hey Abaddon! very nice post!
everything I ever post is just my opinion, I don't expect to convert anyone. I think someone said I sounded 'preachy'--that was not evangelizing---just passion. I don't knock on doors anymore--been there done that for 34 yrs!
and my opinion IS based on my experiences and my belief system.
***Ravyn; But ask that frog's mother how she feels!
Reporter; Mrs. Frog, how do you feel over the tragic loss of your son?
Mrs. Frog; Rivet. Croak. Rivet. (translation “I am a female frog”) ***
remember sarcasm?
*** I believe the life force is the same--equal in everything that has it.
Ah, a scientific argument! Life force? Is that like The Force? See comments to aFairy.***
there is something that makes us 'living' ---yes? I called it Life Force for lack of a better term.
*** Is it just possible that even insects have some form of communication and family-like(or religious or political if you will) structure that humans do not understand?
Ants communicate about environmental threats or opportunities. Most animals do. If you think that even far more advanced creatures like say most mammals have anything comparable to religion or politics, I would love to see the evidence for this. Rabbit elections? Chicken anti-war marches? Look at the size of the brains for pete's sake! ***
ah...exactly! as humans we don't know just how other living things 'think' ---- how presumptuous to assume that because we are at the top of the food chain that we are also the only ones with any kind of 'civilization'! remember Brontosaurus Rex?
*** So if a physical body is only ours temporarily while we live in the material realm, it is even more of a crime to destroy the life force of another creature who ONLY has this realm of existence! We are disrupting the 'Prime Directive'! oh-oh baaaaaaad karma............
Ah, so you KNOW a) humans have an after life, and b) animals don’t. Fine, it’s a lovely belief structure, you’re welcome to it, BUT THAT IS ALL IT IS. You can no more prove humans have an after life than you can prove animals don’t! ***
true. but I do base my opinions on what I believe. Just like you do. just because I say something does not mean I present it as empirical fact. I am not a fundy anymore. I don't believe in ONE TRUTH. In fact I don't believe ONE TRUTH even exists.
*** I have not met another human who I value more than my dog.
So, say, just say, you’re walking Rover, and he starts ripping the face of a four-year-old. I don’t care if your Rover would never do that, or would only do that if provoked. I want you to think about how you would feel watching your dog maim or possibly kill a child. I love dogs. Dogs like me too; I’m the guy the dog that always barks at people (or runs away from people) comes up and says hello to. But in the above scenario if the only way I could get Rover of the kid is by killing it, I would not hesitate for a second. I honestly can’t understand it if you would, but maybe I am speciesist. ***
I said MY dog. and I have not met anyone YET--does not mean I won't, or that I feel that way about ALL dogs. And my dog is an Akita, she is very capable of tearing the face off a grown man. She is usually very maternal toward anything that is young. She loves her three cats, but she did kill a chicken that got too close to her food bowl outside. But I have seen my kitten sleeping IN her food bowl on the kibble and all Samantha does is look at me like Charlie Brown when he is worried. Samantha is a trained Seizure Dog. She is my disabled companion animal. She has already accomplished more in her lifetime of only 6 years than I have in mine of 41 years. I respect her for that.
*** To kill an animal for the thrill of killing something is a crime against nature.
And to put another species above your own is what? So, when you going to tell this to animals that do this? They are part of nature, I don’t see no 'nature police' booking cats for playing with mice after they’ve caught them, or in any other examples of animals obviously having what passes for fun when they kill. Maybe it is because elephants look silly with blue light on their head?***
talk about generalizing! sheesh! I did not put a whole species above my own! I put MY dog and MY cats above those examples of humanity that I have encountered so far. dang man! one of the characteristics of animals that I see as being superior to humans is the control animals have over emotions! (I know I know--emotions in animals??? just because you can't find the gene in a lab or grow it in a petry dish or bottle it for sale to third world countries does not mean it does not exist!) although if my cats had thumbs they would probably be typing this post in their own defense. (That's my idea for the sequel to Cats and Dogs---Mr Tinkle is trying to hire a scientist to create artificial thumbs so cats can open their own cans of cat food....)
I have a very specific belief system that makes sense to me(otherwise why would I have it?) I am not trying to proselytize, just sharing opinions. That is how I add to my belief system. I don't think this planet was 'created' for humans. I think humans were 'created' in response to a need. And I think we screw with other life forms' evolution here. And shooting frogs out of potato guns is an example of that.
Ravyn
edits:sorry just me being the perfectionist.