support their claim is Deuteronomy 22:10.
They teach that God is showing concern for animal welfare here.
Although this is one potential interpretation, there are others. The other interpretations are far more consistent with other verses, remembering the symbolic meaning of the Law and how everything relates to be clean or unclean. Watchtower won't tell you about these alternative interpretations, though, as it would weaken their claim that this verse teaches us about God's compassion for animals.
Remember that the following article is all about trying to show that God cares about animals.
'The Creator, however, made clear how animals were to be treated...
Yoking a bull and a donkey together was prohibited, preventing injury to either animal. (Deuteronomy 22:10) Clearly, the Bible teaches that animals were to be treated with propriety, respect, and compassion!'
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011444
Deuteronomy 22:10
Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together,....
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Either,
1. Because the one was a clean beast, the other unclean; whereby God would teach men to avoid polluting themselves by the touch of unclean persons or things, 2 Corinthians 6:14.
Or,
2. Because of their unequal strength, whereby the weaker, the ass, would be oppressed and overwrought.
Or,
3. For mystical reasons, of which see Deuteronomy 22:9, Leviticus 19:19.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
The reason why they were not to be put together was either (as some think) lest the law should be broken which forbids the gendering of cattle with a diverse kind, Leviticus 19:19.
But Aben Ezra thinks the reason is, because the strength of an ass is not equal to the strength of an ox; and therefore he supposes this law is made from the mercy and commiseration of God extended to all his creatures;
Though perhaps the better reason is, because the one was a clean creature, and the other an unclean, and this instance is put for all others; and with which agree the Jewish canons, which run thus,
"cattle with cattle, wild beasts with wild beasts, unclean with unclean, clean with clean (i.e. these may be put together); but unclean with clean, and clean with unclean, are forbidden to plough with, to draw with, or to be led together (k).'
'The mystery [deeper meaning] of this is, that godly and ungodly persons are not to be yoked together in religious fellowship: see 2 Corinthians 6:14'
As we can see here, the more balanced view within the historical context, or even just from looking at what was said in the previous verse, is that this verse alone does not show that God cares about all animals.
It doesn't even necessarily have the meaning behind it that the Watchtower claims it does.
Look at the Law as a whole.
It was not written for animals.
Also, not all of the Mosaic Laws were fair to animals.
See Leviticus 20:15,16.
A death sentence on people who commit bestiality was a fine deterrent, but it cannot be said that this Law's intended purpose was for the protection of animals.
Any law that involves the death of the victim is not intended for their protection.
Like every other part of the Mosaic Law, the intention is always for either a moral purpose (godly cleanliness) or perhaps secondarily for the protection of people (laws on physical hygiene or death sentence for deliberate murder, for instance).
Nothing in the Law is provided for the sake of animals.
The Watchtower doesn't even claim that the death sentence for bestiality was intended for protection of animals.
BESTIALITY
'...This prohibition, together with the rest of God’s laws governing sex relations, lifted the Israelites to a much higher moral level than their neighbors. In Egypt, bestiality constituted a part of idolatrous animal worship; historians attest to the cohabitation of women with goats, for example. Similar practices were also prevalent among the Canaanites (Le 18:23-30), and reportedly in Rome.'
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200000664#h=3
The Mosaic Law was intended for the preservation of the people's moral standards.
The following Watchtower article lists the many benefits and strengths of the Mosaic Law. It does not mention animal welfare, because that was not the purpose of the Law.
'The Law helped God’s people to distinguish between what was clean and unclean, pure and impure, citing about 70 different things that could render an Israelite ceremonially unclean. These laws touched on physical hygiene, diet, and even waste disposal. Such laws provided remarkable health benefits.* But they had a higher purpose—that of keeping the people in Jehovah’s favor, separate from the sinful practices of the debased nations surrounding them.'
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102002036
Quoting these parts of the Mosaic Law does not provide any evidence that God has concern for animals.
As the apostle Paul says at 1 Corinthians 9:9 regarding the Law, "Is it bulls that God is concerned about?". In verse 10 he makes the point even clearer.
That's why reading the Bible with different commentaries, especially reading it without a Watchtower publication telling us what a verse says, can broaden our understanding of what the Bible actually says.
One final point regarding what the Bible says about God and animals:
'Though many people focus on their own concerns and ignore any consequences to animals, God compassionately considers them. When the prophet Jonah reacted unmercifully when the inhabitants of Nineveh repented and were spared God’s judgment, Jehovah stated: “For my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nineveh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?” (Jonah 4:11) Yes, the Creator felt pity even for the animals!'
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011444#h=12
The scripture does not actually say God felt pity for the animals, simply that he took note that they were in the city, and that he regretted thinking about destroying the city BECAUSE THE NINEVITES HAD REPENTED.
Even if God had felt pity for the animals on this one occasion, why was that the case?
Why would he feel pity for them?
Answer: Because the animals were innocent and did not deserve to be destroyed.
Be honest, though.
