Mad!

[outsiders_girl]

I was in sunday school 2 weeks ago, and we were talking about what happens after someone dies. Now, someone said something about their pet, and she says "When a pet dies, and you burry them, they just become dirt- soil... " now, here I am thinking well that's true, but they do go somewhere after they are gone... then the girl says " She is going to be in a better place now- where she can be with all the other angels that have passed on" Which I strongly believe that's what happens, but obviously the sunday school teacher didn't "When a pet dies," she says "they don't go anywhere! There is no heaven for pets- only for people" Now here I am, sitting there thinking about the 7 animals I have lost over the years, and about to cry! I really don't believe what she says- or even if it is true I would like to think that they are in a happy place where they can run in the fields all day. I say a prayer every night for all of the animals, Perky and Maple- my 2 gps. Jake and Squeek- my 2 chins, Wishbone and Jessie, my 2 dogs, and Brutus, the dog from the shelter that was there for 8 years and never adopted!...

[Chinchilla77]

awww thats sad..... I don't go to church but I belive that animal heaven is connected to the people heaven
so you can live together when you die.

[Le'ah]

I don't really know about animals having spirits...but I do know that the Bible says in heaven, the lamb will lay down beside the lion. It was to show how peaceful it is there...and calm. I just can't help but think that if a lion and a sheep can go to heaven, my animals can too. I mean, don't the ones who make it to heaven all get a mansion (like when Jesus said "In my home are many mansions;if it were not true, I would have told you.") I think if I had a mansion, it would just be full of all the pets I had throughout my entire life. That's why I don't just get a house! Gotta have room for me and my pets!! :laugh: If I had a bigger house on earth...there would be even more pets in it! :)

[BabyChins116]

I believe that there is a place that animal spirits pass onto and I say if you believe it too, than go ahead. I would tell your teacher, that you respect what shes teaching but you strongly believe something else. I would hate to think of a animal spirit having no place like a heaven to go to. I believe if god made a place for human spirits to go to, then im sure animals go somewhere too!

[jandir]

Personaly I dont belive in any sort of heaven animal or human. Your teacher probbaly did not mean to sound so rude. You should talk to her about it and tell her you felt that what she said was kind of mean. Even if you dont agree with someone you dont have to emphatically state your view and dismiss others. It is up to the person to form their own view and when some one says something like that it can really have a negative effect.

[ChoppersMom]

My son's Sunday school teacher handed him the same claptrap. I got really mad when he told me. No heaven for animals? If there's a heaven for people, a good number of whom I find personally despicable, then you cannot convince me that there's no place in heaven for our precious animals. What about my Casey, who when I was a child would know instantly when I got home from school what kind of mood I was in, and cuddle me if I was sad, and bring me his ball if I was happy, and sleep with his head on my pillow every night? What about my Bucky, who was so sick at the end of his life that he couldn't even get up to go outside when he needed to, and was miserable when he couldn't help making a mess? What about TJ, who would let my kids climb on him and sit on him and bounce up and down on him and pull his ears and his tail and stick their hands in his mouth, and only kiss them? But let a stranger come within 20 yards of us! Not happenin'. Who is going to tell me that these souls are not in a better place, where there are no epileptic seizures for TJ, no cancer for Casey, no weakened and useless hips for Bucky, no pain, no unhappiness, just a beautiful place for them to wait for their beloved companions to join them. They would wait forever for us, and they do. Never give up believing that. And believe it or not, I'm not particularly religious! I just feel that there must be something better out there somewhere, no matter what God you worship or how often you sit in church or temple or mosque. If we all lived our lives as selflessly as our animals do, then maybe we wouldn't have all the problems we have.

Here's an essay I read on another website. I already posted it here in another thread, but it's worth putting here, as it deals with this subject to a certain degree. Warning: Holiday spirit is about to be dampened!!!!

Whether you already own a pet or if you are considering a first pet, reading this is a must!
By Jim Willis, 2001
This story was one of the first incentives to bring attention, and awareness to animals!
When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend.
Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" -- but then you'd relent and roll me over for a belly rub.
My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect.
We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs" you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.
Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.
She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" -- still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy.
Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them,and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a prisoner of love.
As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch -- because your touch was now so infrequent -- and I would've defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway.
There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me.
These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.
Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.
I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers." You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed, "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.
You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"
They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago.
At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you that you had changed your mind -- that this was all a bad dream ... or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me.
When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited. I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room.
She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days.
As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.
She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago.
She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"
Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said "I'm so sorry."
She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself --a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not directed at her. It was directed at you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of you. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

A Note from the Author:
If "How Could You?" brought tears to your eyes as you read it, as it did to mine as I wrote it, it is because it is the composite story of the millions of formerly "owned" pets who die each year in American and Canadian animal shelters. Anyone is welcome to distribute the essay for a noncommercial purpose, as long as it is properly attributed with the copyright notice. Please use it to help educate, on your websites, in newsletters, on animal shelter and vet office bulletin boards. Tell the public that the decision to add a pet to the family is an important one for life, that animals deserve our love and sensible care, that finding another appropriate home for your animal is your responsibility and any local humane society or animal welfare league can offer you good advice, and that all life is precious. Please do your part to stop the killing, and encourage all spay and neuter campaigns in order to prevent unwanted animals.
- Jim Willis

[annabelina74]

it also says in the Bible that in heaven you will be happy and everything that makes you happy will be with you there-now, my animals make me happy-so they will be there.

Anna

[tararosej]

Chopper'smom: That above article made me cry!!! :nolove: It is so heart wrenching!!They should post in inside shelters.

About the animals and heaven thing, I was raised Catholic and they fed us that line too, animals are "lower" beings and they are not "permitted" in heaven? :banghead: Um, excuse me? How in the h#ll would any person here on earth know what goes on for sure in heaven? How can they preach to people something they only know by rules which human beings made up somewhere along the lines? I hope there IS a heaven for people and animals both. And there better be a h#ll for all the rotten scumbags who us regular law-abiding citizens have to put up with on earth day after day!!!!!!!! :angry:

[Lindsay1980]

There is a place in the Bible where it says that God is with the sparrow and illustrates that if God is with the sparrow how much more so is he with us. In the verses it talks about God being there when it flys high and when it falls (meaning death). We are above animals but God created the animals and he loves them. I believe animals go to heaven. It makes many mentions of animals in heaven through out the Bible.

[Le'ah]

Lindsay 1980, I know that passage of which you're speaking! It is in Matthew. It's one of my favorites b/c it illustrates how God takes care of us and looks after us always. It tends to help me know that no matter what, I'm not alone.

Think about this: God created animals as a companion for man...it was man who decided that animals weren't enough...so God created Eve. My point is, God is over us and we are over animals. God loves us so much..and planned for us to love animals so much. He's gonna take us to heaven to be with him...so are our animals are going to be with us. I mean, are they just supposed to wait around dead and nowhere?! Or are they coming too. I think we go with him, animals go with us. ;) And I could be wrong...but who cares if I'm wrong! B/c the truth is, animals will be there! It's biblical.

The only argument that Sunday school teachers have found in the Bible to go along with their reasoning is that the Bible does let you know which people are going to heaven and which people are going to ****. They don't think it's right to assume that all animals go to heaven and no animals to ****...so they just decide that animals don't go ANYWHERE?!!?!?!?!?!?! :banghead:

Edit: new idea!! lol God is full of surprises. That's why so many miracles have taken place. I think he loves to surprise us. If the good Book doesn't say what is happening to our pets, maybe it is b/c God wants to surprise us!! :D