Depends on which philosophy you ascribe to I suppose. While standard Judeo-Christian philosophy would most likely dismiss the notion of divine orangutans, I for one would posit that orangutans by thier very nature are divine and that humans may in fact be the only creatures on the planet that must struggle toward divinity.
Are humans the only great apes that can be "holy", or could for example an Orangutan be divine?
Submitted 11 months ago by BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
HeathenPope@lemmy.world 11 months ago
DharmaCurious@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I’m a sort of hodge podge of different traditions, philosophies and religions, and this is absolutely my view. In Hinduism, one of the reasons humans are at the “top” of the reincarnation cycle is because we have the intellect to understand things like karma, and are able to achieve liberation through that understanding. In my view, while we may be the only ones able to achieve liberation, we are also the only ones building up negative karma. It’s a double edged sword. Animals, plants, bacteria, they don’t do wrong things, they don’t engage in wrong thinking. They act on impulse, on intuition, on instinct, and as such, they’re pure spirited. Humans on the other hand are capable of evil, and as such we are the only species on earth that must struggle towards divinity. We just also happen to be the only species that can understand the nature of divinity. You don’t think the universe be like it is but it do, y’know?
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I’d like to point out that chimpanzees are pretty evil, but then again they are a great ape as well
“That piece of evidence allowed the researchers to link the murders with a motive – that of gaining new ground.”
KuchiKopi@lemmy.world 11 months ago
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Lock the thread, we have our answer.
paddirn@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Harambe, blessed be thy name, he died for our sins.
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Valid. RIP
floofloof@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
If anything’s divine, it all is. Picking and choosing what’s divine and what’s just ordinary is very obviously just people making up stories to suit their own purposes.
yiliu@informis.land 11 months ago
This seems like a question for your preferred religious representative, not Lemmy.
Zaphodquixote@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Ook?
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Use your words
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 11 months ago
He did. Just because you don’t understand the Librarian doesn’t mean he wasn’t using words.
Just make sure you never use the “M” word around him. He doesn’t like that. Orangutans are apes, no “M” involved.
mawkishdave@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I mean one of the greatest miracles you see religion do is interpret the bible to say what they want it to say. This is why you get one branch saying the LGBTQ+ community is horrible and another branch welcomes them with open arms. The same can be said about any social debate.
Chickenstalker@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Hindus literally have a monkey god.
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
This is a fantastic point. Thank you for adding it to the discussion.
peanut_boy@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I would say that a species intelligent enough to believe in God could be divine. So I don’t think orangutans or gorillas would be, but we have archaeologic evidence that Neanderthals had some form of religion, so they may also have souls.
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Interesting perspective!
jesterraiin@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Humans aren’t great apes.
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
jesterraiin@lemmy.world 11 months ago
If you’re ok with being put alongside your family in the same row as some feces throwing hairy animals, because some guys - that might as well change their opinion tomorrow - told you it’s ok, I’m not going to stop you.
Me? I don’t feel much kinship with gorillas, thank you very much.
DharmaCurious@lemmy.world 11 months ago
How are we not great apes? I’ve taken 2 whole anthropology classes and this is the first I’m hearing of this! /s
For real, though, would love an answer. These things interest me.
jesterraiin@lemmy.world 11 months ago
How are we not great apes?
How can Pluto cease to be a planet overnight?
PillowTalk420@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Mid apes.
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Dank apes
jesterraiin@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Only from the perspective that sees camels as “mid dogs”, probably…
TheInsane42@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Sure they are. Why do some humans think they are better then other animals and not part of nature?
jesterraiin@lemmy.world 11 months ago
There’s an enormous gap between “we’re better than SOME animals”, and “we’re no part of nature”. It’s so wast you could throw whole flotilla of USA inside and it wouldn’t even cover its bottom.
And yet, you managed to cross this distance in a single mental leap. Nicely done.
mojo@lemm.ee 11 months ago
what does mean divine mean, I feel like that is a far bigger question then what you’re asking
BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Good thought. I will think about this next time I’m in the shower.
flathead@quex.cc 11 months ago
The eternal question : Does a dog have buddha nature? buddhaweekly.com/the-gateless-gate-and-the-door-o…
Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Spinoza has a good quote that I reflect on often.
“I believe that a triangle, if it could speak, would say that God is eminently triangular, and a circle that the divine nature is eminently circular; and thus would every one ascribe his own attributes to God.”- Spinoza
So, anything can be divine if there is something that prescribes divinity to it.
ofk12@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I look like an orangutan but I’m not divine or owt
RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 9 months ago
From what I’ve heard, the Bible doesn’t count animals as having the same spiritual level as humans. However, I disagree with this idea, and honestly believe osme animals are just as spiritual power as humans, considering some are very intelligent and just down right good.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 11 months ago
“Monkey” has the word “monk” in it. Coincidence?
WidowsFavoriteSon@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Divine is a space you create with your will (Yi) and soul (Shen). Put in it what you want.
Redacted@lemmy.world 11 months ago
It’s a made up definition which varies depending on whose fairytales you believe.
Kaladin_Stormblessed@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 months ago
This is a blatantly unhelpful answer.
charonn0@startrek.website 11 months ago
It is the only correct answer.
Redacted@lemmy.world 11 months ago
This is a blatantly pointless reply.
HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 11 months ago
While being antitheist in tone, it is the correct answer.
If you look at Abrahamic religions, humanity is at the top of the pecking order and is separate from animals. In that mindset, an orangutan can’t be devine.
If you look at Hinduism or Buddhism, animals are thought to be sentient beings that have the same souls that humans have. There are even past life stories within these religions where the religious figure is an animal. In that case, an orangutan can be divine.
You may also have cases where the animal represents a deity, making the animal devine in that sense.
zacher_glachl@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Factually correct but irrelevant in the context of the LARP