Pets in heaven

[Mock Turtle]

I don't think there will only be pets in the afterlife. I think all animals will be there, if there are any animals at all.
I mean how just would that be for God to exclude all the other animals who were not pets?
Think about how animals suffer in the wild. I believe they deserve a recompense in the afterlife.

I do not believe, like some other religious believers, that animals are only here for humans to enjoy and use for their benefit while they are alive. I believe that animals exist in their own right. This idea that only pets will go to heaven because humans need them to be there is so egocentric.

Well, the animals are but a small part of why I have doubts. What about all the ancestors that contributed to the human species - and where their table manners and table talk might not be up to par.

 

[Trailblazer]

Well, the animals are but a small part of why I have doubts.

The animals are not a reason for me to doubt the afterlife because I am not obligated to believe the bunkum some religious believers believe. I am my own person.

 

[dybmh]

This idea that only pets will go to heaven because humans need them to be there is so egocentric.

I tend to believe that it is our love and attachment to our pets wich enables them to exist in the next world with us. If so, yes, the ego is involved.

 

[cataway]

If the answer is in the Bible how come my good friend who is a Christian told me it is not in the Bible?

ignorance

 

[Trailblazer]

I tend to believe that it is our love and attachment to our pets which enables them to exist in the next world with us. If so, yes, the ego is involved.

Why do you believe that our love and attachment to our pets would be what enables them to exist in the next world with us?

 

[dybmh]

Why do you believe that our love and attachment to our pets would be what enables them to exist in the next world with us?

I don't have a strong reason. I believe it is part of our reward. I agree that animals have a different soul/spirit than us. It has a different source. And so, naturally without our attachment to them, when they return to their source they are not accompanying us in our source.

 

[Trailblazer]

ignorance

Then enlighten me.

 

[cataway]

I do not believe any living thing ever comes back to earth after it dies.
Any God would would send us back here again with be very cruel in my eyes.

ah but what if the earth was changed ? what if all evil was removed ? thing is you really do not know what is in the bible .oh you may know of some of the stories ,much of Christendom knows that much .for the most part they believe what they "want" to believe.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't have a strong reason. I believe it is part of our reward. I agree that animals have a different soul/spirit than us. It has a different source. And so, naturally without our attachment to them, when they return to their source they are not accompanying us in our source.

Okay, thanks for explaining. That makes sense.
I can only hope I will have them as my reward. That will be at God's discretion.

 

[Trailblazer]

ah but what if the earth was changed ? what if all evil was removed ? thing is you really do not know what is in the bible .oh you may know of some of the stories ,much of Christendom knows that much .for the most part they believe what they "want" to believe.

Even if all evil was removed there would still be suffering in this world because evil is not the only cause of suffering in this world. Much of the suffering we endure in this world is because it is a material world. There will always be suffering in a material world because we have a physical body and there will always be accidents, injuries, and diseases. There will always be the need to struggle to make a living, and there will always be suffering we incur when we lose loved ones who die.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Religious radio was just talking about animals not going to heaven. Haha. What a ridiculous thing to talk about. You going to tell your child that? Of course everything goes to heaven, even the dust!

Why would they? Animals don't have souls.

 

[muhammad_isa]

Why would they? Animals don't have souls.

Well, they are not computer automatons !
What sort of heaven do you want?
A city full of flash cars, or riding horses in the countryside?

 

[Father Heathen]

Why would a specific genus of primate be the only animal with a soul?

 

[Father Heathen]

Why would they? Animals don't have souls.

Do you believe them to be automatons devoid of sentience?

 

[Wildswanderer]

Well, they are not computer automatons !
What sort of heaven do you want?
A city full of flash cars, or riding horses in the countryside?

I didn't say there were no animals in heaven, I said animals don't go to heaven when they die.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Do you believe them to be automatons devoid of sentience?

No, but that has nothing to do with the soul.

 

[muhammad_isa]

No, but that has nothing to do with the soul.

I think you'll find that it has.
If I look into the eyes of a human or an animal, I see the same thing .. a "person".

 

[Father Heathen]

No, but that has nothing to do with the soul.

Then it's arbitrary nonsense.

 

[Father Heathen]

I didn't say there were no animals in heaven, I said animals don't go to heaven when they die.

Wouldn't god make that determination? God wouldn't be beholden to nor restricted by a book written by man.

 

[Wildswanderer]

I think you'll find that it has.
If I look into the eyes of a human or an animal, I see the same thing .. a "person".

I love my dog, but I certainly do not see a person in her.
A semi-intelligent being perhaps.
As far as I can decipher from scripture, animals just return to the ground.
If I truly believe that animals had a soul, I probably wouldn't kill and eat them.