discussion at UK blog continues, the secret history of animals

The discussion at Jason Clark's blog continues with one last main contribution of the week by my friend, Stephen Webb.  Steve, professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash college by day, is a Christian animal welfare advocate by night, and author of On God and Dogs and Good Eating.  I especially recommend the latter, which is a wonderful resource on both animal welfare and humane eating. 

In The Secret History of Animals, Steve challenges the romantic (and naturalistic) view of animals which depicts them as at their most natural in a wild and predatory state, left alone by humanity.  Such a view of animals, though realistic in our presently fallen world, ignores Genesis and other peacable kingdom narratives in Scripture which depict an innocence that fully embraces all creatures.  Here's an excerpt:

The Genesis paradigm is thus the opposite of what we can call the romantic view of nature, which portrays animals as naturally wild and sees their domestication as a result of human manipulation and oppression.  In the romantic view, animals are meant to be predators and prey, and they are meant to stand apart from us. ...

According to the Genesis paradigm, all creatures are meant to be in a peaceful relationship with God and with each other.  That is why domestication is not a marginal human activity shaped by evil motivations.  Humans have been domesticating animals as long as we have been human because domesticating animals is one of the things that makes us human.