by [email protected]
According to Genesis 2:18-19 God created nonhuman
animals to be companions for human beings. At first glance, these verses
appear to describe a process of trial and error, but a god who works by
trial and error is not really consistent with the Judeo-Christian
tradition. More likely, Genesis is describing the creation of a network
of interlocking relationships, a web of life, in which every participant
has a unique and valuable role to play. In the case of some animals,
this may mean an individual relationship with human beings in which both
the human and the nonhuman participant find love, joy, and comfort. In
the case of others, it may mean playing a role in the global ecosystem
that sustains the quality of life for all beings. This kind of
interdependence is very difference from the notion that sentient beings
are resources to be exploited for the benefit of one species only.
The idea that we are created in the image of God
(Genesis 1:27) places upon us an obligation to reflect the love and
compassion of God in all aspects of our lives. If our lives are a
reflection of God's love, we will not bring terror, agony, and premature
death upon defenseless creatures whom God has created with the ability
to experience these feelings.
Dominion (See Genesis 1:28), in Hebrew as in English,
simply means "authority." Parents have authority over their children,
and governments have authority over their citizens, but we expect
parents to exercise their authority for the benefit of their children,
and governments for the benefit of their citizens, and we judge them
harshly when they do not. There is no reason why we should judge
humanity's exercise of dominion over nonhuman animals by any different
standard.
The idea that animals are resources to whom we owe no
direct moral duties did not originate in either Judaism or Christianity.
It is an ancient Greek idea most baldly stated by Aristotle, who
believed that there is a natural hierarchy of beings based on
intelligence (reason, rationality), and that beings lower in the
hierarchy exist to serve those who are higher. At the top, he placed
Greek men, and below them he ranged non-Greeks, women, slaves, and
animals. His ideas were picked up by Saint Paul, who grew up in a Greek
city (Tarsus in Asia Minor, modern Turkey), and was as comfortable in
the Greek language and culture as he was in the Jewish. Thus, in several
passages, such as I Corinthians 9:9, Paul makes it clear that he has no
ethical problem with meat eating, and that he believes we have no
ethical duties to animals.
Paul's view, however, cannot be traced to Jesus, whom
the Bible never quotes as saying anything even vaguely similar, and
never describes as eating meat (except for fish on one occasion after
the resurrection). In fact, on two occasions, Jesus is quoted as
condemning animal sacrifice in very harsh terms. (Matthew 9:13; 12:7)
Go on to Dear God
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