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Thomas, you said,
"why is it not sufficient for a plant to be a perfect plant, a rock a rock, etc., are we saying that no natural think is perfect in itself, but requires that it transit through human?"
--> Because all spirit is on a journey back to That which "exists" above the Firmament. Accoriding to your belief system, a plant remains a plant for eternity. According to my belief system, a plant becomes much more — eventually a star, and even higher. (The idea that bacteria will remain bacteria for eternity strikes me as rather odd.) This is why I like my belief system better.
"Another is that the notion of 'good' or 'bad' from a moral/ethic sense only applies to the human, who has 'freedom' and 'choice' according to his nature. A dog or a plant of a rock does not possess such qualities, so cannot be judged in quite the same way."
--> According to your belief system, they never will. According to my belief system, they will. A dog cannot be judged by human standards, that is obvious. Ah, but when a dog becomes a human (according to Theosophy), it
is judged as a human.
"A good creature of any species is 'promoted' to the next higher species assumes that the creature has the free moral choice and intellectual capacity top make such decisions."
--> I do not see a bacteria being able to make such a decision. However, it is promoted according to a strict set of criteria, just as strict as the human criteria. It is just that (according to Theosophy) promotion at the bacterial level is more automatic, while at the human level free moral choice and intellectual capacity become critical issues.
"Likewise the old idea (working in the other direction) that a 'bad' person is reincarnated as a rat or a worm — although I understand this is a populist and unfounded theory?"
Populist perhaps, and certainly unfounded. Theosophy teaches people never reincarnate as animals. This is a big difference between Theosophy and Buddhism. I could never believe people reincarnate as animals, which is one more reason why I am not a Buddhist.
"...that does not mean that things have to be human to be perfect."
--> Fortunately, Theosophy teaches that humans are a long way from perfection,
much further from perfection than Christianity teaches.
"Dogs (etc) have not the capacity to make morally informed choices, therefore the rule does not apply."
--> This agrees with the Theosophical idea that dogs do not go to Heaven
until they become humans."I cannot imagine a paradisical state that would not involve flora and fauna."
--> My Heaven will certainly contain flora and fauna. The thing is, it will all be an illusion, created by me, for me, in my Heaven. The real flora and fauna will be much too busy becoming humans.
"If I got to heaven, and there wasn't an Irish Wolfhound waiting for me, then it would not quite be paradise."
--> He will be waiting.
"What about molecules, galaxies, enzymes, planets, bacteria, atoms ... is there a heaven for them?"
--> Eventually, yes!
