Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 This may seem like a weird poll... but in the Church I came from, there was a definate attitude about cats. People frowned upon them and anyone who had cats was considered kind of "sissy." Dogs were man's best friend but cats were kind of "tolerated." I have a couple personal theories about this... 1. Cats are independent and can't be controlled, so their very nature goes against the grain of authoritarian religious groups. 2. Some christian religions still retain vestiges of dark age supersition, where cats were considered demons or minions of satan Personally I love cats. We have four spoiled little felines and they get anything they want But even other ex-members of my church still hate cats or just don't "connect" with them. My own sister mistreats her cats, and my uncle used to refuse to allow his cats in the house. It was a very different attitude than they had toward dogs. Anyone have thoughts about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazycatlady Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I don't think my church had an opinion about cats. They were too busy reminding us that we did need to go to confession and attend weekly mass. It seems like most of the girls in my CCD class had cats, many of them rescue kitties. One girl's cats had been tortured and had their tails pulled off. It was quite sad. I think the general viewpoint was it was very beneficial for children to take care of animals, any animal. It would prepare them to be good parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaGman Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I wonder how Manly macho men, would know that Daniel Boone had a cat named Bluegrass... But yea, uneducated people believe that only Gay men had cats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Anyone have thoughts about this? I totally agree with your #1 above. Cats are a perfect example of having their own free will and attitude. I'm surprised morontheists don't loathe them much more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 LOL Thurisaz... I run into this hatred of cats a lot these days too, and I don't understand it at all. It's irrational. Some people like to joke about killing cats. It's really weird behavior. I once asked a cat-hater to explain it to me and he couldn't. Now I don't really like spiders. Even though I respect their place in nature, they still frighten me. But I don't hate them. The other day for some reason the bag-boy at safeway made some joke about cats while he was bagging our groceries. He must have seen all the litter, and cat food, and cat treats and stuff and assumed we like cats, LOL. I asked him what he had against cats and he said he just didn't like them. I asked him what he didn't like about them and he said "I guess because they are independent." I said, "Wasn't our country founded on independence?" He was speechless... I mean really, I thought we valued Independence. Don't we celebrate Independence Day? Or is it just "The Fourth of July" these days, a day for barbeque and firecrackers? Anyway... I just think it's odd the way some people hate cats. More than other animals. They don't say "I hate zebras" or "I hate elephants." But they say they hate cats. Weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I don't think my church had an opinion about cats. They were too busy reminding us that we did need to go to confession and attend weekly mass. It seems like most of the girls in my CCD class had cats, many of them rescue kitties. One girl's cats had been tortured and had their tails pulled off. It was quite sad. I think the general viewpoint was it was very beneficial for children to take care of animals, any animal. It would prepare them to be good parents. I can't imagine doing something like that to an animal . Especially cats... they are so sweet and loving. I don't know anyone would want to hurt one. That's interesting that your church had that view of animals. Our church had the view that they were basically just there to be used by man. It was our job to dominate the earth basically. The attitude of the late British Empire toward someplace like India? That kind of attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apostate called Jimmy Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 That's weird, my father's a god-fearing christian and never could stand cats. I don't think it has anything to do with religious beliefs though, he just doesn't like them. I've never got why you have to be either a dog person or a cat person. I've always been both. I like cats and dogs equally, each have their own unique charms about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobbler Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I think it may be the independent thought of a cat. Generally they won't come to you like a dog will unless they want to. I have had some sweet loving cats in the past. I have always been more of a dog lover though. Yet come to think I have always grieved more when I lost a cat. I remember as a child we discovered this poor kitten under our porch and then it got malled by a dog so we took it to the vet. I remember my brother and I jokingly feignting sadness at the kitten's plight. I think I was trying to play off my sadness. Well it up and died and I later balled like a baby and asked my mom if it went to heaven. I think she said yes. What else could she say? And