I called an animal "an angel" and offended a non-Catholic

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sorrowful1

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Once, I posted a picture of a stray dog (on Facebook) staring at the camera with such pitiful expressions, I thought I could dive deep into the soul of the doggie and “uncover” the misery that nagged him/her.

Being an animal lover, I constantly keep talking and discussing about how our canine friends (including other animals) needs to be respected as we would , our human companions - and I had also captioned " they (animals) are angels, if we love God, we should also love these living beings" – causing wrath of my cousin who happens to be a Protestant. Her scathing comments were " I know what exactly angels are (alluding to my being a non-Christian - I wasn’t one, then). You can’t just about call anything an “angel” that too an animal that has no feelings. It’s an insult to Jesus". She even deleted me from her Facebook.

I was shocked by her response.

Now, that I’m a Christian, I’ve learned about Franciscan Orders (within Catholicism) that emphasizes on love for animals as well.

So, would I offend a Catholic by saying an animal is an angel? Or, is the whole notion (of regarding animals as angels) ridiculous?? Correct me please.
 
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sorrowful1 said:
So, would I offend a Catholic by saying an animal is an angel? Or, is the whole notion (of regarding animals as angels) ridiculous?? Correct me please
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I don’t know if most Catholics would be offended since most would assume you mean in a symbolic way.

From a theological standpoint, it would be inconsitent to call an angel an animal as angels do not have a natural physical form. In a theological context they are actually opposites. Dogs are corpal without a rational soul, angels are rational souls without a corpal form.
 
BUAHAHAHA
We use the term loosely. When a human dies, some think they become angels like Clarance on,”ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE!” The bell will ring when an angel is made. Sweet.! Not correct. I believe animsls have angels assigned(?). Maybe not 1:1 but in service somehow. The angels are needed in China & Korea on Dog Meat festivals. So sick. I know, “ ONE LIFE, ONE DEATH &ONE RESURRECTION!” I don’t want to come back. Reincarnation believes you can return as sentient beings. What terrible life did I lead, to deserve being tortured, in a Dog Meat festival. GROSS…,
You won’t offend us. There is serious theology but casual terms of endearment are used by us. Just respond, “You know the truth but you love animals, so much, you place them, up w the angels… .,
Remember to say Thank you & love her.
 
sorrowful1 said:
causing wrath of my cousin who happens to be a Protestant. Her scathing comments were " I know what exactly angels are (alluding to my being a non-Christian - I wasn’t one, then). You can’t just about call anything an “angel” that too an animal that has no feelings. It’s an insult to Jesus". She even deleted me from her Facebook.
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Good riddance. If someone is going to get that wound up over you using the term “angel” colloquially, they have problems and you’re better off without them.

I’m fully aware that animals (and humans) cannot become angels, but I’m not going to blow my stack at everybody on social media who refers to a cute pet as an “angel” or tells someone their dead puppy is a “doggie angel” now or even tells someone who’s lost a loved one that their deceased relative is now “an angel in heaven”. As someone else said, it’s often meant in a colloquial or a symbolic way. Even if it wasn’t, there’s no need to start some big theology discussion over it when the remark was well meant and there’s not a question of the person misunderstanding Church teaching or any of that. It’s not “insulting to Jesus”. What’s actually “insulting to Jesus” is when people like your cousin act so needlessly uncharitable in His name.

As the song says, “Let it go.”
 
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sorrowful1 said:
causing wrath of my cousin who happens to be a Protestant.
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To be fair, her complete over-reaction has nothing to do with being Protestant. She’s just . . . weird. (no offense to your family!)
 
puer.dei said:
To be fair, her complete over-reaction has nothing to do with being Protestant. She’s just . . . weird. (no offense to your family!)
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Yeah, exactly. Your cousin (who sounds a bit off) happens to be a Protestant. Doesn’t mean the two things are related necessarily.
 
Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she asked Balaam, “What have I done to you that you beat me these three times?”

“You have acted so willfully against me,” said Balaam to the donkey, “that if I only had a sword at hand, I would kill you here and now.”

But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have always ridden until now? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way before?”

“No,” he replied.

Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, so that he saw the angel of the LORD standing on the road with sword drawn; and he knelt and bowed down to the ground. But the angel of the LORD said to him:

“Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come as an adversary because this rash journey of yours is against my will. When the donkey saw me, she turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, you are the one I would have killed, though I would have spared her.”
Numbers 22:28-33
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Sometimes animals do act as messengers…
 
sorrowful1 said:
So, would I offend a Catholic by saying an animal is an angel? Or, is the whole notion (of regarding animals as angels) ridiculous?? Correct me please.
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Animals aren’t angels. They are animals.

