Can an animal sin?

We're absolved from sinning because, as you said, it is what we define it as. That makes it highly subjective, certainly not fit to be applicable to a mass of people, unless you have intent to control them. Sin could be viable in a personal context, much as Sandy has just said, but the dogmatic dichotomy in religions of "this is wrong" and "this is not" is fit only for mindless sheep. In that sense, we are absolved from that kind of widely used connotation of the word "sin".

 

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I was raised that animals couldn't go to heaven. They have no soul.
So if your idea of heavenly paradise involves animals, they won't be there.

 

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If animals have no soul; what differenciates a rabbit from a dead rabbit?

 

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Such a shame that you 'children of god' didn't seem to inherit any noticeable intelligence from the old man.

And what exactly is wrong with being a relative of a monkey?

Hey - attack the argument and not the person. Cris.

 

So because you were raised in it, that makes it true. Hm...

 

I think we're talking about the same thing, just wording it a bit differenct...

I was just posting a hypothetical question. What if sin was real? Then by acknowledging what we do as sin, we'd be more responsible for the things we do.

I agree with you in that it is meant for "mindless sheep", and that we are absolved from the word "sin". And it's only that, a word.

 

How can one inherit anything from something that doesn't exist?

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I was raised to believe there is a teapot circling the earth. I can't see it, but I was raised knowing it was there...

I'm sure you've heard of the Invisible Pink Unicorn and the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

 

Well if sin was real, then yes, you'd be right.

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Damn right!

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Good ol Dawkins and company.

 

I'm an atheist. I was just saying how I was raised. And I still think animals have no soul, including humans.

 

Then what differenciates a human from a dead human body?

 

brain function and a heart beat. Dang, where did you go to school???

 

Sho' nuff.

 

At least Sandy said "relative of a monkey". Sandy's not as ignorant as I thought.

Congrats.

 

why does the brain function and why do we have a heart beat?

 

because it keeps us alive and furthers our species. whatever school he went to, it must not have propagated an open mind.

For example, I assume he's asking "why", not in a biological sense, but in a teleological one. What he doesn't realize is that in asking the question "why", it already assumes that there is a reason, when there might not be one at all. It'd be like me asking, "where is the hidden treasure of George Washington?" It is a silly and pointless question if there is no treasure.

 

Actually, to ancient people.. not a lot. The discernible difference between a living human and a dead one was breath - which, funnily enough, is the origin of the word 'soul'.

Interesting link: http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/mind.html