November 3, 2003
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Do animals have souls . . . why / why not?

If animals had souls, they would be able to sin...all animals are innocent, therefore they cannot sin and do not have souls.

Melodi, 19
Gahanna, OH USA

Of course. You can see it in their eyes.

Keri-Jade, 23
Brampton, Ontario CANADA

They certainly have a life force.

Felicia, 37
Lowell, MA USA

I don't know that they need one.

Fisch, 47
Preston, CT USA

I believe they do. They love and get scared and know when you are upset or happy. My cats sit at the end of my bed when I am sick. They come around me and snuggle when I am upset. If they don't have a soul, I don't know what it is that I have then.

Stephanie, 27
TX USA

Yes I do. They are capable of love, so I think they have souls.

Laura, 38
Lowell, MA USA

for this question you have to define soul. i consider a soul the part of a human which is judged by God and can be sent to hell or heaven. do animals have this? no they dont. i do believe that animals have emotion and can think. this in someone elses point of view is a soul.

i guess from my definition of a soul, animals have a spirit. same as humans do. i had dogs throughout my life but not currently. i used to notice how they acted differently in situations.

thats something i miss from not having dogs. there was so much emotion in every moment with them. they really had personalities and i was definitely fascinated by that.

maybe my definition of a soul needs to be switched with that of a spirit. then animals would have souls but not a spirit. i dont know. i just know that animals arent on the same level as humans when it comes to God.

Ingrid, 22
Stockton, CA USA

I don't think I have ever given this a thought - which is interesting all by itself. My thought is, why not? Ancient religions, Indians and others have long believed in the sacred lives of animals. No matter how bad my day has been and how grumpy I am or how many times I tell him to quit scratching, my dog Tip looks at me with deeply adoring eyes, ready for whatever I want to do. I feel his connection deeply. I think it is at soul level

Cindy, 41
VA USA

I'm not sure that people have souls and this doubt extends to the rest of the animal kingdom.

Jill, 61
Saylorsburg, PA USA

I tend to think that attributing souls to animals is anthropomorphism but it would be catastrophic to be dogmatic about it.

Jane, 63
West Linn, OR USA

Yes. Hello, humans are animals. Not that other animals don't have souls.

Karen, 24
Ames, IA USA

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