NationStates Jolt Archive

Ok this might sound a little irrelevant, but I actually think it poses a difficult question for Theists out there-

Basically, what the hell happens to animals after they die?

Either they get the whole heaven and Hell thing which seems crazy seeing as they cant comprehend idea's like sin etc. or the bible, and although my dog is really lovely, he does occasionally maul the odd squirrel and has no regrets.

A second possibility is that they have no 'soul' and thus go no-where but in a furnace or the ground, but to suggest that no animal has a soul seems harsh also - For example, Dolphins are very intelligent, there being documented cases in which dolphins, having recognised that a human is drowning, has saved them. They can also communicate on a basic level. Animals feel pain, puppies act disheartened when first wrenched from their mothers etc etc etc.

So to say that they are souless would be to say they have no emotion, which is surely the main thing an animal lives by.

So, seriously now Theists, what happens to the animals after they kick the bucket?

In my opinion, the soul is (as you imply) an emotional concept. It is to the physical emotions what the mind is to the physical brain. I believe that other mammals have souls such as people do, and when life-forms die their minds and souls simply expire.

For the record, I am a theist of no fixed religion.

A Theist with no concept of an afterlife? Interesting stuff.

My own opinion is that the soul is as fairy tale as...well.....fairies, but still, I really wanna know what the more traditional Christian religious type thinks

Hope was one of the plagues that Zeus originally put into Pandora's Box. I think the Greeks had it right.

erm.........cheers.

Catholic theology goes something like this:
We know people have souls, because God made humanity in His image, spiritual and physical. Animals, however, he created as lesser creatures. Jesus mentions that God cares much more about people than "birds of the air." So people have souls, that's a check. As for animals, the idea's been kicked around. I'm sure. St. Francis would have thought so, and even JPII's mentioned it a couple times. But there's also been encyclicals saying animals don't have souls. But there's no official canon law on the subject; the faithful are advised to go with their gut on it. So, the definitve answer is: I dunno.

That's what I guessed as much would be the religious response.
However, as we're meant to be the protector of animals, why the hell are we protecting these things that seem to be of little worth in God's eyes

I think that the same thing that happens to Animals is the same thing that happens to us when we die. Nothing, we just cease to be. This is it, we have no souls or anything. We just exist as energy. and when we die our energy leaves these physical shells and goes back in to the Universe. Ok, sure some people might argue that the energy that forms our being is our soul. But, Energy ain't alive. It has no consciouness to be aware of what is happening

That's what I guessed as much would be the religious response.
However, as we're meant to be the protector of animals, why the hell are we protecting these things that seem to be of little worth in God's eyes
It's not that they're of "little worth" so much as we're worth much more to Him. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't show concern for them, as they're still creations of heaven. Say you own a bike and a BMW. If you're walking along with your bike and somebody comes up, grabs it, and rides off, you don't think to yourself, "Well, it wasn't my car, so it doesn't matter." You think, "Hey, that wasn't cool." So goes it with animals and humans. I'd be more concerned about child abuse than animal abuse, but I'm still concerned about the welfare of animals.

I think that the same thing that happens to Animals is the same thing that happens to us when we die. Nothing, we just cease to be. This is it, we have no souls or anything. We just exist as energy. and when we die our energy leaves these physical shells and goes back in to the Universe. Ok, sure some people might argue that the energy that forms our being is our soul. But, Energy ain't alive. It has no consciouness to be aware of what is happening
1. We just cease to be.
2. We exist as energy.

Which is it?

well he means the energy that makes us function leaves us and returns to the universe, in some kind of balancing, circular manner