Animals aren’t people. They are animals.

So what I would say is, it depends on what your mean when you say animals are angels.
 
Your cousin was being ridiculous. People frequently use words in a manner that is figurative and/or hyperbolical.

When somebody does something helpful, especially at an opportune moment or under trying circumstances, we call them an angel.

Somebody who has lived an exemplary life of virtue, especially in the face of adversity, can be called a saint.

We use the word “demon”, especially in the plural, to describe a mental struggle, especially with addiction.

If somebody is a rogue or a rascal, we call them a devil, usually in a jocular manner. A child may be called a “little devil”, especially in an affectionate manner.

We call somebody a “god” or “goddess”, referring to the classical gods, when they achieve exceptional distinction in their field or to describe somebody exceptionally beautiful.

We compare somebody to a monk or a nun if they live in a manner that is unusually sober, often in a manner perceived as dull. We also use the analogy in a negative construction to imply that somebody’s lifestyle is rather wild (“She wasn’t living the life of a nun”).

When somebody is tiresome or self-important, we may say that they are preaching or pontificating. We also say that somebody is delivering a sermon or homily when they are being self-righteous or tedious.

A statement may be described as ex cathedra even when not made by a bishop.

Any surprising or improbable event can be described as a miracle.

A state of bliss may be described as “heaven” or even “Nirvana”. Something particularly awful can be described as hell or purgatory.

No doubt there are even more examples. The fact is that religion has provided us with a vocabulary that does not have to be deployed in a literal sense.
 
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Inordinate love for animals in not right. It’s in my Caticism. But I think you were being symbolic when you referred to them as angles. If you you realy thought animals were angels then that would be wrong.

They are gifts from God, we need to care for them , but not at all on the level of humans, and certainly not angles
 
Shame she unfriended you seems dialogue could have helped this is trouble with fb people often over react.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
It’s not “insulting to Jesus”. What’s actually “insulting to Jesus” is when people like your cousin act so needlessly uncharitable in His name.
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This was going to be my answer.
There’s a lesson to be learned here. You weren’t Christian at the time. By your comment, my guess is that you weren’t ridiculing the faith, you didn’t show hostility to the faith. By overreacting and deleting your friendship she cut herself off from helping you in your journey to God. In God’s kindness someone else filled that space. Maybe it will be some time before she is able to have a conversation about Christianity in a calm manner, and that’s ok. She’s on her own journey, wrestling with her own things. Glad you didn’t let that throw you off the rails that Christians are mean and unreasonable.
 
Well, yeah. I was surprised as well as shocked and it nearly led me to think that all Christians react this harsh way over something meant for casual but a good intention.
 
Indeed, I let it go. I apologized to her and explained that it wasn’t meant to degrade her faith or anyone’s for that matter. In fact, the thing I had posted wasn’t even related to any particular faith or religion.

But my cousin happens to be a very strict observant ( I don’t know if there’s a word for this) in her faith and was further nagging me " You are more educated than me but that doesn’t mean you know everything (indicating that I don’t know anything about angels and God no matter how educated I am ) . Don’t be blinded by the glory of education".

One simple and innocent post raged such fire in her that I began to wonder if all Christians in general were this sensitive, and easily offended (I had a very limited exposure and contact with Christians, then).
 
People use the term angel for their pets, for their kids, for their romantic/spouse, for their dead grandmother. They say that the soprano has the “voice of an angel”.

It sounds as if your cousin is dealing with some issues and needs your prayers.
 
I don’t think that you meant anything by it. I just want to point out, that I know people whose name is Angel, would your cousin complain about them?
 
Perhaps she has other issues? It’s not always about what it seems. Its probably just some misunderstanding that will blow over. I am over sensitive about things sometimes too and over react so perhaps it was just that. Maybe other things in life got to her and that was just the last straw sort of thing even though it wasn’t a big deal. Pray for her. You never know what some people are dealing with.
 
sorrowful1 said:
our canine friends (including other animals) needs to be respected as we would , our human companions - and I had also captioned " they (animals) are angels,
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Did you believe in angels at that time? Did you think that animals are angels?
Did you clarify for your cousin these points?

Did you think animals deserve the same respect that we owe human beings? What did that mean?

I’m not being harsh or critical. It’s just that without knowing what you actually thought at that time, it’s difficult to comment.
 
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