Humans. Animals. Peace

Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct.  Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit.  The roots of cruelty, therefore, are not so much strong as widespread.  But the time must come when inhumanity protected by custom and thoughtlessness will succumb before humanity championed by thought.  Let us work that this time may come. 

We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.—Albert Schweitzer

          It can be so anger-inducing and heart-wrenching to watch the news these days:  an addiction to guns that surpasses comprehension, while guns continue to kill; threats of a trans-Pacific nuclear war; reports of ongoing oppression, gross & destructive oil spills invading delicate ecosystems and now even our neighborhoods, hate, violence here in the U.S. and around the world; angry politicians fighting aggressively to curtail education and financial assistance to the poor.

        Today, I need to speak about animals, and how we as humans treat them.  Why?  A week ago Tuesday, someone brutally beat in the head one of the old-timer free-roaming cats living at one of the stray/feral colonies I help feed in my home town; Luther was carried to a dumpster and left next to it to slowly, painfully die of the injuries inflicted upon him by some hateful human being, for no reason.  And I can't remain silent about such deliberately violent cruelty.  

          When my fellow care-taker called my that evening, in tears, to tell me the horrible news about Luther, I was showing the film The Laramie Projectin my college writing classes.  The film centers on the community of Laramie Wyoming, in the wake of the brutal, deadly beating of college student Matthew Shepard in 1998.  Shepard was beaten just b/c he was gay.  His killer had so much hate for gays, that he tied Shepard to a rural fence, beat him to unconsciousness, and left him there to die.  Luther was beaten and left to die next to a dumpster simply b/c his life was likewise considered worthless and his suffering of no concern if not deserved.

          If Schweitzer above is correct about their being a cosmic relationship between our treatment of animals and our human ability to secure peace, then it’s no wonder our nightly news is so ugly: we humans can’t even treat other humans with respect, tolerance, or the simplest of kindness; we treat animals abysmally.  

         We subject animals of all species to outright cruelty—as “discipline”; for our gluttonous appetites…gotta have our meat!; for our entertainment and amusement; for income if not profit; as a way of living.

         We neglect and abandon them when they become inconvenient, pregnant, sick or injured, walking away from them as easily as an unwanted piece of furniture.  We leave them on chains, isolated, unable to flee from danger, exposed to the elements, with little thought.  We let them run loose, unaltered, to impregnate females in heat, or to become pregnant litter after litter after litter, taking our anger out on them for bringing more unwanted babies into our lives.

         We don’t speak up for them when standing against cruelty is demanded of us.  But as my friend Bill Snow used to tell me, “you have a choice: you can be part of the problem or part of the solution; if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”  At best we’re guilty of negligence if not complicity when we choose not to speak out against all animal violence & cruelty…at worst, we’re condoning if not aiding and abetting animal suffering. 

         I abhor the callousness with which humans actively participate in, condone, and ignore the human-caused cruelty and suffering of animals.  And when I see such callousness in the college students I teach, it brings me to my knees in despair for the future…of both animals and humans.

        What I most abhor is those who use Christianity to defend their cruelty, clinging to God’s call to humanity to “have dominion” over creation as a carte blanche to do whatever they choose to feeling, sentient beings while insisting they are image bearers of the Prince of Peace.  My Christian faith practice demands of me a holistic pro-life ethic that applies not just to unborn babies but to all of creation.

            I came to Jesus long before moving to the rural South--America's "Bible Belt"--just around the time I became eligible to join the American Association of Retired Persons.  Thank God.  Because if I'd been a seeker when I moved here, I soon would've rejected Jesus outright, possibly forever (though thankfully, I don't believe Jesus would ever have let go of me!), and a fair share of the reason for that would have been directly related to how I've seen and heard far too many self-identified Christians relate w/ animals, including animals they insist they love and care for..."Callous" doesn't even begin to describe the common attitude.

          Far too much war, violence, oppression, pain, and death has inflicted in the name of Jesus, including by deliberate choice or gross thoughtlessness against living, non-human creatures.  People, it has to stop.

          There are some folks who try to establish an either/or dichotomy for kindness and compassion, as if these character traits and actions toward others are non-renewable resources:  "How can you care so much about animals when children are starving?!" or "First we have to take of the needs of humans before we concern ourselves w/ animals."
  
           Baloney!!  Such ridiculous posturing is a shameful cop out.  As if love, especially the love of God, is a dwindling commodity that we must dole out with great care.  Caring for animals is not a waste of resources.  And I always wonder just how much such naysayers are themselves doing for their fellow humans.  Anyone who identifies him or herself as a follower of Jesus I would expect to live extending lovingkindness freely to all living being, believing that as God is infinite, so is God's love.   

          It broke my heart when one of the cats I feed outside my front door brought me a gift this morning, a poor, tiny dead mouse, leaving it on the door mat for my pleasure. He was being a cat.  But the neglect and often gleeful brutality too many humans...too many Americans...too many individuals who say they love animals...inflict on animals is our choice.  We humans must choose differently, effective now, right now.  I believe Schweitzer, above, is right: if we choose to continue as we are, then we must expect a world filled w/ violence, turmoil, and fear, not only for ourselves but for our children...and their children.  Our choices have consequences.  We have no one to blame but ourselves.