Assuming you believe in Heaven

[boomboom]

Are there pets there? I say yes. Not sure how a particular pet makes it to Heaven, but I know there are animals. What do you think?

[Book Lover]

1. Why limit admission to pets?

Why can't any animal make it into heaven?

[boomboom]

2. I agree.

Didn't mean to limit it. Just make it more personal.

[Meshuga]

14. Personal like...

if you have a bad case of the crabs and you finally kill them on earth and when you get to heaven do they try to go for your balls once you get to heaven? You know, crabs go to heaven too.

[elocs]

18. Doesn't the Bible say the lion will lay down with the lamb? n/t

[cosmik debris]

21. In a Biblical way?

I know if a man lays down with another man, that's an abomination!

But if a lion lays with a lamb, is that just good clean fun?

I've never tried inter-species sex, do I have to go to heaven to enjoy that particular pleasure?

[az chela]

3. If there are people there ,then there would also be animals

We are all living beings and have a soul,good or bad.Animals are our gift here on earth so why wouldnt they go where we go?

[boomboom]

4. The argument is that pets can't choose to believe or not

But I think they inherently do. And there is Biblical proof that there are animals in Heaven. Jesus comes back to earth on a white horse, etc. If horses, why not my pug and boston terrier?

[Goblinmonger]

5. So would the bad pets/animals go to hell?

Those nasty pit bulls that have killed kids; the dingos that stole my baby; that stingray that killed the Croc Hunter--to hell with them all.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Sin doesn't apply to animals

They do what the instincts for their species tell them to do. Pit bulls attack anyone who taunts them. Dingos prey upon smaller creatures. Stingrays sting. C'est la vie.

[Goblinmonger]

15. Hate to sound like the nitpicking dink

but more correctly stated, "Sin doesn't apply to non-human animals." Though it would be my argument that much of what is considered sin in mainstream religions is just trying to repress what is natural instinct in humans (sex, coveting, etc.).

[salvorhardin]

6. What about the bacteria?

Those are animals too. Would they be in heaven?

[InvisibleTouch]

7. Sure.

Or, let me qualify that - I don't believe in the Christian concept of Heaven, and I'm not so sure about an afterlife of any kind - but if there is one, I would have absolutely no doubt that it applies to every living thing, not just humans.

[cosmik debris]

8. And what about dinosaurs?

I mean, I know God just made the bones and buried them to test our faith, but will He have dinosaur skeletons in heaven?

[salvorhardin]

9. Good point

And would the Clostridium perfringens bacteria in heaven be allowed to rot away human limbs as it's wont to do in the case of gas gangrene on Earth? I mean, after all, it's just doing what God told it to do. All part of God's plan and all that. We should be joyous at the opportunity of having our limbs painfully festering and rotting away in heaven.

[Evoman]

19. Sorry to nitpick, but bacteria aren't animals. They are in Kingdom Monera.

Thats in the five kingdom classification. Or Eubacteria in the six kingdom classification.

[salvorhardin]

20. Nitpick away!

:)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. All things are there

because, in reality, all things are part of the Whole. Heaven, to my perception, is a recognition of this Unity. Hell is merely a shadow caused by misperception of duality.

If you are lucky, you can experience Heaven right here and now.

[Danger Mouse]

11. Bad dogs go to hell.

Like Hitler's dog.
:rofl:

[Goblinmonger]

17. GMTA

Though I am ashamed that I did not come up with Hitler's dog.

[Meshuga]

13. How about all the animals you ever ate?

Are they going to be in heaven? How about the bugs and pests you kill in your house? Boy, it's going to be awkward when you see them up there!

[Goblinmonger]

16. Kinda like this?

[Chorophyll]

22. AWK-ward! n/t

[Chorophyll]

23. I don't believe in a Sunday school kind of heaven.

I kind of look at Heaven (for lack of a better word) as a place (again, for lack of a better word) where everything is set to rights. Like earth, only with justice and fairness and peace and wisdom. So animals would be there too. Also bacteria and viruses, and yeah, crabs.

Really enlightened crabs. :)

[JerseygirlCT]

24. I don't know. I'm sort of hoping that they stay

away from me, though.

I'm not a pet person!

[TRYPHO]

25. Its an age-old debate...

<2> "What affinity, then," he asked, "have we with God? Is the soul also divine and immortal and a part of the Supreme Mind itself? And as this Supreme Mind sees God, are we in like manner, able to perceive the Deity in our mind, and thus be happy even now?"
"Absolutely," I replied.
"Do all the souls," he asked, "of all the animals perceive Him? Or is man's soul different from that of a horse or an ass?"
"No," I answered, "the souls of all creatures are the same."

<3> "Then," he continued, "will horses and asses see God, or have they ever seen God at any time?"
"No," I replied, "for not even most men see Him; only those who are honest in their life, and who have been purified through their justice and every other virtue."
"Then you would say," he persisted, "that man does not see God because of his affinity with Him, nor because he possesses an intellect, but because he is temperate and just?"
"Certainly," I answered, "and also because he has the faculty of thinking of God."
"Would you say," he asked, "that goats or sheep do an injustice to anyone?"
"They do not in any way do an injustice to anyone," I replied.

<4> "So, according to your reasoning," he said, "these animals will see God?"
"No, they won't," I answered, "because they are hindered from doing so by the form of their bodies."
"If these animals had the power of speech," he retorted, "you can be sure that they would have more right to revile our bodies. But, for the present let us ignore this topic and I'll concede that what you say is true. Tell me this: Does the soul see God while it is in the body, or after it has been released from it?"

<5> "Even while it is in the human body," I replied, "it can see God by means of the intellect, but especially after it has been released from the body, and exists of itself, does it perceive God whom it always loved."
"Does it remember ," he asked, "this vision of God when it is again united to a human body?"
"I don't think so," I answered.
"What, then," he continued, "is the advantage of having seen God? What advantage has he who has seen God over him who has not, unless he at least remembers the fact that he has seen Him?"

<6> "That I cannot answer," I admitted.
"And what," asked he, "will be the punishment for those deemed unworthy to see God?"
"As a punishment," I answered, "they will be imprisoned in the bodies of certain wild beasts."
"Will they be conscious that for this reason they are imprisoned in such bodies and that they have committed some sin?"
"I don't think so."

<7> "Then, it would seem that they benefit in no way from such punishment; in fact, I would say that they suffer no punishment at all, unless they are conscious that it is a punishment."
"No, indeed," I conceded.
"Therefore," he concluded, "souls do not see God, nor do they transmigrate into other bodies, for they would know that they were being thus punished, and they would be afraid thereafter to commit even the slightest sin. But I do concede that souls can perceive that there is a God, and that justice and piety are admirable."

"You speak the truth," I agreed.

From http://www.bombaxo.com/trypho.html

So don't kick your dog, it's probably your evil great aunt come back to haunt you :-)

TRYPHO