rainbow bridge - an anti post - please don't read if that'll upset you

KittyCats_2

I guess it all depends on your beliefs, if you don't believe in afterlife for humans then I can understand why you wouldn't believe in the rainbow bridge for pets. Very bold of you to make this post, but highly understandable! You don't sound like a cow, just voicing an opinion

heretolearn_2

The thing is, I don't think anyone actually DOES believe it - it was only invented a few years ago, after all. It's just become a rather trite response to grief instead of having to think of your own genuine response...?

Hoping your pets might be there in heaven is one thing, but imagining them frolicking over a rainbow to some kind of holding pen first? (do they bring you a pot of gold as well?) It's totally invented. Even the people who say it know it's totally invented. so why say it? You might as well say all pets run up a golden gangplank and go sailing round the world on a luxury cruise until you are reunited. Where's the real comfort in that? Why can't people just express how sorry they are for someone's loss and try to make them feel better about something that is real, like how they did the right thing for their pet, or that their pet didn't suffer, or that their pet had a great life, etc...?

shellsuit

It's weird not to let people grieve (for what or whoever) how they see fit, without taking the p out of them.

I've seen the verse and I'm not even an animal lover, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest if people want to believe or take comfort from it.

lostinrates

jenhug wrote: »

I lost my darling darling boy on 25th Jan. I got so many "another one gone to the bridge posts". To be honest the whole idea just smacks of American bull dung. I hope though that if there is a Heaven my boy is waiting there.

I haven't told my friends that sent the rainbow bridge messages that I don't believe, as the thought was there.

I feel this too. I almost dread saying to somepeople my pet has died in case that poem appears. On a forum there follows a stream of posts saying 'so true' and that makes me more sad, not happier!

I do like fitting poems and don't even mind the rb one if its as a nice thought rather than as a believe, but i would never hurt anyones feelings in saying that at the time, they have gone out of their way to try and make me feel better, the not posting of the poem doesn't help either!


I love my pets very dearly, they arr family, in if there is some sort of afterlife i really hope we are in it together. But if there is i hope its not at a over sentimental rainbow bridge!

rubberbiscuit

It has to be one of the least contraversial or offensive beliefs a person can have so what does it matter if they believe in the Rainbow Bridge??
I must admit its the one thing I try the hardest to believe in!!:D Im much less include to believe in heaven coz I dont think people deserve a lovely, fluffy afterlife but animals (being much less horrible then people) do. So I hope it is real, and that my past pets let me in!!

scotty1971

i don't believe in a pet heaven,any kind of heaven or any after life,but whatever people believe in to get them through a difficult patch is a good thing for them

rainbow_791

I think it is more of a methaphor and if it helps anyone who has lost a pet then I think that is all that matters

purple.sarah

I may not literally believe in a rainbow bridge but I believe my beloved pets will be waiting for me on the other side and I find that belief comforting. The rainbow bridge idea is just a symbolic representation of that concept because none of us actually know what the afterlife looks like! Art and poetry about heaven is simply a symbolic representation and it's the same with the rainbow bridge. It's just a way of saying your pets are in a better place and you will see them again, which is comforting to people who believe that.

This reminds me of another debate I read once about the idea of "angel babies". A lot of parents who have lost a child use the terminology angel babies but one mum who had lost babies said she was sick of being told "they are angels in heaven now" as according to her Christian belief system angels are different to people and deceased people do not become angels. That's what I believe too but it does not bother me when people talk about angel babies, I guess it depends if you take it literally or just think it is a nice idea.

I think both the rainbow bridge and angel baby concepts are nice ideas but obviously shouldn't be pushed on people who don't find them comforting.

dawnie1972

I refrained from posting earlier as you were begging for comments but i find your post totally insulting and patronising. Just because you dont believe in it, that doesnt make it "garbage" and your comment about it being "weirdness to deal with it" is insulting. Its down to general opinion and its something that everyone is entitled to but i find your comments a little bit strong especially taking into consideration some of the delicate posts made recently regarding peoples loss of their pets.
I've been a dog owner for 9.5yrs, i have no children, i dont "do" children so in a way my dogs are my babies and if i were to lose one of them to me it would feel the same as losing one of my children. We dont know if there is life after death, we dont know where humans or animals go when they leave this life but if by believing in spirit, rainbow bridge or whatever it gives that person some comfort then where is the harm in it.

Sally_A

Whether it's the Pearly Gates, or the Rainbow Bridge; if it gives us all hope of meeting up someday - does it really matter?