also many animals

A while back my mother pointed me to an admirable article written by Rev. Leonard Vander Zee for The Banner of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.  The article is titled ... Also Many Animals, a reference to Jonah 4:11 in which God tells Jonah, who is anxious for Nineveh to be judged for its wickedness and to save his own psyche in the process, "Should I not have concern for the great city Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people ... and also many animals? (Today's New International Version).

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sharks in peril - humanity takes a bite out of creation

I'm grateful to creation care advocate and friend Anna Clark, who is currently involved in an anti-shark finning campaign in her state of Texas, for sharing this heartfelt post on behalf of a creature many of us might not think needs speaking up for ...

Growing up at the height of Jaws fever, I still get nervous every time I wade knee-deep into the ocean.  I know my galeophobia is unfounded, but until this year, I had no idea how much so.  True, shark attacks -- always media sensations -- result in about five fatalities annually.  We humans, however, are biting back by killing 73-100 million sharks each year.  In the span of a few decades, the ocean's top predators, including the great white, which has endured for 16 million years, have become our prey.  At least one-third of shark species are now threatened with extinction.

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does wildlife need our management? (part 2)

Continuing Jenny Sue Hane's thought-provoking and biblically grounded post "Does Wildlife Need Our Management?" ...

There are already signs that “management” by humans might not be all it’s cracked up to be.  Unlike natural predators, we are not limited in our choice of prey by our strength and speed.  So although hunters might describe their work as “culling,” in reality they often take the highest quality animals they can find.  Traits that once improved animals’ ability to survive are now working against them by making them desirable targets for hunters, so reproductive selection begins to reduce or eliminate those traits.  Elephants without tusks have increased, kangaroos are getting smaller, and bighorn sheep are developing less impressive headgear.  Our attempts to control nature may actually reduce the genetic strength and diversity of animal populations.  Is this a sign of responsible stewardship in action?  Is this what we wanted?  (See for instance Newsweek's "It's Survival of the Weak and Scrawny.")

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the unalienable rights of chimps?

Updated on September 27, 2008 by Ben DeVries

Continuing our FAQ series on animal rights, I thought I'd repost this reflection from a couple of years ago ...

A while back I came across a truly well-thought-out article by Adam Cohen from July 14th (2008) in the online edition of Editorial Observer, The New York Times (thanks to Matt Halteman at extraVEGANza! for sharing).  In "What's Next in the Law?: The Unalienable Rights of Chimps", Cohen takes a look at Spain's recent resoultion to give legal rights to apes, and the naturally mixed response it's generated.

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faq #6, do animals really suffer?

The next question in our FAQ series would seem to have a fairly straightforward answer to just about anyone who has spent quality time with animals, let alone professionally studied them with integrity.  But in addition to honest questions about the nature of animal senses and emotion, they are after all different creatures than ourselves, you might be surprised to hear some of the nonsense that has been offered to disclaim the full reality of animal pain and suffering, often in defense of one inhumane practice or another.

Please know the point of asking this question and posting this particular series isn't to expose you to a range of shocking reports of cruelty or difficult images.  It would be impossible to discuss the reality of animal suffering without alluding to some of the hardships which they face, often (though not always) directly related to human abuse and negligence.  But this is meant to be a more general introduction to the subject, with principles that can be applied to more specific aspects of animal existence and their treatment by humans.

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Calvin and the beasts

John Calvin, another indispensable figure of the Protestant Reformation and tradition, has a rather mixed legacy at best when it comes to animals (see for instance a cross-section of his comments in the helpful anthology Animals and Christianity: A Book of Readings, ed. by Andrew Linzey and Tom Regan).  In fact, traditionally this legacy has been deemed anthropocentric (human-centered) and negative in its application to animals.

This perception is clarified and also challenged in the excellent article "Calvin and the Beasts: Animals in John Calvin's Theological Discourse" by Peter Huff, professor of religious studies at Centenary College of Louisiana (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar. '99, available to read online).  For anyone who cares about animals who is also interested in or influenced by Calvin's substantial theology, this is a must read, and a fascinating one at that.

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John Stott on humans and animals

The Gospel Coalition has made available for download a sermon titled "Humans and Animals" from the venerable and hugely influential Christian voice John Stott.  Stott, born in 1921, is a British pastor, theologian and prolific author who founded the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion in the early 1960's.  Billy Graham himself pays tribute to Stott as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2005, an article which increases my respect for Stott's contributions to world evangelism and missions, and his personal humility just as well.

In "Humans and Animals," Stott acknowledges the differences between humans and animals biblically understood, and also our dominion over them, even our permission to use them for human needs which that dominion grants.  And while many Christian leaders have traditionally taken the discussion no further, I greatly admire Stott's adamant call to a respectful appreciation and compassionate stewardship of the animals God has wonderfully created and graciously called us to care for on His behalf. 

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between the Creator and the creation

The following reflection from Dean Ohlman and The Wonder of Creation, 'Tweeners,' is a helpful bookend to the first few installments in our FAQ series (Is caring for animals a valid concern?, But don't we have other priorities as Christians? and What about conflicts between animal and human welfare?), and a thoughtful contribution to some recent community discussions about distinctions between humans and animals ...

God blessed [man] and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28, all passages NIV)

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no eating pandas

Before turning to the complex case of animal experimentation next week, Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint has an excellent response to a potential conflict between endangered animal welfare and other causes.  It's also a great reminder of the inherent value with which Christians are asked to see God's creatures.  The post comes via Kendra Langdon Juskus ("Confessions of a Reluctant Birder") and Flourish, and is humorously titled "No Panda-Eating for Chuck Colson":

Well, it’s not quite that simple.  But in his BreakPoint radio commentary last Friday, Chuck Colson did quote British naturalist and wildlife expert Chris Packham as saying, “I would eat the last panda if I could have all the money we have spent on panda conservation put back on the table.”

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five questions for Stephen Vantassel

Following are five questions I posed to Stephen Vantassel, introduced yesterday, which he agreed to answer in a public dialogue.  I'll be answering some questions he addressed to me tomorrow.  Stephen is a wildlife damage management expert and harvesting proponent who is also an evangelical theologian and licensed preacher.  The questions are based in large part on his book Dominion Over Wildlife? An Environmental Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations:

question 1...  In your book you recognize God’s calling for us to steward His creation, and to recognize the dignity and value of his creatures, which I appreciate.  But I’m wondering about your use of the terminology of “shepherdism” to describe your view of stewardship:

Shepherdism believes that humans ought to use their power to responsibly care for the earth and mitigate the imbalances that inevitably occur due to human activity. Shepherdism rejects the idea that use equals abuse. What is good for animals is conceived as applying first to the continuation of the species rather than to the future of any individual animal. (pg. 178)

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