Christians have biblical and historical reasons to defend the rights of animals. So why are most leaders silent on the issue? Christian teaching seems to have divided into two camps. One follows the teaching of Thomas Aquinas, that animals are here for the sake of humans. The other view of kinship with animals is that of the early saints, especially those who lived as hermits and often made gentle bonds with wild creatures. The most famous exemplar of this vision is St Francis of Assisi.
JOYCE D’SILVA: We sincerely love our companion animals and most of us do our very best by them. Which is beautiful. One would rather be a much-loved pet than an animal in a laboratory or a factory farm. These animals do not have names and their numbers are sky-rocketing. Every year over 80 billion farmed animals are slaughtered for their meat, as well as trillions of fish. Around 192 million animals are used in experiments every year, some to aid medical progress, others for testing cosmetics or cleaning products.
It really is an anomaly that we separate similarly intelligent animals such as dogs and pigs into separate categories – one category where we care for them and another where we eat them, often without thought as to how they have been reared.
Can Christian teaching help us? In Genesis (1:9) God appears to prescribe a plant-based diet for humanity and after the flood he makes his new covenant with humanity but also “with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle and of every beast of the earth with you” (9:10)…
Over the centuries, Christian teaching seems to have divided into two camps. One follows the teaching of Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), that animals are here for the sake of humans. Even Martin Luther (1483-1546) declared that “the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven were created for mankind: these are the wealth and possessions of men”.
The other view of kinship with animals is seen in the stories of the early saints, especially those who lived as hermits and often made gentle bonds with wild creatures. The most famous exemplar of this vision is of course St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), who viewed animals as brothers and sisters, who rescued lambs going for slaughter and apparently did a deal with the local wolf who was threatening the townsfolk.
His outlook was imitated by his biographer, St Bonaventure (1221-74), who wrote, “For every creature is by its nature a kind of effigy and likeness of the eternal Wisdom. Therefore, open your eyes, alert the ears of your spirit, open your lips and apply your heart so that in all creatures you may see, hear, praise, love and worship, glorify and honour your God”.
A more recent example of compassionate concern for animals was the evangelical Christian William Wilberforce (1759-1833), who not only campaigned vigorously for the end of the slave trade and slavery itself, but who, with his Anglican friend, Rev Arthur Broome, founded what we now know as the RSPCA…
Lutheran theologian Dr Jurgen Moltmann declares “whoever injures the dignity of animals, injures God”… Dr David Clough, Chair in Theology at Aberdeen University, urges Christians “to reclaim the connection between concern for animals and Christian faith and be in the vanguard of campaigns to resist production systems that have no regard for the flourishing of animals”. The organisation SARX – for all God’s creatures which seeks to empower Christians to do more for animals.
Christians have biblical and historical reasons to defend the rights of animals. So why are most leaders silent on the issue?… Can we follow the example of Saint Isaac the Syrian, who wrote, in the seventh century, “What is a merciful heart? It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals”. SOURCE…
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