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I was watching an episode of the old TV show, Little House on the Prairie, with my friend and her daughters the other day. Jack, the dog, had been bitten (they thought) by a rabid raccoon. Pa headed out back with his shotgun to kill Jack, once he confirmed that the dog was rabid.
The girls hid their faces in fear—and thankfully it was a false alarm and all was well on the prairie again—but I found myself needing to explain why you would shoot an animal if it is suffering:
Because animals don’t have souls, if an animal is suffering, we kill it so it doesn’t continue to suffer pain. It’s different for humans, though. Because we have a soul and are created in the image and likeness of God, the suffering of a person can bring salvation. It has value. That’s why we would never kill a person who was suffering like we would an animal.
I think the girls understood my point—though popular media doesn’t. How often nowadays we see shows promoting assisted suicide and euthanasia because a person is in pain or has “low quality of life”…
Perhaps that’s why I was so pleasantly surprised to hear an ad on my favorite radio station, KLOVE (a Christian station) from Focus on the Family (the same group that produced the Tebow Super Bowl ad), explaining the sanctity of life and opposing Euthanasia. On their website they explain that:
The proposed legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia pose many moral and ethical concerns, particularly the implied message that some lives are not worth living. Every human, in every condition from the single cell stage of development to natural death, is made in God’s image and possesses inestimable worth. As such, the common foundation of human value and dignity is our very human nature, not our size, level of development, environment or functional capacity. Therefore, intentionally ending and thus devaluing the life of a dying patient innately opens the door to the devaluing and possible destruction of any human life.
I love hearing other groups proclaiming the Gospel of Life from the rooftops!
I recently went to hear a bioethicist from a local, Catholic hospital speak about end of life issues. Her advice was to appoint a health care proxy rather than to sign any kind of “living will” or advanced directive.
In a living will you imagine what the future might be and you guess about how you would feel about certain types of care. Because predicting the future is an inexact science (to put it mildly!) she advised us that it is better to choose someone you trust, who knows you well and knows what actions you would want to be taken, in the event that you cannot speak for yourself. That way you can be confident that your beliefs about end of life care will be respected.
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Why would you say that animals don’t have souls? I read this article as a pro life person, a christian, and a vet tech student. I have never been taught in church that animals don’t have souls. Maybe I read wrong but to me you are saying that it is ok for someone to kill an animal if they feel like it. I don’t think that is what you meant but it comes across that way.
Posted February 25, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Destiny:
No, I do not believe animals have immortal souls like humans do. In the Bible it says humans were created in the image and likeness of God and that He breathed His spirit in to us. I don’t think that necessarily means animals will not be in Heaven (they were in Eden, which was a precursor of the Heaven).
I believe animals should not have to suffer because, like I said in my post, there is no redemptive value to their suffering–unlike humans, they cannot join in the sufferings of Christ. In my own life, my desire to decrease the suffering of animals means I’ve been a vegetarian for the last five years. Quite the opposite of killing an animal just because a person feels like it.
-Corrina
Posted February 26, 2010 at 8:08 pm
You explained the difference well to your children. I also was a big fan of the Tim Tebow commercial by Focus on the Family (awesome organization).
I was shocked by how many people hate Tim Tebow. At the gym the week before the superbowl I heard a bunch of guys tearing him down. I guess they fear what they do not understand.
Posted March 1, 2010 at 11:15 pm