re: Pope Francis: animals will be in heaven

I don't post a lot here, and certainly not on religious threads. It's just asking for a shouting match.

I just have no idea where this "All dogs go to heaven" idea came from. Anyone who happily declares in casual conversation or who feels compelled to broadcast to thousands over Facebook that they will see their pets in heaven just sounds delusional to me. How are pets judged for their sins? By what process are they granted or denied entrance to heaven? If it's the same process humans undergo, sins and good deeds, and even sinners and saints have no meaning. It clearly can't be the same process, because animals are different. Sorry to all the pet lovers out there, but pets don't have souls and are not capable of the reason-based decision making that leads to either good or evil deeds.

These same people that adore their pets have to also allow for the possibility that they may suffer hell while their pets reap the benefits of heaven, do they not? No, they don't, because you will never hear a person declare that they better rid themselves of all their sins before death or else they won't see their beloved Fluffy in Heaven, it's always the other way around.

I call it delusion.