that cat wasn't even a pet! Then we had two black cats, mine was Roger, and my brother's cat was Blacknight! They both ended up disappearing who knows where. But we were miserable for weeks on end over those two cats! Related to the church thing; my step-father was always telling about how one of the grandmas in our country church found a cat inside the vestibule one sunday service and took the cat by the tail and swung it over her head several times and flung it across the street! Now normally she was a sweet old lady, may have even had a cat of her own. But bygod it didn't belong in church! I guess jesus' admonition for "suffer the little children to come unto me" doesn't apply to cats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Not so much the church, but my wife thinks cats are evil... She hates my cat, which happens to be black... LOL calls it satan's spawn cause its playfull... Would be funny if she wasnt serious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Captain Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 They give us this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis#History Otherwise I would like cats more. Never really noticed churches being anti-cat, guess that comes later on the agenda. Though you do raise some compelling reasons why they might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 If you keep them regularly wormed that's not an issue. You realise that we're the only livestock we keep that we don't treat for parasites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderer Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 They hate us because they know that we know their innermost thoughts. We can see things they can't. They know that we know that, underneath their prayerful poses and beatific smiles, they are just dogs. May I have my treat now? Just had to add this: When the rapture comes, only cats are going. Eat that, suckas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 That's weird, my father's a god-fearing christian and never could stand cats. I don't think it has anything to do with religious beliefs though, he just doesn't like them. I've never got why you have to be either a dog person or a cat person. I've always been both. I like cats and dogs equally, each have their own unique charms about them. I love them both too... but I like cats more because I'm more familiar with them. I've never had a dog. Someday I'd like to get a German Shepherd or maybe one of those Alaskan Malamutes... as long as they like my cats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I think it may be the independent thought of a cat. Generally they won't come to you like a dog will unless they want to. I have had some sweet loving cats in the past. I have always been more of a dog lover though. Yet come to think I have always grieved more when I lost a cat. I remember as a child we discovered this poor kitten under our porch and then it got malled by a dog so we took it to the vet. I remember my brother and I jokingly feignting sadness at the kitten's plight. I think I was trying to play off my sadness. Well it up and died and I later balled like a baby and asked my mom if it went to heaven. I think she said yes. What else could she say? And that cat wasn't even a pet! Then we had two black cats, mine was Roger, and my brother's cat was Blacknight! They both ended up disappearing who knows where. But we were miserable for weeks on end over those two cats! Related to the church thing; my step-father was always telling about how one of the grandmas in our country church found a cat inside the vestibule one sunday service and took the cat by the tail and swung it over her head several times and flung it across the street! Now normally she was a sweet old lady, may have even had a cat of her own. But bygod it didn't belong in church! I guess jesus' admonition for "suffer the little children to come unto me" doesn't apply to cats! Sometimes I cry when I see a dead cat by the side of the road. I wonder if it had an owner, or if the owner was some poor little kid whose heart is about to be broken My mom used to tell me a story about my grandfather swinging a cat around by the tail and bashing it against a tree once, when he was having a fight with grandmother. *shudder* It makes me sick to thinkabout it. But he wasn't a very religious man come to think of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Not so much the church, but my wife thinks cats are evil... She hates my cat, which happens to be black... LOL calls it satan's spawn cause its playfull... Would be funny if she wasnt serious... I'm sorry dude...but that is just flat our irrational. I'm surprised she "lets" you keep your cat... do you trust her not to poison it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 They give us this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis#History Otherwise I would like cats more. Never really noticed churches being anti-cat, guess that comes later on the agenda. Though you do raise some compelling reasons why they might be. I've never, ever gotten parasites from a cat. But then I do keep mine wormed regularly... the only problem we ever had was with fleas, but we got ride of those by bombing the house (flea bomb not atomic lol). Dogs can give you parasites too, BTW... