Will you meet your pets in Heaven?

Earth is more interesting, which is why we reincarnate.

your dog would go in." - Mark Twain

who spends her days lying in the sun and being fed, petted and generally doted on by a sentimental, devoted cat-lover. I would lie on my back on a soft cushion in a patch of sunlight with my paws in the air, and think about nothing in particular and purr.

Where do I sign up for this reincarnation gig?

Too many cats are tortured, left to fend for themselves, put down for needless reasons, declawed out of "convenience" for the owner, left out in the rain, snow or other horrific conditions, eaten by coyotes and other wild animals, put to sleep for no other reason than there are too many of them being born, experimented on in unscrupulous biomedical labs, used as bait in dog fighting rings, cooked for dinner in some countries, used as target practice in Wisconsin, and generally don't have the idyllic life that some of ours do. :(

afterwards...a lot of Christianity is based on your reward in the afterlife. You suffer here, so you can have an eternal reward. I believe that's why Christianity caught on--face it, most people have a hell of a time making it through this world, and the idea of eternal life gives them something. So, carry that logic forward to the needless suffering of animals...

Yes--you are right about Christianity. Too many of the overloards, powermongers and other despots let Christianity develop because it gave the serfs, peasants and other downtrodden masses something to look forward to. They figured their life on earth was a pure hell, so heaven was needed to balance that out. If too many of the mass populace realized that religion was a "gimmick" to make them work harder and not reap rewards, they would revolt against their taskmasters, and ruin the status quo.

The fact that religion retained some worth during peaceful times was a bonus--it meant that it could be used for other things, like inflicting morals, rules and limitations on those proles.

That's why religion has been used as a weapon for two thousand+ years--most people are content to keep themselves quietly dominated just as long as they think there is something greater beyond their time on earth.

Both are great, but you do get a feel for the Roman religion--the emperors and their families and the upper class would go to heaven in basically the same form--ruling on earth, and ruling in heaven. The slaves just were born, treated like shit, and then died and ...nothing. No wonder these people took to Christianity.

it's the same: those born to high power expected to go to the Elysian Fields based on their station in life, and there were expected to be some who ended in Hades in the worst circumstances, but it was largely human folly which determined their fate and their destiny. Less was spoken of the slaves, because the impression most royals had was that their slaves were honored to serve them, and it wasn't horrible for someone to be a slave. (Yeah, right!)

Egyptian culture at least had its realism to a point: the "gods" had to be "bribed" to ensure that the royals got treated well on the other side, but they were just as barbaric in killing a royal's slaves in order to accompany the royal on his way "across." Royals often got opulent burial chambers (the Pyramids or the Valley of the Kings) while slaves usually ended up in mass graves.

It was and always will be hubris for those who gained their power by conquering, killing, torturing and maiming to try to hold that power over those who have been oppressed. It wasn't until probably the past century--or two at the most--that the Pope was limited in his territorial power--in days of old, the Pope was a magnate as much as any other force in power. Their power was somewhat limited, but the papal authority was responsible for coronating the "Holy Roman Emperor" who would (supposedly) act as the Pope's authority on Earth, just as the Pope purportedly acted as God's authority on Earth.

I think that is one of the things which scares the religious right the most: the waning of religious motivation in the proles, to the point where the people are well aware of the schemes and themes they have been subjected to, and that touch of desire which motivates many to achieve and proceed past their current place in life. Capitalism, in its truest form, gives people that opportunity, and it is because of that upsetting the scales that puts the so-called Christians in their straits: the thought that those they feel are beneath them might succeed and leave their "places" is heinous to them, and they must try to find more clever ways to hold these people hostage to the set of ideals which puts them in easy and compliable reach.

...what never fails to amaze me is that if you try to talk to a fundie about religion from a historical perspective, they freak out. Everything they believ is straight from God, and they can't see how Christianity has been influenced by other religions.

and you're right. The Christians have always perceived themselves as the "oppressed" or the underdogs to those "heathens" like the Romans who threw a "Christian to a lion" just for laughs, or other pre-Christian era civilization which believed in some other form of all-powerful force.

It's been their task throughout history to take those "punishments" as their raison d'etre, and show and prove (mostly through a combination of exaggeration and lies) that they are, indeed, the rightful heirs to Earth and its treasures. As is often also said, "history is written by the victors." Without the opposing viewpoint, someone can pretty much justify anything.

like the one I have now. I want my only concerns to be when I'm going to sleep, how long I'm going to sleep, and when I will get my next meal.

