Do animals have free Will?
February 9, 2012 at 5:15 am
(This post was last modified: February 9, 2012 at 5:22 am by Forsaken.)
Animal life clearly outnumber humans on this planet. Therefore, if they were created by an almighty god, it had to be for a reason! My question, therefore, is, do animals have the same freewill as humans? Can animals sin?
Christians have an (weak) explanation for this. According to them, what differentiates humans from animals is self-awareness and reason. Since animals cannot reason, they are not responsible for their actions. Thus the notion of freewill does not apply to them. In my opinion, this is a fail.
These presumptuous people fail to explain why almost all animals are protective of their young, why that dog refused to leave his companions side during the Fukushima nuclear crisis, why my dog can instantly sense suspecting behaviour from some strangers and bark them away while being cool with other strangers, etc. Clearly animals can reason!
On the same note, do humans born with insanity still have freewill? Are they responsible for their actions? Some bible thumping folks have an incredibly idiotic explanation for this. They often quote Psalm 116:6 to explain this, ("The LORD protects simple folk; he saves me whenever I am brought down.") simply meaning that people born with insanity do not have to undergo the "free-will" test. They automatically qualify for heaven .
My question is simple. Why create insane people in the first place? Is this just another example of an imperfect creator? What is their purpose? Are they examples for fellow sane people to follow?
Latter will, nevertheless, defeat the purpose of free-will, because god is using insanity as a tool for people to believe in him, thus employing a form of "dictatorial force". Remember, freewill is defined by Christians as a total submission to god and his powers on our own accord without being influenced by outside factors.
And don't give the stupid cliché that god has indeed created insane people as an example for fellow humans; its up to you to accept him or deny him after observing his demonstration.
Christians have an (weak) explanation for this. According to them, what differentiates humans from animals is self-awareness and reason. Since animals cannot reason, they are not responsible for their actions. Thus the notion of freewill does not apply to them. In my opinion, this is a fail.
These presumptuous people fail to explain why almost all animals are protective of their young, why that dog refused to leave his companions side during the Fukushima nuclear crisis, why my dog can instantly sense suspecting behaviour from some strangers and bark them away while being cool with other strangers, etc. Clearly animals can reason!
On the same note, do humans born with insanity still have freewill? Are they responsible for their actions? Some bible thumping folks have an incredibly idiotic explanation for this. They often quote Psalm 116:6 to explain this, ("The LORD protects simple folk; he saves me whenever I am brought down.") simply meaning that people born with insanity do not have to undergo the "free-will" test. They automatically qualify for heaven .
My question is simple. Why create insane people in the first place? Is this just another example of an imperfect creator? What is their purpose? Are they examples for fellow sane people to follow?
Latter will, nevertheless, defeat the purpose of free-will, because god is using insanity as a tool for people to believe in him, thus employing a form of "dictatorial force". Remember, freewill is defined by Christians as a total submission to god and his powers on our own accord without being influenced by outside factors.
And don't give the stupid cliché that god has indeed created insane people as an example for fellow humans; its up to you to accept him or deny him after observing his demonstration.
