Reply With QuoteIt could just be my experience but everyone I know who believes in the afterlife also expects their pets and other animals to be there.
Right from the begining of spiritualism some 140 years ago and the popularity of the Fox sisters I think a huge assumption was made that still pervades the paranormal and paranormal thinking today. I refer to 'The afterlife' and the fully functioning post bological death society that is supposedly waiting for us when we shuffle off this mortal coil. However, (and this is where it all comes undone when confronting science) I think the cart has been put well before the horse.
Two questions need to be answered:
1. Why should their be an after life?
2. When did this after life begin
Humans such as we are have been here for the breifest of periods when we look at life's genisis but we are still part of that process and our roots go all the way back to those strings of protiens that started bonding oh so long ago. So at what point did the first life form (destined to be us) die off and find itself in the afterlife? Lets set out the evolution of life time table and see if one of our "gifted" individuals can pin the tail on the donkey.
Lets see, cobbling together 'a brief history of life I think it goes something like this:
3.8 billion years of simple cells
3 billion years of photosynthesis
2 billion years of complex cells
1 billion years of multicellular life
600 million years of simple animals
570 million years of arthropods
550 million years of complex animals
500 million years of fish and proto-amphibians
475 million years of land plants
400 million years of insects and seeds
360 million years of amphibians
300 million years of reptiles
200 million years of mammals
150 million years of birds
130 million years of flowers
65 million years since the non-avian dinosaurs died out
2.5 million years since the appearance of the genus Homo
200,000 years since humans started looking like they do today
25,000 years since Neanderthals died out.
So, where does the afterlife begin? what purpose does it serve and why, given the countless billions of other species that were infinitely more successful for a far longer period of time did they not get to join the club?
In all truth I think it's an easy one to answer. Human ego and the difficulty people have in imagining not existing. Couple that with magical thinking and a depth of ignorance regarding science and you have an easy to swallow fairytale that works much like a comfort blanket but one that is ill fitting and full of holes.
It could just be my experience but everyone I know who believes in the afterlife also expects their pets and other animals to be there.
Might be fun to ask that on the Spiritlove Forum
I accept this is so for modern times, but the concept was already there millennia before this. Hades in the ancient Greek epics is such a society, with a ruling king, queen, palace and full social structure modelled on real life. It has carried on through ancient Latin works, and in the middle ages forms the basis of Dante's Divine Comedy. It has never left us, and for such a concept to have such a pedigree perhaps seems to be a fundamental human need .Originally Posted by scroll33
Yes. Some of them expect their pets to be there but not other animals in general to be there. You can get into ridiculous conversations with them: "Dogs?" "Yes." "Rats?" "No." "Not even pet rats?" "Maybe..." "Wild dogs?" "No." "Dogs get in depending whether they were born pets or not?" "Erm... whether they were good or not." etc, etc.
It's a part of the way that all monotheists have their own personal god to suite their personal wishes. Their god would obviously let their pets into heaven, just not all those other horrid animals. Or, for some animal lovers, all animals will be in heaven, every fly and wasp that ever died. For Garvan Ellison rats are in but foxes are out because he doesn't like foxes so obviously his god will agree with him.
I've found that you can make some of these religionists uncomfortable by asking what happens in heaven when, say, the husband died aged 19 during WW2, the only love of his life goes on to marry again and spends 50 years with her second hubby, she is the mother of his children and the only love of his life. Do they spend eternity having a threesome?
Yea I've considered the 'fundamental human need' regarding the afterlife and perhaps (as pointed out by many believers) the fact that the concept of God and an afterlife permiates all societies no matter how remote, 'belief in such or at least the unwillingness to accept no longer existing is written into our genes on some level, sort of a biological fale safe for the deep thinking ape. After all, dwelling on ones ultimate demise and relative futility in existance would not be a desirable trait when it comes to passing on our genes.
On the other hand it may simply be as I said earlier, Ego on our part :)
Last edited by scroll33; 20th July 2010 at 01:18 PM. Reason: missing point
Yes, I wouldn't intrinsically disagree with "ego". One thing that's different about modern views, at least compared to ancient or medieval ones, is that the afterlife is seen as a happy place. This contrasts quite considerably with views of other ages, where people are destined, after death, to repeat endlessly what they did during life, or are quite literally shades of their former selves.
That difference, where we are now seen as continuing our living life, could well represent a difference of thought about the importance of humans, i.e. ego.
Quite so. I mean, in a few billion years the Sun is going to expand and swallow up the Earth, and an unknown number of billions after that the Universe as we know it will cease to exist.
Knowing that, what's the point of getting up in the morning? There's only one sensible thing to do:
Yes animals with a certain level of sentience will be there, so dogs, cats, budgerigars etc will be.
But unfortunately for the UKS website on the other side, Croydon Bob (which I believe is also a haircut) does not fit into this category.
ETA: Obviously Cows get in as well.
Last edited by polomint38; 20th July 2010 at 04:18 PM. Reason: forgot us cows
It's a better hairstyle than the Croydon Facelift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croydon_facelift).
I was watching Dave last night and Paul Merton offered Shane Ritchie a "Croydon Massage" (kick in the nuts).
Are plants allowed in heaven? And what about bacteria?
Only the good ones stooopid! Weren't you paying attention? If they live in yoghurt and help women with bloating then they're good bacteria and go to heaven, if they cause nasty diseases they are bad bacteria and burn in hell for eternity to teach them a lesson for making me cough.
Brilliant!
It's a good point though. At what point did man evolve the ability to survive after death? When we were still simple protein chains in a primordial soup or perhaps when we grew legs and flopped gasping onto the shore? It's always the nitty gritty questions that seem to bog down the mediums. Wouldn't it be nice if those in charge of the after life picked someone literate in science to communicate through so we could get some of these basic questions out of the way, rather than picking Old Mable who is a star God bless but doesn't know how to switch on her toaster.
Last edited by scroll33; 20th July 2010 at 11:35 PM. Reason: spooling
Or maybe people imagine death to be like sleeping, so you dream. Then you would have your own ideal heaven.
Though I find the idea of being asleep forever creepier than simply no longer existing.
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