Ashaiel Wrote:Even among the angels, what we think of as "perfection" doesn't exist. Everyone, particularly those of the Christian persuasion, has this idea that angels are perfect beings simply because they happen to work for God -- as if their being servants of God was the only aspect of them that existed. Angels are thought of as being entirely one-dimensional, without feelings or personalities; only duty and love for God. This doesn't make sense to me. Are angels supposed to be robots that can be completely controlled? If angels are God's "perfect servants" for not having feelings or personalities or any sort of attachment to any but God, then goodness, I feel sorry for them -- even though those kinds of angels are entirely a product of fiction.
It gets even more interesting when humans who claim to be "servants" of God are thrown into the mix. But that's veering into a topic entirely different from the one this thread is supposed to be about.
So, I'm starting a different topic, in order to not hijack the one started by Prince.
Angels and humans have very obvious differences, of course. Angels in their natural habitat would be on a completely different plane of existance than humans' natural habitat. Angels have powers that humans generally do not have, unless an angel is incarnated as a human. Angels can manifest in any form they choose; humans are very limited in that regard.
Other than that, it is generally agreed among incarnates -- from all I've read, at least, of other incarnates' thoughts on the matter -- that angels most
definitely have feelings, personalities, and personal attachments; just like humans do. In Heaven, games of politics are played, drama happens, romantic/sexual love flourishes, enemies battle it out -- just like on Earth. Angels are not "perfect" beings, at least when a human standard of perfection is applied to them; and the "perfect" human being doesn't exist, either.
It's very strange to me that the definition of "humanity" is generally accepted to be "the ability to feel, think, and reason", as if those abilities were exclusive to humans. Come on, a dog can be happy or sad or angry, too -- no offense to therians and other animal-kin, of course; animals are most certainly not "less" than humans except in terms of which species has more power over the other. In fact, my very point is that "what it means to be human" is really only the fact that we can walk upright and have more dominion over the Earth than any other species.
Angels technically have no "humanity" in that they generally are not human -- with us incarnates as the obvious exceptions, of course. Because they "come from God" -- as if humans
don't come from God -- they must be vastly different from humans, right? Also, because we tend to define "humanity" as being able to think and feel and reason, angels apparently don't have those abilities. No, they are perfect, and nothing like us -- even though the God they serve, who is also supposedly perfect,
is like us.
Can you see how none of this makes any sense when put together?
Anyway, I've given my thoughts on the matter; what are yours?
~ Ashaiel