We have done an interview on animal spirituality. Do you think animals have a spirituality? Do they have spiritual practices? Can humans connect with them on a spiritual level?

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I think it's a stretch, but not a long one. We certainly know now that every mammal experiences emotions. A good place to begin might be to look at the book by Marc Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy—and Why They Matter (New World Library, California, 2007). Bekoff is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The following is from an article by Professor Bekoff:
Now, whether or not that equates to "sprituality" could be a very different question, and would depend an awful lot on what you meant by spiritual. We've tried to have that conversation before, and I note that many believers don't even think that human atheists can be spiritual.

So, why don't we start there again, and define just what we mean by "spirituality."

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

To me, "spiritual", "spirituality" has to do with the expression or investigation of matters having to do with the ultimate nature of reality, and ourselves within reality. What is "spiritual" moves beyond the merely material, temporal, or worldly concerns, and seeks to understand and integrate understanding in every aspect of our lives.

Spirituality is private and individual, a task of ordering or categorizing human experience, so that perceptions and occurances make sense.

There's a first stab at defining what I mean by the term. Others may well disagree.

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Grassaf, Eolas

Then on that definition (which is not a bad one, by the way -- better than I would have done), I doubt that animals have spirituality. Emotions are one thing, and serve very definite purposes, leading to seeking food and shelter, avoiding danger, reproduction, and so on. Even play can serve a strong learning purpose for young animals. But I don't think that there's evidence of any animal considering the ultimate nature of reality and it's place within it. At least, there's no evidence that I can find.

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

What's "spirituality"? I'm not trying to be funny. Can someone define it? Do we know with any certainty it exists? How can we tell?

It seems to me that we have to define our terminology before we can answer the question-- if it's answerable at all.

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

I think the problem is that we cannot communicate with animals. However, close observation of elephants and chimps, at least, show that they seem capable of greiving and seem to have a concept of identity that extends beyond death. (For example, they have been seen to stop and carefully examine the bones of former herd-mates, and to pass the bones from one to another, before carefully placing them back where they came from.)

Here's a brief example:

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Grassaf, Eolas

Thank you for that, EP. It does merit some more thought. As Emily says, near the end of Our Town: "Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you."

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

No, I don't think animals have a soul, in order where they can think spiritually. Animals don't need all of the spirituality stuff that we need.

Oh, and what do I think Spirituality is; well I think spirituality is things having to do with, being religious, needing God, needing the ritual and symbalism of your faith based way to worship God in your own way--or whatever other ways you might have.

Animals don't need things like rituals, like a tribal person might need to use ritual before he goes out on a hunt or something like that.

However, as far as making animals examples, I think humans have always done that. Not everyone of course. It seems to me though that the people who use animals as their symbals for rituals in spirituality develope strong qualities of the animal they rever.

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When a man sleeps in his bed, his soul leaves him to soar above, each soul according to its own way.......
The Zohar