And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
- Genesis 1:28 (KJV)
Much could be said about Monday's chimpanzee attack in Stamford.
For one, I'm a little perturbed that so much attention has gone toward the animal, which was stabbed and shot to death, rather than the woman whose faced was ripped apart.
Facebook friends have jokingly wondered what the response from the people at the animal rights organization, PETA, will be.
And while I'm equally curious about their response, I'm also deeply concerned about this fraction of our society.
The PETA-fraction.
It worries me when people assume that animals have equal or greater rights than human beings.
Maybe I'm from the old-school, but where I come from, animals never were, nor will they ever be, on the same level as people.
Now I'm not advocating undue, Michael Vick-esque violence against animals.
I'm just advocating for people to put this incident into its proper perspective.
As cute as cats and dogs are, I don't believe they go on to heaven.
As beautiful as it is to stare and gaze upon a fish, I don't believe fish go on to heaven.
As much as this Stamford woman loved her monkey, I don't believe she'll see Travis the Chimpanzee in heaven.
Sorry.
These kind of unreasonable expectations are only satisfied in cartoons, Disney movies, and fiction novels.
Travis the Chimp, however cute he may have seemed, was an animal.
Nothing more, nothing less.
If we have to stab and shoot a million Travis the Chimps to spare people from suffering at the hands of freak accidents, I'll get my Sarah Palin on and have no qualms about it.
Yep, you bet'cha.
I agree. Some people go psycho on the whole animal-activist trip
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting - there are so many references to animals in the Bible and more often than not being God's beloved creatures and though I wouldn't say they are on the same level as humans, it does seem God has a reverence for them being that they were and are his creations. That being said, animals do deserve to be respected, and should be handled appropriately - i.e. not used as actors for obvious reasons. It's also hard to imagine that God would create an Earth with people and animals and not include all in Heaven. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI feel that because society is so overly disrespectful to nature itself including animals, that PETA gets fueled even more. I mean unnecessary things go on with animals, we could argue the vegetarian/vegan point, but beyond that like testing products, or the treatment of animals in zoos and circuses. Then there is the notion that wildlife belongs in your damn living room in a matching outfit. People bring on some of these situations, a damn chimp cannot be "raised" as a human, he can be loved while he is in his own habitat. That shit is weird. Its like an obsessive mutated form of imperialism.
ReplyDeletenow spiritually i disagree that they are not equal. just because i feel that all living things, because they are created from one god from the same plane, have a realm of existence that is beyond societal influence in a certain area of consciousness where everything is unadulterated and on one accord. no neg/pos no opposition, just existence pure and throughout. and i do believe that that unity is a peaceful manifestation of God. Its talked about in a new earth briefly. but that's a whole different topic.
Mr. Delmore, in reading your blog, i think we come from the same place. Please reply when you can.
ReplyDeleteRegards.
Alistair