One Big Happy by Rick Detorie for February 10, 2013

What the- What kind of horrible mother tells their children that animals don’t have souls, or that they don’t go to heaven?! Of course animals have souls, more then most people I know! What do you plan to tell her when her pet dies? ‘Sorry honey, your dog will just rot in the ground while you get to go to heaven.’ Seriously.

What does Mom mean when she says “Animals don’t have souls”? If humans evolved from animals, where did their souls evolve from?

My dog has more soul than most people.

There’s probably not a god, and probably not a heaven. So stop worrying and enjoy life!

Don’t all dogs go to Rainbow Bridge?

That’s one reason I’m glad I don’t have kids: I can avoid the whole dilemma of what concepts to brainwash the kids with, religious or otherwise.

When will they stop depicting round bowls as fish prisons?Please cut it off with this silliness. A fish should either be in a pond, or have an aquarium with flat walls…that is if you want it to survive longer than the usual 3-6 months.

Chairman Meow? I like it. Must be a Chinese cat.

reason number 23 why I want nothing to do with Religion

Aww, come on, lady – didn’t you see that ‘Twilight Zone’ with the old mountain man and his dog?

Animals DO have souls. How ignorant. Not reading this strip anymore.

I have always enjoyed this strip-until today…I know my critters have more soul than Rick Detorie has

From what I have seen of dogs and people, dogs would be there LONG before people.

If it exists, it has a soul, in one form or another. Destination is the difference.

I’m not religious or interested in the existence, or not, of souls… but I wouldn’t just drop “your pets are soulless and will vanish forever after their deaths” on a little kid, either.

More than a few people have come back from a near-death experience saying that they met their dearly departed dog or cat on the other side.

Obviously they are fundamentalists. Fundamentalist Christians believe that animals don’t go to Heaven, Special needs people don’t go to heaven, and children younger then 7 don’t go to heaven, as none of them can understand “God’s word”. So watch out Ruthie, your not olde enough yet.

If my fur babies are not there then I don’t want to be there. It won’t be Heaven without them.

I believe in God and Jesus, and I also believe that all animals have souls. No where in the Bible does it say that animals don’t have souls. All animals go to heaven when they die, the only ones who have a choice of going to heaven or hell are humans. And that’s what I told my son when he asked after a pet died.

But all dogs go to heaven.

The teaching by Ruthie’s mom is neither rare nor inevitable for Christians. I like Peter Kreeft’s logic: If the Bible says there are plants in Heaven, it wouldn’t make much sense to exclude animals.

Anyone who thinks animals don’t have souls has never been owned by cats or dogs…:)

All that “Animals don’t have souls” bull is just human ego trying to make itself feel more important.All animals go to heaven period.

What an excellent strip!

YOU KNOW WHAT?NONE OF US KNOW!

I BELIEVE IN GOD, AND I TRULY BELIEVE HE WOULD NOT HAVE MADE SUCH BEAUTIFUL CREATURES AS THE ANIMALS ON THIS EARTH, AND THE BEAUTY OF THIS EARTH, TO HAVE IT ALL GO AWAY WHEN WE GO TO HEAVEN! BUT THAT’S JUST MY OPINION, AND BTW, I AM A CATHOLIC TOO!

Some crowded place? LIKE THE EARTH IS NOW? HUH?

Oh, for heaven’s sake! (pun intended) Ruthie’s mother told her what she had been taught, but then made it evident that her pets will be there for her. The presence or absence of a soul is irrelevant. And don’t you people know about the buildup toward a joke? Sheesh!!!

True!

True!

I am very much Christian. Show me where God says animals do not have souls.Come on, I’m waiting.

Most animals have more souls than human. They’re the ones who deserve to be in “heaven” (if there is one), not us!

People have souls in order to seek the Grace lost through original sin. Animals are innocent an DO NOT NEED SOULS.

Animals as God’s innocent creation already have a place in heaven. Man must earn his way there by searching for Grace ( or by not falling away from Grace if you believe in prevailing Grace)

Doctrine is tricky. Unfortunately, most Christians do not really understand the doctrine of their own Denominations.

Just unsubscribed from this comic strip. The only reason I didn’t do this before was because I was away on vacation.

@38lowell: And all cats, too. And gerbills, hamsters, squirrels, birdies….heck, probably pretty much every critter there is. Come on, Rick, you know better.

Oh, and bosn_c_otter? For me, it has nothing at all to do with religion. I’m not an “anything”. But I do believe there is a power greater than us out there, and I do believe we are all spiritual beings. If we choose to be.