'Dominion'
I came across more than a few books on Christian theology and animal ethics while I was working on my seminary capstone project, more than you might expect at least given how little attention animals usually receive in Christian circles. I recommend some quite strongly for their valuable perspectives on the relationship between faith and animals, including: Kaufman and Braun's Good News for All Creation, Andrew Linzey's Animal Theology, Stephen Webb's Good Eating, Robert Wennberg's God, Humans, and Animals and Richard Young's Is God a Vegetarian?
But if I had to pick one book from the bunch, for the impact it made on me personally, as well as its literary poignancy and strength of argument, it would be Matthew Scully's Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy (St. Martin's '02). Scully is a prolific freelance author as well as a political conservative who's served as speechwriter for President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain's presidential campaign and others.
With the going perception being that most staunch advocates for animals come for the liberal, if not godless, end of the track, Scully's work is even more valuable for the context in which he works. Of that, Natalie Angier wrote in a New York Times review: "'Dominion' is important in large measure because the author ... is an unexpected defender of animals against the depredations of profit-driven corporations, swaggering, gun-loving hunters, proponents of renewed ''harvesting'' of whales and elephants and others who insist that all of nature is humanity's romper room, to play with, rearrange and plunder at will" ("The Most Compassionate Conservative," 10/27/02, via Wikipedia).
Scully also writes from the Catholic tradition in Dominion, and a strong emphasis on a fundamental, or natural, code of ethics and morality owed all creatures. His premise is that animals demonstrate their own nature, with legitimate needs as well as the capacity for pain and pleasure, which warrants our recognizing their created value and dignity, and treating them accordingly. All the more so when we're using them for our own ends, not to mention wants. Scully is relentless in exposing blatant cruelties for the atrocities they are, especially when driven by a bottom line or the whim of luxury, as they often are.
Scully is no idealist when it comes to society abolishing the use of animals altogether or even accepting vegetarianism as a blanket way of life, but the moral case he makes for compassionate animal care and husbandry is all the stronger as a result. Instead of grossly inhumane activities and entire industries such unsportsmanlike hunting, gratuitous whaling and factory farming, each of which Scully exposes in journalistic detail, we should instead seek to interact with animals with appreciation and compassion, these creatures who are truly at our mercy.
I found myself underlining just about every other paragraph in the book, but here is just one passage for now:
It is our fellow creatures' lot in the universe, the place assigned them in creation, to be completely at our mercy, the fiercest wolf or tiger defenseless against the most cowardly man. And to me it has always seemed not only ungenerous and shabby but a kind of supreme snobbery to deal cavalierly with them, as if their little share of the earth's happiness and grief were inconsequential, meaningless, beneath a man's attention, trumped by any and all designs he might have on them, however base, irrational or wicked. (pg. 9)
In the coming days we'll be sharing a few more reflections based on Dominion, courtesy of my friend and author Sarah Cunningham. In the meantime, other points of interest include an excellent Christianity Today interview with Matthew Scully and Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society naming Dominion as one of the top ten animal stories of the last decade. Scully also has an excellent follow-up booklet to Dominion, "A Religious Case for Compasion for Animals," available for free download via the Humane Society's Faith Outreach, which includes some powerful reflections on his exposure to a North Carolina industrial pig farm.
February 16, 2010
Reader Comments (6)
I'll have not make a point to actually NOT read your blog for a while! I have this on my "to read" list and want to get to it before reading too much of someone else's reviews! I'll let you know what I think when I'm through it! I plan to write about it on my blog as well :)
Thanks for reviewing this, and for including the link to the interview in Christianity Today.
Peter
Thanks, Lauren, I think you'll love it. And this was just a very cursory introduction, and even Sarah's great posts could hardly begin to skim the surface of this book which is infinitely rich, so don't be overly worried we'll be giving too much away! And thanks very much for the note, Peter. You can check out Peter's own important blog at ConservativeAnimalAdvocate.com - Ben
The interview in Christianity Today was very thought-provoking, Ben. I think I need to get back to reading Scully's book....
I've had this book on my nightstand for over a year now and really want to finish it but somehow am a little bit afraid as well. It's so engaging and powerful and just tears me up emotionally, but I think it's a really important book and needs to be read or at least talked about it more circles. I'm excited to read the posts and updates about Dominion coming up on this blog, Ben!
I definitely agree, Rosie, and just so know, the other two posts of reflections on 'Dominion' are up ... Ben