People either believe in God or they don’t. This is an attempt to simply raise the question “Is it possible?” I am a believer, always have been. My life is driven by my faith. That is not the issue. I have been around cats my whole life, never owned a dog, but I’m certain the same questions can be raised if you are a dog lover.
First off, cats are not sentient beings, only we are. Cats are not aware they exist; they are strictly instinctual animals. We imbue them with human qualities (this is called projection) to make it easier to understand actions that we find pleasing. The animal that comes closest to behavior we call sentient is the elephant. This has been well documented – to show how they quickly come to the aid of another elephant that is sick, dying, or dead.
Cats will stick to you like glue if you are ill, or just feeling a bit gloomy. We interpret this as ‘love’. But love is a human emotion. The anthropomorphizing of human emotions is the way we adopt animals into our family and our lives and accept their behavior as comforting. But since this behavior is strictly instinctual, and familiar contact with humans is not passed from cats to their offspring (we have five cats that had a feral mother), how do we explain this?
For people who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those that don’t, consider this: In the Judeo-Christian tradition (which extends back over 5700 years) God is both omnipotent and omniscient. He is perfect and can do whatever He chooses whenever He chooses. This has to make sense because the concept of God cannot include human qualities that would lead Him to do anything in error.
The question then becomes: how can God manifest his love for us if He does indeed exist? Is it possible that He can take a non-sentient being like a cat, and imbue it with human like traits that we interpret as affection and love? And, would He be compelled to do this when we were weak, in pain, and grasping for something to cling to -- to give us hope that the pain would pass – in order to demonstrate His love for us?
If we believe in God, or at least admit that there is a possibility that He exists, then we must acknowledge that He created the world and everything in it. Is it that much of a stretch to believe that He intended animals that we domesticated as a means to convey His love for us?
I’m not implying that everyone would be happier if they had a cat or five in the house. I’m just trying to assert that if God does exist, maybe He has found a variety of ways to demonstrate His love for us, and this love is communicated through everything He has created.
But for the life of me I can’t understand why Noah didn’t swat those two mosquitoes…
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