Cats can be taught spiritual truths

Thank you, Con, for joining this debate. This is fun! I'll clarify my terms (I feel it would be a disservice to cats to not have fuzzy definitions and propositions in regard fuzzy creatures, but I will try and be as accurate as possible for here on in): Spiritual truth: A religious belief that is held to be true by one faith or many faiths OR a living demonstration of a characteristically religious virtue (as in, Buddha says, "Whoever sees the dharma (religion) sees me" and Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (I am not claiming, however, that they are limited to this definition). Note also that I do not specify what religion, and my argument is based simply on the fact that one or more religions must advocate this virtue. If, for example, sitting perfectly still and content to stare off into space is a Buddhist virtue, then if a cat exhibits this virtue, the cat is demonstrating a spiritual truth and, therefore, is a spiritual truth insofar as its attributes are, to a degree, hypostatic with its essence. I don't really know what I was trying to type when I initially typed "cats are naturally spiritual truths". I think I left out a word or added one. Whatever. I'll run with it! My claim, stated in a more specific fashion in light of the above definition, is as follows: 1. Cats are spiritual truths in that they demonstrate characteristically religious virtues 2. Cats can understand languages and learn spiritual truths through linguistic instructions 3. If cats were even more spiritual (that is, if they have even more spiritual attributes or more consistently implemented them) then they would be easier to manage 4. It is unlikely for a cat to get to heaven or favorably reincarnate if it doesn't make some spiritual changes in its life before it dies Proof: "something that induces certainty or establishes validity" (Webster). By "certainty", I hope we can agree on a "certainty" that is "beyond reasonable doubt". If not, I'll try and argue for ontologically necessary certainty. As proof that cats are spiritual truths, cat-ownership and having a religious belief both have been shown to have similar physiological benefits: http://www.womansday.com... And: http://www.studentpulse.com... Quoting one section of the latter: "In a randomized, longitudinal study, the influence of meditation/relaxation techniques on the incidence of cardiovascular disease (participants were judged as being at high risk for it if they had two or three of the following risk factors: smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol) was investigated (Patel et al., 1985). Results showed that at eight weeks, eight months and four years afterwards, the participants that followed the meditation/relaxation techniques program had a significantly lower blood pressure." This is comparable to pet ownership in some details. And all religions justify themselves on the basis of achieving some benefit in both this life, and the next. As to language understanding, "Cats can understand about 25 to 35 words." http://blog.mysanantonio.com... You may argue that they would need to understand syntax, grammar, etc. to understand the significance of these words in a spiritual/religious context, and this may be true of your religion, but it is not true of a religion like Zen Buddhism. For example, during Koan study, the Zen student must use a single word "MU" or "No" (which cat's can understand) to the exclusion of all other thought, eventually penetrating into the truth signified in the word. A rudimentary word --- common to all human languages and known also by feline sub-humans --- is used to penetrate into direct, intuitive realization of spiritual truth. If a cat can understand "No", it can understand Zen Buddhism, thus at least one form of spirituality qualifies under my definitions. Emotions and states of mind can be communicated through tone of voice, along with posture, facial expressions, etc. --- especially to our furred brethren below, who are more acutely aware of such things. And a person who speaks lovingly and spiritually to their cat necessarily forms a bond with that cat, and inspires kindness, loyalty and peace in that cat, ensuring that this cat --- which once may have been a feral beast, terrorizing the entire neighborhood --- will live more peacefully and augment its inherently spiritual dispositions. Also, I think linguistically we can argue that bodily gestures can form a kind of make-shift syntax provided that the cat at least comprehends certain key words. Now, to rebut some of your rebuttle: 1: Cat perfection "If cats were naturally spiritual truths than they cannot be more spiritually developed. If you are already perfect you can't be more perfect." "Natural" is not synomyous with "perfect", nor did I mention perfect in my initial statement. Not relevant. 2: Cat tools Cat's cannot "create art, create tools, have pets, cook, have multi-generational families" I will concede this except for the issue of tools, if by "create" we can agree this to mean "utilize an existing material substance independent of the physical body as a means of attaining a desired goal". See the first youtube clip I posted for conclusive evidence. http://www.youtube.com... I'm not entirely certain of the rest and it's been hard enough trying to justify my outrageous claims without getting into "cat art." Jeez. 3: Cat reincarnation Con writes, "most major religions do NOT believe in reincarnation". I didn't say "major" religions. In this I am including every wacked out New Age cult California ever spat out (most of whom believe someone in their ranks was Cleopatra). Not relevant. 4: Do all cats go to heaven? Con writes that most religions don't teach about animals in heaven. Since reincarnation religions DO believe in heavens most of the time, and that animals pop up there on occasion, they qualify for believing cats can go to heaven. I am not sure what Islam teaches but I know that Bible says "the cat will lay down with the lamb" (Isaiah 11:6). True, not all denominations view this chapter and verse as descriptive of a future, heavenly state, but some do, and when we add these numerically to the thousands upon thousands of different sects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Kabbalistic Judaism, and all the weirdo-California groups, then, statistically speaking, more people are inclined to cats having a heavenly abode. However, cats can sin, if we interpret sin to "miss the mark" http://www.biblestudytools.com... See second youtube clip for evidence of cat missing the mark. http://www.youtube.com... Buddhists would call this bad karma. Anyway, if we can agree that many, if not most, faiths agree that sin is the primary barrier to heaven, and if cats can demonstrably sin according to the Hebrew definition (upon which our common English word "sin" rests), then the sins of cats can prevent them from going into heaven (potentially). This was exhausting. I hope I covered everything.