09-21-2015, 02:21 PM
I interact a lot with wildlife. To minimize their suffering and pain, or resistance to death is wishful thinking. There may be a silent knowledge of, or an underlying connection to, the source of things. But that does not make them in this consciousness amenable to suffering or death. To think a deer who has been hunted and killed is okay with the situation, or a cow forced to live a suffering life so it can be meat for humans okay with its situation, is grasping at straws to justify the way we use animals in my opinion.
Perhaps after this incarnation, one might see that one's suffering contributed to soul evolution. (But let's remember that this is a working theory only, in spite of what one feels is true. We are under the veil, and as such, cannot understand fully what is going on.) Perhaps an animal may have a degree of that knowing after death. But while it is here in this life, its suffering and death, as far as I can tell, is no less traumatic than ours might be. We just may have more drama and attachments to cling to.
Would anyone here think a mentally retarded person's suffering less than yours? I have worked with the mentally retarded (sorry if this isn't the currently politically correct label, but I can't recall the most recent one, maybe mentally challenged but that implies psychological imbalances and I am talking about IQ). I have been around "profoundly" retarded individuals, who were much like wild animals in behavior, with less mental capacity that monkeys or apes or many animals. I worked in a type of institution (which no longer exist) in vocational rehabilitation decades ago, where there were hundreds of these individuals. I would be curious to hear others' opinions on how they compare to animals in the context of perceiving suffering and connection to source.
Perhaps after this incarnation, one might see that one's suffering contributed to soul evolution. (But let's remember that this is a working theory only, in spite of what one feels is true. We are under the veil, and as such, cannot understand fully what is going on.) Perhaps an animal may have a degree of that knowing after death. But while it is here in this life, its suffering and death, as far as I can tell, is no less traumatic than ours might be. We just may have more drama and attachments to cling to.
Would anyone here think a mentally retarded person's suffering less than yours? I have worked with the mentally retarded (sorry if this isn't the currently politically correct label, but I can't recall the most recent one, maybe mentally challenged but that implies psychological imbalances and I am talking about IQ). I have been around "profoundly" retarded individuals, who were much like wild animals in behavior, with less mental capacity that monkeys or apes or many animals. I worked in a type of institution (which no longer exist) in vocational rehabilitation decades ago, where there were hundreds of these individuals. I would be curious to hear others' opinions on how they compare to animals in the context of perceiving suffering and connection to source.