Do you believe that birds, fish and animals in general have spirits and/or souls?

Question

What would be differences between spirits and souls? Do you think there are great differences between the spirits and souls of various types of animals?

Answer 1

The spirit is the soul,some believe the aura around our bodys is the soul, it can now be photographed,and iIbelieve every living thing on this earth has a soul of some sort ,It has already been proven that plants feel pain ,a blade of grass screams in pain when cut ,and moans when walked on,we are living on a wounderful plannet I just wish people would do more to look after it,
There are so many thing we do not fully understand ,iIfor one wish we did as I would spend my life studing it all as its so amazing,

Answer 2

The soul or spirit is the life force in the body. The body, whether in the form of a human, animal, fish, bird, amoeba, or microbe, etc, is never alive. The body is a bag of chemicals only and cannot exhibit any symptoms of life without the presence of the spirit soul. Even cloning and invitro fertilization require the use of tissue or the sperm and egg of a once living entity. So the creation of a living being is not possible simply by the amalgamation of inert organic chemicals and ingredients.

The spirit soul is the eternal, spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord and in this material world the spirit soul may be found in any one of the 8,400,000 species of life. We are now in the human form of life, inhabiting a planet that is in the middle planetary system of this insignificant universe. There are billions of universes in this material world, some larger and some smaller than this one. And all of them are chock full of spirit souls going sometimes up to the higher planetary systems and sometimes going down to the lower planets-- enjoying or suffering as the case may be-- in higher forms such as demigods or humans or lower forms like animals and insects and plants. The difference between the higher forms of life is the body and accompanying degree of consciousness that is exhibited in that form. But the spiritual energy, the spirit soul, is the same quality in all bodies.

The second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, available online at the link below, has much more info about the nature of the spirit soul.

Answer 3

What is experienced as a soul, a metaphysical object by some, is experienced as a mere process, called consciousness, by a naturalist.

DEFINITIONS
Consciousness is the feeling of being in a body and controlling it.
Having a self-image is having an image of oneself.

Scientists believe that consciousness is linked to the brain and hence, any creature with a brain would have a form of consciousness.

However, some animals, such as ants, have such a minuscule brain that it is believed they don't have any consciousness. On the other hand, flies are believed to experience some quick, instinctive expressions of movement. Another point is that flies sometimes have itchy legs; they then rub them against each other. Consciousness would hence range from nothing (yellifish have no brain) to the most complex (human) mind.

Both consciousness and a self-image are intertwined. The greater the brain of a species, the higher its feelings, the greater its self-image and the more complex its life becomes.

Some animals do have a self-image, an image of oneself, but that does not mean that they can recognize themselves in front of a mirror. That is merely defined by intelligence. Another false tought is to believe that animals cannot commit suicide. That does not mean they have no feeling; in fact it means they are not intelligent enough to create such a plan.

Examples of proven self-image are rage, pride, sadness, boredom, etc. Below you can find proof that animals do have a self-image and hence have consciousness (a soul or feelings).

BOREDOM:
Some animals locked up in cages keep walking in circles. This would mean they are bored. A dog can also show a sad face when it is bored.

SELF HARM:
A person I knew once cooked a lobster. The lobster was so frustrated it started to pull its own legs off. Scientists believe that animals when they become frustrated so immensely, they harm themselves. This also happens with people.

PRIDE:
Some animals fight each other. The winner gets the female.

PROPERTY:
A dog barks when a stranger enters his property. This can also be a feeling of fear or threat, though. Property is also a stong proof of having a self-image, because an animal can bind a piece of property to his own.

HAPPYNESS:
Dogs swing their tail left and right and let their tongue hang out of their mouth when they're happy.

There are much more examples you can probably think off.

Conclusion: Animals do have feelings and what some refer to as a 'soul'. They do not have rational toughts. We, just as animals, do have an instinct. When someone punches you, you will feel an instinctive feeling of fear and dodge it. When we become angry, we don't always act rational. If you are in a fight, you won't think verbally what to do do. Day dreaming, staring deadly in front of you, is comparable to a form of an instinct. This is the evidence, as one without rational toughts still can have feelings.

Answer 4

all animals have a soul. Spirit and soul are basically the same thing. Some animals have a lot more soul like dogs :)

Answer 5

Soul is a concept that is well accepted in relation to human life form. I believe that it will therefore apply to life forms higher than humans. Animals, birds etc. I believe are life forms lower than humans because they lack one or more aspects of intelligence, creativity or consciousness that humans have while some of them may have special abilities like hearing lower frequency sounds etc.. Among the non-humans, there are also variations in intellegence, or creativity or consciousness and therefore some non-human living creatures are of lower life forms than other non-humans..

Continuing the extrapolation (or intrapolation), we come to creatures like Ameba and then trees and then stones and inorganic materials. Therefore my inference is that whether a creature has a soul or not is not the question; but that all living creatures and nonliving creatures form a continuam of life forms ( or nonlife forms) with their souls in decreasing self awareness and analytical ability. This is why in Reincarnation theory, it is believed that one can be reborn into any form, lower or higher, based on the quality of cumulative 'karma' of that creature over several lives.

Answer 6

The word soul means --a vessel so all living and breathing thing IS a soul.
The word spirit means--the life force or breath, so everything that breathes has a spirit or breath.

Check out the origan of the words and you will see what I just said is trueth.

Answer 7

Yes, I don't think God would create something just to have it die and disappear into the ground. Animals have souls and I believe we will see them one day in heaven.

Answer 8

Some of them do, just as some people do. Others are nothing but hateful and mean and vicious and just like their human counterparts, they have no soul.

Answer 9

Maybe, you never know, they can love and feel. I heard a story about a NDE(near death experience) victim who said he saw tress, flowers, birds and animals in Heaven. So I can't really answer but it sounds promising.

Answer 10

Whether they do, or dont, the LORD gave them to us to utilize as we may, for food or beast of burdens.

The LORD even made the first clothing for Adam and Eve, out of animals so that they would know the sacrafice HE made for them, and what thier "sin" had entailed...

The LORD will worry about them, as HE gives them the first fruit of the harvest, so that they do not have to toil, nor reap, nor sow...

I wish you well..

Jesse