Do animals have souls? - Stories that prove they have and share the same empathy we do (or should)

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

What does a soul necessarily have to do with a creator?

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

The soul is a religious term.

No, it's a spiritual term. You can believe we have souls but not believe in god and vice versa.

The soul, in many mythological, religious, philosophical, and psychological traditions, is the incorporeal and, in many conceptions, immortal essence of a person, living thing, or object.[1] According to some religions (including the Abrahamic religions in most of their forms), souls—or at least immortal souls capable of union with the divine[2]—belong only to human beings. For example, the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas attributed "soul" (anima) to all organisms but taught that only human souls are immortal.[3] Other religions (most notably Jainism) teach that all biological organisms have souls, and others further still that even non-biological entities (such as rivers and mountains) possess souls. This latter belief is called animism.[4] Anima mundi and the Dharmic Ātman are concepts of a "world soul."

reply to post by trysts


wiki

reply to post by gigaherc


VERY nice and respectful thread OP for OTHER life on this sphere snf for the positive ENERGY. THEY are GIA energy so in essence you would/could consider them possessors of internal energy ect. or souls. they are aware and if the world goes into FAIL mode they vibrate too in fear and sadness smh..

Originally posted by gigaherc

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

Yup that was one of my points. I do not blatantly ASK whether or not they have souls, but majority of people believe in some kind of god and the concept of soul is close to them. What I want to know is how being a believer influence your stance toward animals in general.

Being an atheist it makes imo even more sense to ask, because if I were following one of the religions my conception and statement would be clear and formed in accordance of my religion's terms.

Oh, so you want to see how religious people describe their view of animals in religious terms? That's understandable.

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

What does a soul necessarily have to do with a creator?

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

The soul is a religious term.

No, it's a spiritual term. You can believe we have souls but not believe in god and vice versa.

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

I don't think so. All arguments for a "soul", leads to gods.

Great thread! thanks for the photos!

Many animals have souls. You can see it in their eyes. many people have souls and you can see it in their eyes also. Some people lack souls, they are so corrupt that a soul will not live in them. Our soul is our conscience. There are also people who have an evil soul but I cannot exactly pin down what exactly causes it to be evil. It must be crabby for some reason, possibly because of lack of patients. We don't need this kind of soul within us, it can be kicked out. When you become friends with evil people one and accept their ways, these souls can enter our body. Some call them the Legion, but I do not think of all the Legion as bad, they just follow the head evil.

I don't think this has anything to do with religion myself, I think it has something to do with communication between minds. It's complexity is tied to the primordial sections of the brain that tptb are trying to destroy. Along with destroying the evil souls their chemistry is making it impossible for us to have a soul at all. Without a soul there is no conscience and people feel no remorse for hurting others or stealing from them. I think our soul is tied tightly to the junk DNA, the instructional codes that form our personality.

Is there a god? Yes, god is the communication amongst all nature and possibly to other beings throughout the universe. God is the communication with the good in everything. God has no religion but most religions incorporate parts of god. I would guess god would probably be more like a purpose than like a man.

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

What does a soul necessarily have to do with a creator?

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

The soul is a religious term.

No, it's a spiritual term. You can believe we have souls but not believe in god and vice versa.

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

I don't think so. All arguments for a "soul", leads to gods.

No it doesn't... why would it? They aren't necessarily related at all. I expect the vast majority of people that believe we have souls are religious, which isn't surprising, but they don't go hand in hand.

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

What does a soul necessarily have to do with a creator?

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

The soul is a religious term.

No, it's a spiritual term. You can believe we have souls but not believe in god and vice versa.

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

I don't think so. All arguments for a "soul", leads to gods.

No it doesn't... why would it? They aren't necessarily related at all. I expect the vast majority of people that believe we have souls are religious, which isn't surprising, but they don't go hand in hand.

Any argument for the existence of a "soul", allows for the existence of fairies. The "soul" is the introduction of an entity into existence via language alone. It has no sense data associated with it. It just appears in language. It's a poetic perspective, not an actual existing thing.

reply to post by trysts

1. The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity. 2. The spiritual nature of humans, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.

The concept is not tied to religion.

It's a poetic perspective, not an actual existing thing.

This seems true for some people.

Hi op

Excellent thread

i have one little story to add

this was from my gf ladies mag from a few years ago

basically a woman was coming back from work and stepped into her home
she was grabbed by an intruder who was lurking and the intruder attempted to rape her

out of nowhere the ladys cat jumped upon the intruder and scratched his eyes

the intruder promptly ran off

i love animals (well most lol)
and dogs, i will always put my faith in

cheers op for a decent story 2day
dave

reply to post by davesmart


Haha, that's a good one! Having both dogs and cats as my life companions I am blushing with shame I did not include any cat story in my OP - and thsnks for that. Cats are exceptional animals and true smart predators.

Ancient Egyptians could not be wrong

Cheers!

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

What does a soul necessarily have to do with a creator?

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

The soul is a religious term.

No, it's a spiritual term. You can believe we have souls but not believe in god and vice versa.

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

I don't think so. All arguments for a "soul", leads to gods.

No it doesn't... why would it? They aren't necessarily related at all. I expect the vast majority of people that believe we have souls are religious, which isn't surprising, but they don't go hand in hand.