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 If you keep them regularly wormed that's not an issue. You realise that we're the only livestock we keep that we don't treat for parasites? That is an interesting thought. And we probably should worm ourselves too. The goddess knows I've had enough sushi in my life and traveled to enough foreign countries.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 They hate us because they know that we know their innermost thoughts. We can see things they can't. They know that we know that, underneath their prayerful poses and beatific smiles, they are just dogs. May I have my treat now? Just had to add this: When the rapture comes, only cats are going. Eat that, suckas! *Puts Henry-Cat up to the keyboard to reply* dsmewj fvjriuty95 djrpew=l dktlkl546khk Just kidding... I like the theory that humans are just dogs. They are definately a pack animal, and they seem to need an alpha male or alpha female, they sometimes mate for life but like to screw around, they are emotionally needy and always want attantion... hmmm there might be something to that!! Sorry Henry ate all my treats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skankboy Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Not a cat person myself. Never been to a house with cats that didn't smell of shit and piss. Not my cup of tea I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Net Eng Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 If you keep them regularly wormed that's not an issue. You realise that we're the only livestock we keep that we don't treat for parasites? To which I say Moo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 They hate us because they know that we know their innermost thoughts. We can see things they can't. They know that we know that, underneath their prayerful poses and beatific smiles, they are just dogs. May I have my treat now? Just had to add this: When the rapture comes, only cats are going. Eat that, suckas! *Puts Henry-Cat up to the keyboard to reply* dsmewj fvjriuty95 djrpew=l dktlkl546khk Just kidding... I like the theory that humans are just dogs. They are definately a pack animal, and they seem to need an alpha male or alpha female, they sometimes mate for life but like to screw around, they are emotionally needy and always want attantion... hmmm there might be something to that!! Sorry Henry ate all my treats. Hey, speak for yourself. My personality has always been much more like a cat than any kind of dog (save perhaps a wolf, and even that's a bit of a stretch). Dogs are nothing but stupid, smelly, messy, aggressive, territorial troglodytes. At least cats have the intelligence and presence of mind to cover up their own shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 After nearly twenty years of asking, I have given in to my family's requests for a cat and we have reserved a soon to be born kitten. Mother cat belongs to a friend of mine and though I've not been a pet kind of person as an adult I do like this particular cat very much, so I'm hoping her kits with have her personality. A list of name choices has appeared on the fridge, that include, Mrs Nesbitt Cat Chan Princess Buttercup Catmoose and Frogger the cat Whilst I think this does confirm that my family are slightly weird - do any of these names constitute cat cruelty? (It has been a long time since I did the pets lark ) Back in my christian childhood we had a tendency to name everything from the Bible and once had a chicken called Nebuchadnezzar - and a cat called Aslan (from the well known apocryphal book of Narnia of course ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazycatlady Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 A list of name choices has appeared on the fridge, that include, Mrs Nesbitt Cat Chan Princess Buttercup Catmoose and Frogger the cat Whilst I think this does confirm that my family are slightly weird - do any of these names constitute cat cruelty? (It has been a long time since I did the pets lark ) Back in my christian childhood we had a tendency to name everything from the Bible and once had a chicken called Nebuchadnezzar - and a cat called Aslan (from the well known apocryphal book of Narnia of course ) No, I wouldn't say any of those names constitute cat cruelty, and they all seem pretty cute. I wouldn't recommend Mrs. Nesbitt or Princess Buttercup for a male cat, though. In my experience, pets end up being called either "kitty-cat, "ratty-rat" or "hey, kitty, kit-Bunny!" I assume if/when I get a dog, s/he will end up being "doggie." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 I'd agree with Cat Lady... My cat is called 'Misty'... but she gets called "Kitty" "Misty-Mu" "Mu-Cau" "Flumpkin" "Grumpy FLumpkin" "Madam" "Madame Grumpy Flumpkin" "Contessa Vomkin" "She Who Must Be Obeyed" "The Bloody Cat" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Interesting speculation. Your personal theories both sound reasonable, but I simply haven't noticed a connection one way or the other between xianity and attitude toward cats (or dogs, for that matter). I've known many xians, including hard core fundies in each camp, and likewise with secularists. Maybe it was different in your sect or local congregation than mine, or maybe our circles just randomly had different attitudes. I'll continue to assume no correlation until I find convincing evidence otherwise. I like both dogs and cats, BTW, but currently I have just a cat who I am very fond of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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