My cat will be messing with Cerebus making himself all big & fluffy and growling a lot.

cats aren't going to heaven even if it exists

they're evil little creatures

just like me

:evilgrin:

look about them...:evilgrin:

no more pro wrestling for these two

...they usually get along fine, sleep together, but every once in a while one does something the other doesn't like, and the fur flies--more like a cat fight--hissing and chasing, no wrestling like yours.

3 or 4. I still remember it-it was such a shift. I asked my mom if puppies and kitties when to Heaven, and when she told me "No" I decided it wasn't for me. I mean I went off Jesus and all as well.
I know I'll see my Sammy, Julie, Heidi, Charlie Brown, AK, Jinx, Buffy, Mr Big, and if Stella precedes me, I'll see her there too. If not, I'll meet here at the gates! :)

and therefore, should be welcome in Heaven.

Certainly not trying to turn you back towards Catholicism, rather just saying...

My mom was fully indoctrinated during the reign of 2 Piuses (Piusii?) and this question came up at the end of the last Pius (XII, aka Papa Pius Duodecimus) reign. Or the beginning of John XXIII. Old School.

I am surprised at that fact about the previous Pope. He was so conservative...I am glad he felt that way. I'll bet he had some special pets in his life.

...I sort of think they said they wouldn't. Anyway, I'm sort of coming to the conclusion that we're all connected somehow spiritually, so if I live on, they will too.

when I was about 5 or 6. His response, that animals don't go to heaven, was what ignited my skepticism of organized religion.

I dunno what Heaven is (or isn't) but there's no way I'll accept that any creature capable of unconditional love would ever be excluded from it.

share in it, not just some.

I swear! They have the exact same personality!
and my younger cat could be the return of one I lost 3 years ago. Still not sure about it.

So I think I will get to meet my pets in other lifetimes which is fine with me!

but she looks at me strange sometimes, like she could tell me something if she could...and that would be that we knew each other previously!

And my first cat, Custard, who died about 5 years ago, will hate all the other pets that I've had. Custard had an only child personality, but was a sweetie to me, so she won't get along well with Mia and Monty (the two I have now).

Hindus won't because they will end up as someone else's pet, possibly, or more likely, someone/something else's dinner; buddhists will because everything is One anyway, and, in fact, even before the buddhist dies he/she is with their pets; muslims, I have no idea, they might only be reunited with their horses, if they had any; and Jews I have no idea what they think about it; and atheists, of course, will not.

poignant questions raised here??????

would go to heaven, but unfortunately, I don't believe there is any such place.

because I'm sure my warm, sweet wonderful and loving Kitty will go to heaven, whatever heaven is, but I'm not so sure about me.

...laze around in the sun, sleep 20 hours a day, being picky about your food!

if you can't have the ones you love there?

The many thousands of individual interpretations of "heaven" are so very confusing after awhile. I've come to the conclusion (as an agnostic teetering toward atheism) that a spiritual realm that exists after this life would be manifested solely to whatever specs a person wants, strictly out of the newfound (upon death) ability to manipulate matter and energy. Of course, my "heaven" is as subjective as anyone else's, but if there is such an existence, and if I wanted it to represent the ideal of my life, then my animals would be featured quite prominently there, and many of the humans I've known through life would not be. :)

...not sure what heaven is, but I know it's not the eternal paraying and singing of hymns that the nuns said it would be!

be allowed in! That's what I think.

it'd be full of bored, and BORING, fundies.

any of my animals got trapped in there, i'd crash the gate & rescue them.

I hope they at least have automated litter scoopers in heaven.

and such...let's just hope the waiting lines for public restrooms for the ladies won't be as bad up there as they are down here!

the pin used to hold holy toilet paper

It's the LitterMaid!

Are all the animals that ever lived in Heaven?

then we all do.

there who only goes by instinct!

Both the Jews and the Muslims would riot if they got in.

I'm sure they wouldn't want to be anywhere but at my side. I miss my babies! Now see what you've done :cry:

:cry:

I hated that hermit crab. Damn you Sylvester!!!

Well, for me it will be in the Summerland, but similar idea.

Ec 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

There is supposed to be a "new" heaven and a "new" earth. One theory is that animals go to the new earth to live in peace with each other??? Perhaps we can visit them???

I explained to Saint Peter

I'd rather stay here,

Outside the Pearly Gate.

I won't be a nuisance,

I won't even bark,

I'll be very patient and wait.

I'll be here, chewing on a celestial bone,

No matter how long you may be.

I'd miss you so much, if I went in alone,

It wouldn't be Heaven for me.

--Author Unknown