You say animals have no souls...?

Question

And yet you forget that humans are animals too. Are you saying that we don't have souls either? I heard one person say that animals can't talk, what about the Gorilla Coco who learned sign language? Perhaps they are just speaking a different language, did you ever consider that? How can you claim that an animal (or anything for that matter) doesn't have a soul, or emotions, or intelligence in some form unless you have been that animal (or other thing.)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko_(gorilla)

I know there are many who DO believe animals have souls. This question is directed at those who don't.

loulz- I HAVE read the bible
sparkles- If that's the case then why do humans and animals have so many similarities
hey, ray- I used koko as an example because parakeets, etc. only mimic human sounds when they speak in human tongue

To claim we are higher than animals is VERY egotistical in my mind

Answer 1

No, its not egotistical to claim that animals have no souls...
Its egotistical to claim that humans DO!

Its just a trick people!

Wake up!

Our ability to conceptualize is our greatest advantage (along with thumbs and verticality and complex written language...) over other members of the animal kingdom...But this "advantage" means that we are vulnerable to irrational fears and can be duped by flattery and circular logic...
People love to hear how "special" they are. Con men always use that to hide their true intentions...(God loves you all! You are his special creation! He cares about YOU!)

From birth we fear being alone, and thanks to "Jesus" (a "messiah" who's story is a hodgepodge re-run of other pagan religious figures that came before him,) we can cleave to the security that no insurance salesman could offer without getting sued for fraud, (immortality people! Just sign on the dotted line, and and eternal paradise can be yours for just 10% of your gross earnings!)

The human mind is mechanistic, but it works from the emotions of people, not some perfection of logic, so when christians or muslims say,
"God must have created us, because we could not have come from nothing!" they usually fail to realize that they just answered the question of where God comes from with,
"God (a creature much more complex and impossible to spontaneously come into being than us weak and gulible humans,) has always been!"

Humans DON'T have a "soul," as it is defined by theists. Because it is an imaginary "hook" made of pride and unprovable lies to connect us to an invented supremacy,
so unless you have a different definition of a soul, then NOBODY'S got one!

Answer 2

To say that a human or animal has or hasn't got a soul...We must first agree on what a human, an animal and a soul ARE.

For me, the most practical definition, since I am conceptually flexible, and I believe that you are a neo-christian and will share this definition, is to define the soul as that part of the entity that "recognizes the paradox of being separate from the universe when it is an integral part of it..." This, is self awareness combined with a recognition that we are all an inseparable part of "God."

I define a "human" as an animal that possesses a certain genotype AND a "soul." There are a lot of ****-sapiens running around that I don't think deserve to be acknowledged as human...

So I would say that if you agree that a "soul" is something "special," then the reason it is, is that not all organisms have it...

Your dog or cat may have a soul, but they may not, depends on the pet, and on how the owner cares for it...If it really knows right from wrong and cares about others, then you must recognize that they are also have something of the divine in them too...

Answer 3

1- we're higher than animals. yes we are classified scientifically as animals but the soul is what separates us from them in the first place.

2- it's the soul concept, not the soul word if you learn Hebrew, that we're talking about, jsu so you know

3- talking refers to speech patterns. why didn't you just say a parrot, parakete or mackaw (sorry for spelling aerror if I made it)? hope that didn't offend you

4- we're not saying all animals are stupid or can't communicate. thing is, animals use pherimones to communicate, so that's why a dog is refered to as able to "smell" fear. as we give off certain chemicals when we are deeply afraid. however, humans are not very sensitive to pherimones.

5- a soul is the mind, will and emotions wrapped up in an 'ethereal' pachage. animals don't have the ethereal part. it's all or nothing.

6- I don't believe in re-incarnation. and re-incarnation again deals with souls (no matter what you call it) so it doesn't matter unless you mean hinduism.

Answer 4

All living creation as the life source , a soul. The human person has an eternal soul where animals do not, However animals that a human person as loved will enter heaven out of glory to God because of that love. The animal will not be there for the human persons purpose but for the glory of God

Answer 5

Humans belong to the animal kingdom, so yes, you are correct. We are animals, no matter how huge our egos get.

Also, saying you don't believe in a soul is moot. The question is directed towards people who believe animals don't have souls but humans do. That would be like me arguing if chicken or beef is better when I don't eat meat. If you don't believe in a soul, obviously the question doesn't apply to you. =)

Non-human animals, IMO, are much smarter than we would like to think. However, it's easier and more convenient for people to see animals as dumb, soulless creatures, because otherwise we'd have to take responsibility for the horrible things they have to go through at the hands of humans.

Ta.


EDIT: The Bible has nothing to do with it. Religion is entirely personal and varies from person to person as well as society to society, and saying that yours is right just because it is the current majority does not an argument make. Thank you very much.

Answer 6

There was a huge difference in the creation of animals and man. . .God breathed the spirit of life into the nostrils of the man, not the animals.

“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” --Genesis 2:7

We were all created by the same creator which would be why there are similarities.

However, maybe I am egotistical but I believe I am better than a donkey. . ..

Answer 7

Agreed. I don't know how people can look at an innocent animal and believe that they have no souls. We are animals, too.We express emotions just like many animals do. In many ways, we are lower than animals and it often seems as though we are the soulless creatures.

Answer 8

Let me explain....there is a "Soul" and a "Spirit"... All Living things have "Soul"...but only humans have the second which is "Spirit"
We are living beings..as in "Soul" then once we ask Jesus in our hearts...we get the "Holy Spirit"...then we start to see the world with a different perspective or point of view

Simple...

Answer 9

Yeah, I say humans don't have souls either. Prove a soul for me if you will. And what the hell does a 'soul' have to do with a language? Do you need souls to construct language? Nonsense. And what do emotions and intelligence have to do with it? There is no soul. The whole concept is bunk.

Answer 10

That's why I like Wicca a lot better. Whereas Christians are special and "apart" from nature because of their different-ness, Wiccans see themselves as partners with the animals, sharing the same planet and communicating together as best we can. It's much less lonely. :)