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From my understanding, God created everything first, then man. Then he had man name all the creatures of the earth and tend to them. I never understood how the rest of the humans came to be if it was just Adam and THEN Eve... but that's not what this is about...
God created every living thing for his enjoyment, or so I was taught. It pleases Him for us to obey Him and be generous to others, and so long as our love for His other creatures doesn't impair our ability to please God, I don't see why He would be displeased in such individuals. If that makes any sense.
More and more frequently I am hearing pet owners make statements about loving their dogs and cats more than people in general, children and their own family members. Now granted, dogs and cats are great companions, but do you think that God is pleased when people love animals more than their next door neighbor?
No. God placed the animal kingdom to be subservient to Humanity. So, why would He be pleased at the reversal, which is effectively what this is saying.
No. God placed the animal kingdom to be subservient to Humanity.
He also is supposed to have given humanity dominion = responsibility = stewardship. The Bible also opines that you can tell about the character of a man by how he treats "his beasts".
Simply being higher in some kind of heavenly hierarchy or taxonomy does not by itself say anything about how one should treat lower levels, or feel about them. Putting it all together and adding in the stated ultimate purpose that the "lion will lie down with the lamb" so that even animals will treat each other well, I'd think that part of proclaiming the present and future kingdom of god on earth would involve a high regard for animals and being good to them and caring about them.
Since love is not a zero-sum game, loving animals doesn't subtract love from humans. In fact, I don't know what "loving pets more than people in general" even means. I don't love my daughter any less than my son, for example. I do treat her differently however, as she has earned far less trust than my son has. They are different people. Animals are no different. My two dogs treat me far better than any two humans I could pick, and emotionally at least I trust them more than any two humans I could cite. I don't see what the problem is here, it's just the way it is. If some human found this objectionable, then they could do a better job of earning my trust [shrug].
When we elevate animals to a be treated like people we do God and the animals an injustice.
Jesus told us to do for the "least of them" is the same as doing for me.....but the lowest crack head inflicted with AIDS is still more important to God then all the animals.
I could not agree more. This has long been an issue I have very strong feelings about. Few things upset me more than the tendency of many people nowadays to elevate animals as being equal to, sometimes superior to, human beings, when such is not meant to be that way at all.
As I tell people: Charles Manson is more important than a K-9 dog that saved the life of a police officer about to be shot, because Charles Manson is a human being (albeit a truly evil one I think we can all agree) and the K-9 dog in question is an animal. It really is that cut & dry.
Excessive love for dogs bothers me the most, because dogs can do things that are bothersome and yet the dog owners don't correct the behavior and think their dog can just do what it darn well pleases. Observe certain neighbors who allow their dog to bark for extended periods while not correcting it even upon being told that the barking is bothersome to others, or the owners of this dog that used to harass me when I would bicycle in front of their house on a public road. This owner actually had the nerve to say "if you'd pedal faster he wouldn't be able to bite you." Ask the owner of a dog whose dog saw my child (with their mother/my wife some distance from me) who was some 100 yards away and took off after them barking, while the owner excused the behavior and didn't apologize. Ask my sister-in-law whose husband got a Chihuahua that bit her and left a puncture wound and her husband stuck up for that dog like it was the Pope or something.
All of this, to me, is a sin. The same goes for someone spending exorbitant amounts of money on their dog or cat, while not contributing any money to worthy causes that help less fortunate people. That doesn't mean you can't spend money pampering yourself with nice cars or such (or the latest smartphone) or on your pet, but if you don't also spend at least SOME on worthy causes, that's selfish.
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Originally Posted by cpg35223
People who prefer the company of their pets to that of people may not realize it, but they are really exhibiting laziness. Yes, people can be exasperating. But that's because people require insight and intuition, patience and understanding. A pet pretty much is genetically wired to association with whomever pours kibble into his or her bowl. A pet doesn't require much of you aside from grooming and feeding and the occasional pat on the head.
You hit on something I believe very much. When you read of people praising their pet because of how their pet doesn't ask anything of them, it's because their pet CAN'T. Pets are simple-minded compared to humans, of COURSE they don't particularly stab your back, THEY CAN'T. That's like saying a horse is better than a car because a horse can't get up to 100 mph and kill you in a head-on collision.
Also, people speak of how pets are better because their pet doesn't judge them. Again, their pets CAN'T judge them. A pet loves you even though you leave it in the trunk of the car because it's too STUPID to know any better. That old saying about that goes "lock your dog in the trunk for 2 hours, do the same with your wife, unlock the trunk, see which one still loves you." Well duh! The dog is too STUPID to know any better, that's not superior love. Heck I know some women with very simple brains who'd still love you, does that make them better, or just ignorant? Okay then.
Also, I think a lot of this aspect of people appreciating how their pet doesn't judge them, I think this gets back to people living like the devil but wanting approval for it. People want to receive no accountability for the wrong things they do, even when it's spoken in love, they want approval for the life they are living even when they're doing wrong. I think this is what attracts many such people to animals--animals don't condemn them even if they're crack addicts or "shacking up" or cheating on their spouse etc. They thus mistake animal love as superior in that way, when it's nothing of the sort.
I will admit--I have heard some things that have convicted me of being in the wrong in the other way. To wit: from what I've read, the Bible, while it makes it clear humans are more important than animals, it doesn't condone cruelty. I'm one that tends to advocate, if not practice, the "shoot, shovel, shut up" philosophy. I've said that I could move to southern FL and kill every single alligator I'd find on my property and sleep like a baby. While I still think I'd have the right to clear out the dangers of having alligators on my property (I'm an avid swimmer and I'd insist on being able to swim in any lakes or such on my property without worry, and my kids being able to play outdoors unsupervised without any such worries), after all I surely don't think those alligators should have more rights to the land than me even if they were supposedly there first, I probably view animals as too "expendable" sometimes in such ways. There are times when you can perhaps TRAP and relocate the animal vs just killing it, and if you can, then perhaps you should do that vs just killing it.
Then again, we kill mosquitoes and roaches, and if we find any rats or mice in our house most of us don't "trap/relocate," we just set traps that kill and then toss them out. Frankly, what's the difference? Food for thought if you ask me.
I've never understood why some people think humans are somehow above or better than other animals. Simply being human yourself doesn't mean your species is elevated above all others. What arrogance.
I've never understood why some people think humans are somehow above or better than other animals. Simply being human yourself doesn't mean your species is elevated above all others. What arrogance.
It's because the BIBLE says so, and it's just the truth. Any other differing opinion on that is flat-out FACTUALLY wrong just as much as saying 2+5 = 20.
Pets give you unconditional love, comfort you even if you are wrong, give you a kiss when no one else wants too, does stupid tricks because it pleases you, lets you take out your frustrations on it without talking back. Pets can be better than some neighbors and even family members. I think God makes very good use of the animals he has given us for pets. Maybe their purpose is to do all the above for an otherwise misunderstood lonely person. Maybe their purpose is to teach a person who has never been loved that they have to give love first
Maybe their purpose is to show a person who has never been loved that the love the person gives will be returned?
It's because the BIBLE says so, and it's just the truth. Any other differing opinion on that is flat-out FACTUALLY wrong just as much as saying 2+5 = 20.
It's because the BIBLE says so, and it's just the truth. Any other differing opinion on that is flat-out FACTUALLY wrong just as much as saying 2+5 = 20.
The bible is wrong on many, many things. This is just another one.
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