You’re right about Satan. Who knows for sure if these things are for real?
I liken it to the story about the Rainbow Bridge where, supposedly, our pets go after they pass from this life. Maybe it is hooey, but there is some comfort there. I doubt such a belief would harm the soul. There are a heckuva lot more things that would doom us.
>>I doubt such a belief would harm the soul.<<
I think you would be surprised. One of the great “tricks” of people that misslead is to get you to accept a very tiny lie as truth, and then build monstrosities on it. I actually read a thesis back in 1972 where the writer “proved” that black is white. It took some people multiple readings before they could find the tiny fallacy the author got them to accept, upon which he built the logic.
Getting people to, on a spiritual level, even entertain the idea of animals being similar to humans can be the starting point of getting them to accept great falsehoods about God and his plan for mankind, who was created in His image, while animals are clearly not.
I really like what Billy Graham said to an elderly man who asked if he would see his dog in heaven. Billy said that if he needed to see the dog, it would be there. Hehehe...I don’t think, once he is in heaven, he will need to see his dog. ;)
Why? Look at the bible, right down to the ten commandments. It can ALL be broken down to two concepts:
1. Man’s relationship with his fellow man.
2. Man’s relationship with his Creator, God.
Everything else is the mere frame around the picture.
My son died at 14. At that point, his great-grandparents had passed, neither of whom he'd ever met. We had several extended family members pass, whom he'd never met.
Two months before his accident, a very close family friend (a substitute grandma) died from cancer. I'll always believe she had to pass first so that my son could be with someone he knew.
I've actually felt guilty because my friend had such a hard time losing her mother.