Here’s a debate for you.
I want no flaming though, so beware!
I’ve been into friendly arguments with some people in the past years about this subject: Do animals have souls?
Those with whom I argued held the conception that no, animals had no soul. I, on the other hand, believe animals have souls as much as humans. Here’s why: to ME, the best definition of a soul is that it defines who you are – it controls your emotions, creates your personality. Without a soul, one is devoid of emotions, of individuality… I laugh, I feel pain, I cry, I love, I dream… All of these define me, and all of these prove that I am alive and possess a soul of my own.
And so it makes me wonder… If animals have no souls… Why is it that my cat, in the morning, wants to be petted and will walk ON me and wake me up for some cuddling? Why is it that when someone rings the bell or when someone he doesn’t know steps unto the house, he’ll get scared and hide? Why does he feel the need to play, or why does he feel hungry? Why does my friend’s husky wag his tail when he sees familiar faces? Why does he know who he can play with and who to be calm with? Why does he pout when he’s denied something? Why does he whine when his master leaves? Why are there animals so scarred from bad treatment that they forever fear everything? Why do they feel pain? Sadness? Happiness? Why did my budgie ask to get on my shoulder years ago? Why did she call out because she was lost and scared? Why did my first cat basically tell me she was sick and in pain? Why did she spend the last night of her life with me until I stopped crying and fell asleep when she never did that?
Animals feel as much as we do. They may not communicate with us the same as us, but there are times when their expressions can be so human it’s scary. And many times we understand what they want and we comply with them because we love them, and they love us back.
Some people will say it’s because you feed them. It’s partially true I suppose… But if you don’t feed your child at all, there’s a chance he’ll resent you and might try to grab a meal at his friend’s place where he might like his friend’s mom more than his own. So, to me, it’s somewhat irrelevant.
So I always ask people who tell me animals have no souls what they think about animal cruelty. Luckily, I haven’t met one who said it didn’t matter. LOL BUT! I think it goes against what they said. A soulless being will… well, it will feel nothing. Those animals who are mistreated DO feel, and more often than not, they don’t know how to defend themselves.
I’m curious to know what you think about this issue. I’m not looking for a religious debate of intense proportions, and if you wish to add parts of the bible in this, go ahead, but know that it can be interpreted in MANY ways. I have an uncle who’s a priest, and he always told me that reading The Bible alone was not the right way because there are too many wrong interpretations made that way. And so I’ll never say your interpretation is wrong and I’ll respect it; I may, however, not agree with it.
Stay flameless, and enjoy giving your opinion. You’ll get no disrespect from me.
Luv,
Maria
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And if they didn't they would have been made by the devil. But they weren't! Hah!
I like your analogy
Before the world was, all things were created in spirit. That includes animals. Depending on your definition of "soul" that would mean everything had a "soul" before it had a body.
I have also heard that the soul is the spirit and flesh in one, so that still means that animals have souls.
A kind of simple explaination huh?
Emotions boil down to the instincts for survival, so it's purely biological and evolutionary. Humans are just much more developed in this area than animals. I don't think it has any connection to a "soul". Do plants feel pain? Probably not in the same sense as humans do but they certainly respond to things that are harmful to them. And this goes back to the survival instincts.
I don't know. Some emotions can and will boil down to survival instinct, yes... Like fear for example, or anger being another. But how do you point survival instinct to positive emotions? I don't see how laughing and having fun comes from instinct.
As for the soul... I guess that in a non-religious way I see it as your personality/self-awareness, yes. It is your mark signature, that which defines who you are. The difference between species is communicating that signature due to restrictions or their intelligence.
What about fiction? Take any fictional work, for example. The characters often resemble real people in that they are described to feel and perceive things the same way as we do, yet we know they have no soul, or that they don't even exist. Regardless of that, people often become attached to things that are not "alive" or don't possess a soul. I don't know what to make of it other than a soul is something that cannot be defined clearly and it's more universal than it may seem(if it even exists). ...Which would mean that anything could possess a soul? Aaah, this is confusing!
Animals won't kill their own kind "for the hell of it.". They always have a reason: Territory, survival, protection.
I've heard of stories where a mother cat would go into a burning building to save her kittens.
I often wonder if humans have souls. Humans will kill another human over the most retarded things you can thing of: a jacket, money, they looked at the wrong person in the wrong way, for wearing the wrong colors, for being in the wrong neighborhood, for their skin color, for revenge because a family member didn't pay up, cheating on someone, for supporting a certain political party..the list goes on and on.
Animals have souls, definitely. Humans...on the other hand...