God did not have pity for the animals, he would have killed them whilst punishing the Ninevites, despite having full control of his destructive power. (as the Watchtower teaches)
'Jehovah is not a God governed by or limited to celestial or earthly cycles. Nor are his expressions of power capricious, erratic, or inconsistent. In each case they reveal something about his personality, his standards, his purpose...God could be selective as to the plagues’ effect, causing some to leave a specific area exempt, thereby identifying who were his approved servants. (Ex 8:22, 23; 9:3-7, 26) He could start and stop the plagues at will.'
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003540
Ask yourself, if the ninevites had not repented, would God have still destroyed Nineveh along with all those innocent animals he supposedly felt pity for?
You know the answer.
God had already pronounced his judgement.
Nineveh and everything in it was to be destroyed, if they hadn't repented, God would have killed those animals.
Viewing the whole Bible account, is it realistic to claim that God has pity for animals?
Does this scriptural passage demonstrate that God feels pity for animals, enough to take them into consideration when planning a destruction? Or is the Watchtower deceptively giving a particular impression of that passage in the Bible, in order to back up their claim that God cares about animals?
Think about it.
Please take the time look up these scriptures in your own or any other translation:
Genesis 7:21-23
Exodus 9:9, 22-25
Exodus 13:15
Jeremiah 7:20
Jeremiah 21:6
Zephaniah 1:3
It's difficult to break the habit of letting others do the thinking for you, but it is worth the effort.
Wouldn't it be horrible to wake up one day and realise that you have wasted most of your life, the one chance of life you have on this beautiful planet, on a fantasy printed in a magazine?
If you don't start thinking for yourself now, years from today you may regret how much time you spent preaching unscriptural teachings handed to you by a publishing company.
Do you really know the God that is described in the Bible, or will you just accept whatever the Watchtower says?
It isn't easy to think about God not caring about animals, especially when you're reading a book/magazine containing the Watchtower's claims of God and his love for all creatures, including animals.
It may make you feel better to believe this, but it is not based on reality.
Looking honestly at the Bible and historical records will reveal that no human has ever been granted everlasting life on earth.
Humans and animals have always grown old and died, and they always will.
Your beliefs may seem like reality whilst you are being repeatedly indoctrinated, but the reality is that you will die one day, and so will I.
The Watchtower's failed promises will one day pass away (as they are replaced by new teachings and new promises), along with the passing away of sincere people who believed the promises and preached about them.
It has happened before, it will happen again.
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/1925.php
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/generation.php#1995
Do you want to face reality?
Or would you rather waste your limited days on this wonderful planet building your life around preaching illogical and unfounded beliefs, striving towards an imaginary future of living forever on earth? That hope is not even a scripturally based hope, it is a fabrication printed by a publishing company that has for its entire existence taught things as Scriptural truth that cannot even be found in the Bible.
The Watchtower goes far beyond what the Bible says with it's teachings.
Maybe other religions do that as well?
When a religion's teachings also conflict with reality and even contradict each other, though, you have to realise there is a problem.
God caring about animals and making them all as peaceful vegetarians (referenced earlier) is only a relatively small example of this practice.
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/questionable-watchtower-doctrine.php
Will you feel the same way about God if you start thinking and realise he doesn't care about any animals?
Will you feel the same way about Watchtower publications when you find out they teach things that are not in the Bible?
Don't be afraid of the truth.
There is nothing wrong with examining the Bible and comparing what it actually says to what the Watchtower claims when they cite a reference.
It will take effort, though, and true research.
Research that isn't just pulling out the Insight book and copying the answer.
You need to really examine what you believe at some point, life is short and too precious to be wasted on futile endeavours like preaching false unscriptural teachings.
Think for yourself.
Research and study without being confined by only believing what the Watchtower tells you.
Conclusion
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The Watchtower's publications claim that God is compassionately concerned about all animals, and that he cares for each of them. Such claims are contradictory when compared with their other teachings, and demonstrably false when compared with the reality of the natural world and its constantly unfolding story of suffering and extinctions.
In the article quoted earlier, entitled 'Does God Care About Animals?', the Watchtower implied that Adam, and mankind as a whole, is responsible for animal suffering and extinction.
This has been shown to be false.
Animals have been suffering and dying long before humans walked the earth.
God, if he exists, watched as those animals became extinct.
If God cares about every sparrow that falls to the ground, then how does he ignore the infinite variety of animal suffering and death that happens every day?
If God really killed every land-based animal on Earth except those in the ark, how can anyone claim he is a Loving Provider that cares for animals?
Finally, we arrive back at the original questions:
Why does God allow animals to suffer and die?
Does God care about animals?
To me, the answer is abundantly clear.
If a God exists, it doesn't care about animals.
The God of the Bible certainly doesn't care about animals, if he exists.
The Biblical God evidently didn't even care about animals enough to stop himself from killing them needlessly, or to prevent the animals he designed from suffering or even going extinct.
Either way, in my view the answer to the problem of why God allows animals to suffer is: 'because a God that cares about animals does not exist'.
Decide for yourself what to believe about God and the Bible, but please decide based on the evidence, not based on a fear of contradicting what the Watchtower teaches.
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That's it. I hope someone finds this useful.
All feedback welcome, although I may not reply for a while.
I need a break after writing this. :)
