"Going on from that place, [Jesus] went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?' He said to them, 'If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! [emphasis mine] Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.'" -Matthew 12:9-12 (NIV)
I grew up with pets and both my sisters are veterinarians, so I can speak with some moral authority on the following subject.
Humans are more important than animals, but our culture mixes this up. Michael Vick kills dogs and gets a 2 year jail sentence. Donte Stallworth kills a human and gets a 30 day jail sentence.
We protest the return of Michael Vick to the NFL. Donte Stallworth won't get an interview on 60 minutes if he returns.
Michael Vick is regularly chastised by PETA and the humane society. Donte Stallworth was the more inhumane by driving drunk and killing someone.
Perhaps the retort from an outraged citizen goes like this, "But Vick's actions were deliberate, ongoing, and intentionally cruel. Stallworth's action was unintentional." That's a fair argument, but the results should matter to, not just what's in a person's head. Stallworth was negligent and should hold full culpability for his moral failings.
Furthermore, a person's sense of moral outrage against Vick is fine if it is morally consistent and prioritized correctly. A pro-choice person cannot be outraged at Vick, though. One of the most consistent arguments for the pro-choice movement is that human life isn't really destroyed during an abortion. Well it must also be true, then, that human life is also not destroyed by electrocuting dogs because dogs aren't humans. [Some may argue that dogs are alive but babies not so much, but science is universal that whomever is in the womb is "alive" by scientific standards] What, then, is the problem with Vick if you are pro-choice? And, if you think that abortion isn't as gruesome, what facts are you looking at?
Our culture has screwed up our priorities. We practially deify animals and impersonal forces of New Age spirituality, but we don't value human life. The Christian religion values all of life and prioritizes life properly. Creation matters, animals more, and humans most of all.
We go wrong when we mix up this priority list.
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3 comments:
Real question: are some animals more important than others? Aren't dolphins more important than ants? Do you have a list? Just a thought...
I don't know, sir Jeff. Are you trying to be silly or serious?
CS Lewis, in the Problem of Pain suggests that since humanity was the pinnacle of creation and was made in the image of God, it is humanity's purpose to mirror God, in a way. He says that animals are somewhat created in human likeness, and animals succeed in their purpose by most matching human behavior. Thus, Lewis kind of makes a case for the "higher" animals, in the sense that the more domesticated an animal is, the more it's serving it's purpose. Lewis did not think that "wild" animals untainted by human influence was a good thing, which is in stark contrast to the current environmental lobby.
I was talking just a couple of days ago about the Vick vs. Stallworth discrepancy. Ridiculous.
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