Just now I had a fly that somehow crawled into an open bottle of soda that I had standing on my desktop. I managed to get it out of it and it sat there in a puddle of soda. I thought about letting it go but then I remembered how annoying the fly had been just some minutes ago and how unclean (I don't mean that spiritual) they are and that they are not on the same level as, say, a kitten or a cow or even a mouse. So I killed the fly quickly.
Now I sit here thinking. I've always eaten meat. I've killed flies, and spiders, and wasps when they annoyed me. I have a sheepskin on the back of my chair because that's comfortable. I don't object to using any animal material in labs for any purpose. I'm down with using rats and mouses for medical testing. I do think though that some animals are special and we should protect them completely, like dolphins, chimps, whales, tigers.
In one part of myself I am completely at peace with just having killed a fly. But another part of myself doesn't feel so sure. If we keep the book of Ecclesiastes in the bible in mind, I just effected that the spirit of a living being returned to God. It was ripped out of life. There is something special to what I did, something that something in me says I should see with reverence.
Recently I was on a camping trip in a mountains region of Europe. We had a wild bear visit our camping place in the evening, searching for food probably. We were 15 people and very agitated so the bear left, probably because he got scared. When that happened I thought of how in earlier ages when bears were more common in Europe, hunters had to kill bears. They are not like flies, they are really beautiful animals. Sure they are dangerous to us, especially to our kids. But I do think some honoring of such animals is a good thing. You know, the bible teaches us to even respect the devil to an extent, as a being of power. Read God's response to Job with that in mind, it is very impressive. We can't always reserve respect only for that which is ethically right. In fact I think we have to respect criminals like Hitler too - to keep our own humility intact. I've had to do with demons, simply denouncing them and flouting them never quite worked. You respect them as dangerous beings but don't go one step further. You respect them and tell them to leave in Christ and distance yourself from them spiritually.
I think we may kill animals. But it must always be within reason. I don't feel free to go out with a gun and kill deer ... unless I want deer meat to eat. I don't feel free to eat venison every day. I don't go out with a gun killing a tiger in a reservate either. But if that tiger stalked the area of my village I might consider it. I want our kids to feel safe in the woods and fields.
God allows us to kill animals. Reason tells us to respect that allowance and in the same time, in that respect, treat it with wisdom and humility.
I know there are people who are absolutely horrified of such things, even on levels as killing a fly. I have read stories by such people, like about a good giant who thumped his food on the ground a few times before walking over a field, so that the wildlife was alerted and could run away. I find such stories charming, but when I go over a field I don't do the same as the giant. Beetles and such would not understand. And I don't feel like inventing a chemical that makes beetles run to the east accurately and then pay a pilot to spray it over a field I want to cross from south to north.
So by all means it seems necessary to be reasonable. Unless we don't value our freedom and status in the hierarchy of things much. But can we really pit humility against reason? Am I on a goodness trip sometimes that is futile and actually unhuman? Or am I really lacking in my heart? I do respect animals. I just find that life on this planet is such that killing and death and use of the products of life, has a place.
What do you think?
Now I sit here thinking. I've always eaten meat. I've killed flies, and spiders, and wasps when they annoyed me. I have a sheepskin on the back of my chair because that's comfortable. I don't object to using any animal material in labs for any purpose. I'm down with using rats and mouses for medical testing. I do think though that some animals are special and we should protect them completely, like dolphins, chimps, whales, tigers.
In one part of myself I am completely at peace with just having killed a fly. But another part of myself doesn't feel so sure. If we keep the book of Ecclesiastes in the bible in mind, I just effected that the spirit of a living being returned to God. It was ripped out of life. There is something special to what I did, something that something in me says I should see with reverence.
Recently I was on a camping trip in a mountains region of Europe. We had a wild bear visit our camping place in the evening, searching for food probably. We were 15 people and very agitated so the bear left, probably because he got scared. When that happened I thought of how in earlier ages when bears were more common in Europe, hunters had to kill bears. They are not like flies, they are really beautiful animals. Sure they are dangerous to us, especially to our kids. But I do think some honoring of such animals is a good thing. You know, the bible teaches us to even respect the devil to an extent, as a being of power. Read God's response to Job with that in mind, it is very impressive. We can't always reserve respect only for that which is ethically right. In fact I think we have to respect criminals like Hitler too - to keep our own humility intact. I've had to do with demons, simply denouncing them and flouting them never quite worked. You respect them as dangerous beings but don't go one step further. You respect them and tell them to leave in Christ and distance yourself from them spiritually.
I think we may kill animals. But it must always be within reason. I don't feel free to go out with a gun and kill deer ... unless I want deer meat to eat. I don't feel free to eat venison every day. I don't go out with a gun killing a tiger in a reservate either. But if that tiger stalked the area of my village I might consider it. I want our kids to feel safe in the woods and fields.
God allows us to kill animals. Reason tells us to respect that allowance and in the same time, in that respect, treat it with wisdom and humility.
I know there are people who are absolutely horrified of such things, even on levels as killing a fly. I have read stories by such people, like about a good giant who thumped his food on the ground a few times before walking over a field, so that the wildlife was alerted and could run away. I find such stories charming, but when I go over a field I don't do the same as the giant. Beetles and such would not understand. And I don't feel like inventing a chemical that makes beetles run to the east accurately and then pay a pilot to spray it over a field I want to cross from south to north.
So by all means it seems necessary to be reasonable. Unless we don't value our freedom and status in the hierarchy of things much. But can we really pit humility against reason? Am I on a goodness trip sometimes that is futile and actually unhuman? Or am I really lacking in my heart? I do respect animals. I just find that life on this planet is such that killing and death and use of the products of life, has a place.
What do you think?
