Lessons to be learned from living with animals

Mark Twain said, “Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
You can learn a lot by sharing your house with dogs.
When I put my shoes on, I know that before I am done, there will be a large, wet, black nose in one of them. The larger of our two dogs, Yoshi, knows that if I am putting my shoes on, there is a good chance that I am going outside, and he wants to go, too. Sticking his nose in my business is his way of telling me that.
When I return home, there will be two furry creatures at the door. The smaller, Mochajava, will run to get something out of the toy box and bring it to me. If I reach for it, she will run away, thereby asking me to chase her and try to get it. If I fail, she will make herself easier and easier to catch, until the game can proceed.
These are two very different dogs. All our dogs have had quite different sizes, appearances, personalities, interests, levels of intelligence and talents (and lack of talents). In other words, their personalities are as unique as those of humans. But our culture, and my religion, Christianity, have had a lot of trouble with that basic fact. The reason, I believe, is that we are frightened of the idea that other animals have consciousness, emotions, personality, intelligence and a love of life, just as human animals do.
Every culture has to come to terms somehow with the things humans do to other animals. We kill and eat them (though in modern society we usually hire the killing done — i.e., by a slaughterhouse), we kill them for fur, we pen them up, we tie them up, we leash them, we train them to behave in ways their instincts disagree with. Some people also fight them for “sport,” kill them with carelessness, or even kill or mistreat them for fun. Researchers cage, torment and kill animals in the belief that such behavior is justified by the scientific advancements that result. Animals are killed as surplus and as pests. Most people (not all people) who do those things to other animals would not want to do those things to human beings.
Some cultures have decided that killing animals for any reason is wrong and have turned to vegetarianism. Others believe in a spiritual relationship between humans and animals and believe that the animal participates in and agrees to the hunt in which it is the prey. Others still look at animals with contempt, welcoming the opportunity to show human superiority. Some people distinguish between pets, livestock and wildlife in terms of how animals ought to be treated.
Most Europeans reached the conclusion that animals were mere flesh-and-blood machines and that the seeming intelligence, personality and emotions of animals were only illusory; they only seemed to have those things. That attitude came to America with them. Christianity added the notion that God had given animals those “appearances” so that human beings could enjoy them and their company. However, that perspective also made the torment and killing of them harmless recreation. Despite the advances made in the last few centuries (e.g., the ASPCA, the humane society and public education programs), a lot of that kind of thinking and behavior is still around.
One of the consequences of such thinking is the ongoing discussion, as mentioned by Twain, of whether animals go to heaven. Underlying that is the question, “Do animals have souls?” In other words, do they only seem to have personalities, only seem to feel emotions, only seem to be self-aware? Do animals’ lives have value?
Such questions are silly to those of us who have animal companions in our homes. They are also reminiscent of the same questions once asked of slaves and other non-European peoples.
Over the past few decades, a number of Christian thinkers have stood up to remind us that our religion is based on the belief that our universe, and all life in it, was created by God, who called it “good.” If God created those lives and called them “good,” how can we regard them as less than good? It might be necessary to kill in order to eat, but shouldn’t there be a little gratitude toward the animal and regret for the loss of life? And if God created those lives and called them good, what kind of heaven would it be without them?
Mark Twain also said, “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”
Blaine Hammond is the rector at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ben Lomond. He has served in the post since September 2009.