Any argument for the existence of a "soul", allows for the existence of fairies. The "soul" is the introduction of an entity into existence via language alone. It has no sense data associated with it. It just appears in language. It's a poetic perspective, not an actual existing thing.

edit on 13-9-2012 by trysts because: (no reason given)

Going by what you just said, it has absolutely nothing to do with god or religion. However you're only half right, quite often it's just a poetic perspective, but it's also believed to be a real thing. I don't believe in either by the way, but if we do have souls then that doesn't mean there is a god, and if there is a god it doesn't mean we have souls.

Any argument for the existence of a "god", allows for the existence of fairies.

Originally posted by SentientSentinel
reply to post by trysts

 

1. The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity. 2. The spiritual nature of humans, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.

The concept is not tied to religion.

edit on 13-9-2012 by SentientSentinel because: (no reason given)

A dictionary definition is a guide of how words have been used, but in no way is it clear. It's best to read original sources on how the word "soul" has been used by people who try to describe it. When you do, you'll find that the use of the word "soul" is a mystical term associated with religions. To make errors based upon the ignorance of the history of the meaning of the word "soul", is not what I would call a reasonable example of the use of the word.

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by trysts
reply to post by gigaherc

 

Let's see here...An atheist inquires about whether animals have souls? lol. Makes no sense to me.

But, animals do display empathetic behaviour all the time, if that was one of your points.

What does a soul necessarily have to do with a creator?

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

The soul is a religious term.

No, it's a spiritual term. You can believe we have souls but not believe in god and vice versa.

edit on 13-9-2012 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

I don't think so. All arguments for a "soul", leads to gods.

No it doesn't... why would it? They aren't necessarily related at all. I expect the vast majority of people that believe we have souls are religious, which isn't surprising, but they don't go hand in hand.

Any argument for the existence of a "soul", allows for the existence of fairies. The "soul" is the introduction of an entity into existence via language alone. It has no sense data associated with it. It just appears in language. It's a poetic perspective, not an actual existing thing.

edit on 13-9-2012 by trysts because: (no reason given)

Going by what you just said, it has absolutely nothing to do with god or religion. However you're only half right, quite often it's just a poetic perspective, but it's also believed to be a real thing. I don't believe in either by the way, but if we do have souls then that doesn't mean there is a god, and if there is a god it doesn't mean we have souls.

Any argument for the existence of a "god", allows for the existence of fairies.

How could you possibly interpret what I wrote as implying that the "soul" has nothing to do with gods or religion? The soul-story is part of the gods, angels, and fairies narrative.

reply to post by trysts


You are arguing from your own preconceived notions.

I don't associate the word soul with religion at all.

And the dictionairies don't either.

So the link must be in your mind. I'm not saying that religion and the soul cannot be linked. Just not by definition.

Wow.. Thanks for the post and Amazing links. i beleive Animals have Soul and Emotions too. Why can't they have that?? what prevents that??

That 10 stories which you have provided me to almost cry... It was heart touching.. That is what I call Un-conditional love to a Human friend.

We have learn lots of things from Animals but we refuse to.

Star & Flag For you

Originally posted by SentientSentinel
reply to post by trysts

 

You are arguing from your own preconceived notions.

I don't associate the word soul with religion at all.

And the dictionairies don't either.

So the link must be in your mind. I'm not saying that religion and the soul cannot be linked. Just not by definition.

A dictionary is not an authority on word use, it is a guide for general meanings, spellings, etc. Your dictionary does not define a "soul", you are using the dictionary incorrectly. So you can't really claim to know what a "soul" is "by definition", based upon the dictionary. The link between a god and a soul, is simply through asking what a soul is. For people who wish to say that the "soul" is somehow an independent concept from other fantasies such as heaven, hell, the privileged state of humans, etc, they are ignoring the narrative of the word "soul", in the history of religion, mythology, folklore, etc.

If someone says, "I don't believe in gods, fairies, or metaphysical destinies, but I believe in a soul", then there should be an argument for why someone would use the word, "soul" to describe something not tied to the former concepts one does not believe in. It's just like using the word "god", it carries with it some obvious historical baggage.

reply to post by trysts


I see, so the only objective source for a definition of the word soul must be your mind then.

Have fun with it.

Originally posted by trysts
A dictionary is not an authority on word use, it is a guide for general meanings, spellings, etc. Your dictionary does not define a "soul", you are using the dictionary incorrectly. So you can't really claim to know what a "soul" is "by definition", based upon the dictionary. The link between a god and a soul, is simply through asking what a soul is. For people who wish to say that the "soul" is somehow an independent concept from other fantasies such as heaven, hell, the privileged state of humans, etc, they are ignoring the narrative of the word "soul", in the history of religion, mythology, folklore, etc.

If someone says, "I don't believe in gods, fairies, or metaphysical destinies, but I believe in a soul", then there should be an argument for why someone would use the word, "soul" to describe something not tied to the former concepts one does not believe in. It's just like using the word "god", it carries with it some obvious historical baggage.

And you are not the authority of linguistic evolution. You do not have the luxury of demanding a word only mean something if tied into one specific argument. I am an atheist. I define a soul as someone's essence, that unique sense of self that defines them as THEM. I do not ascribe to a religion to tell me this, it shouldn't have to have that stipulation. It is not up to you to tell speakers of the language how the word can progress and flow over time in it's usage. If you think you think all words should mean the same thing as their origins or high of usage meanings, then we'd have an ENTIRELY different version on English going today. Language is fluid, not static. Get used to definitions changing with the tides of time.