So I am curious about how everyone views animals in relation to their beliefs. Do you believe they have souls, consciousness, or even emotions? Or are they biological machines that run on pure instinct? If God created them, do you believe they're subject to God's rules? Will they have an afterlife? Suffer in Hell for eternity if they kill for spite or greed? If God is real and their creator, why don't they have to worship and praise him? If you respond, please state your religious "title"/belief. I promise I'll do my best to not be a dick.. As for me, I am an atheist. I never really had much of a belief in God growing up even though my entire family was religious and tried raising me as such. Animals were one of the many reasons I just couldn't believe. I don't believe in souls per se, but I do believe in energy. I think whatever is the root of what's running us is running them as well, just not as developed. What happens to that "root" when we die is more than likely what happens to them, even if it's just ceasing to exist. I can't not see emotions in animals.. I work in a motel for dogs, dealing with about 50 dogs everyday and you can totally see emotions. Fear, pride, jealousy, greed, and love (sometimes) when their owner comes back. Long story short, I am an atheist who doesn't think we're "better" than non-human organisms, just more developed.
I'm an atheist, and I agree with you. I think death is just the end of us living. I think when pets die, they just... die. They're gone. I think it's the same with us. We just die, and we're gone. I don't think our consciousness lives on in any way. The only way we "live on" is by the effect we have had on other people. There's a comic that I think would be relevant here... I can't find it now, but it's basically a dad whose kid asks him about whether her dog (or maybe it was a cat?) will go to heaven and he goes on this whole spiel trying to figure out what to say, because if dogs go to heaven, then so must cats, and mice, and ants, and microbes, and every other living being, and then the kid asks mom about dog heaven instead and mom is like "Yes, there is a dog heaven, but only for Fluffy" or whatever the name was. I couldn't find it so I described it instead which probably makes it way less entertaining.
I think I've seen that. Lol, one of those pro-personal heaven things.. I'm hoping some theists weigh in with their beliefs, I'm actually curious. Kind of have a feeling its too many questions for them to ask themselves.