do mosquitoes have souls?

"Mama, do all living things have souls?"

This is the question I have from my daughter at 5am today. We just woke up and technically I am brain-dead until I've had coffee. I could have answered a quick yes, but experience has taught me to be cautious; children's questions have a tendency to crucify people thrice their age.

I said, "Some people say yes; some people say no. It depends on what you believe in." Then I held my breath for the follow-up.

"Well, then, do mosquitoes have souls? What happens when we kill them?"

Oh, God.

Let's start with pets. If your puppy dies, Mama would console you and say that he goes to heaven. Same with rabbits and kittens. I, in my thirty-four-year-old wisdom, offer a quick prayer every time I see dogs and cats run over by cars in the road. It's always "Oh-God-let-the-poor-thing-be-in-doggie-heaven-and-thank-you-that-I-haven't-had-breakfast-yet." We get outraged over videos of little animals being tortured to death, and we have PAWS to defend animal rights.

Then how about the chickens and pigs and cows that we kill for food? We don't feel guilty about that, although as a child I never could eat chicken that my grandfather has slaughtered, because I had seen it flopping headless in the dirt, spraying blood all over the yard. But in India cows are sacred, so does that mean the issue of a cow's soul is in question?

How about crocodiles and snakes? They can kill human beings, so if we kill them, does that negate the question of having a soul?

Let's go to insects. When ants and spiders bite, we swat them. I gleefully spray insecticide on a cockroach while it waves its legs in the air. But I disapprove of children who take joy in pulling off the wings of a fly.

So in our roundabout way, we have established that we perceive an animal has a soul if it exhibits intelligence. When we see that a pet exhibits emotions and can relate to us, we assume that it has the same immortal spirit. When someone refuses to step on a spider, however, we equate it to the Yuck factor rather than the morality of killing animals.

Then, my daughter has concluded, if an animal does not help humans, or it doesn't love us back, it doesn't have a soul. A mosquito brings us dengue, so its life brings us no good. It doesn't have a soul.

I could argue that somewhere in the food chain of little animals, mosquitoes probably provide nutrition, so does that make it 'good?' But I'm exhausted. I am also confused.

Now, at 11am, I'm still contemplating the question. I think I'll go around, pretend I'm ten years old, and ask people the same question.