A headline in a Massachusetts newspaper recently blared that a theologian espouses dominion over animals. What a bunch of hooey. I was not surprised to learn that the “theologian” also happens to be a trapper.
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In contradiction to this man’s statements, all of the major religions preach kindness and compassion toward all living creatures. The following quote is attributed to the Prophet Mohammed: “It behooves you to treat the animals gently.” (Hadith Muslim, 4:2593) Add to that “[a] good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being.” (Hadith Mishkat, Book 6, Chapter 7, 8:178)
Hinduism also denounces violence to animals. The Bhagavad Gita proclaims that a self-realized soul is able to understand the equality of all beings, and thus every soul takes on a life for a particular reason such that to kill an animal stops the progression of the soul and causes great suffering.
Likewise, Buddhism asserts that the first of the Five Precepts (foundation of ethical conduct) is to not harm sentient beings because sentient (conscious) beings are subject to being reborn as other sentient beings.
And Judaism mandates the prevention of the sorrow of living creatures and a reverence for life. The scriptures teach that God made covenants with animals as well as humans, and the Hebrew term for “living soul” in Genesis was applied to animals as well as people.
I happen to be Christian and I’m deeply offended when animal cruelty is excused or dismissed under the guise that the Bible somehow endorses it. Numerous examples leap into my mind regarding the clear need to be respectful and kind to all living creatures. They begin at the beginning and are sprinkled throughout the Bible. I believe it is significant that Jesus was born in a manger surrounded by animals. And to illustrate more specifically with a couple of explicit quotes:
- “I also thought, ‘As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both. As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?’” (Ecclesiastes 3:18-21)
- “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.” (Proverbs 12:10)
As early as the 6th century BC, famed mathematician Pythagorus claimed that “Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul.”
And Anglican clergyman John Woolman, who lived in America in the 1700s, believed that “I was early convinced that true religion consisted in an inward life wherein the heart doth love and reverence God the Creator and learn to exercise true justice and goodness not only toward man but also toward the brute creation … To say we love God as unseen and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by His life or by life derived from Him, was a contradiction in itself.” [emphasis added]
The bottom line is that there is no God-given right to exploit and harm animals. In fact, religion actually forbids us from doing so.
Blogging off,
Barb