Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Human Beings Vs. Animals
Dennis Prager has a very interesting commentary piece on the case for Judeo-Christian values as opposed to secular humanism.
He writes that in the secular humananist world view, human beings have no greater value than animals, which I totally agree with.
I think that people who probably don't even consider themselves atheists have this world view. To me, it's why people will hold candle-light vigils over the removal of a hawk nest. I also see it in the environmentalists and California Coastal Commission's opposition to building a landfill to fortify three and a half miles of border between California and Mexico. on the grounds that it could harm a fragile Pacific estuary.
And don't even get me started on PETA. Mercedes-Benz is now offering cars with fabric or synthetic leather seats as a result of complaints by PETA's German chapter.
On a more personal note, I think that some dog owners in Manhattan fall into this wacko category as well. I remember once jogging in Central Park when a German Shepherd came up to me out of nowhere and started angrily barking at me. It's owner was standing about twelve feet away obliviously staring into space. So I said to the woman, "do you mind?" And what did she have to say? I scared her dog! Poor dog being harassed by big-bad Zelda! And there was another time when I was taking the elevator downstairs in my old apartment building. In walked a young man and his large unleashed dog who proceeded to invade my personal space. When I said something to the man, he acted as if I had just cursed him out. Now I will say that my sisters all have dogs and I enjoy playing with them. But otherwise, I'm not a pet person. Yet this man in the elevator seemed to assume that everybody and their grandmothers would want to be slobbered over by his dog.
Another time, my cousin was sitting on a bench in Central Park next to an old woman who went on and on about how children shouldn't be allowed into the park because they bother the dogs. I told my sister about this and she agreed with the old woman.
Not good.
He writes that in the secular humananist world view, human beings have no greater value than animals, which I totally agree with.
First, the secular denial that human beings are created in God's image has led to humans increasingly being equated with animals. That is why over the course of 30 years of asking high-school seniors if they would first try to save their dog or a stranger, two-thirds have voted against the person. They either don't know what they would do or actually vote for their dog. Many adults now vote similarly.
I think that people who probably don't even consider themselves atheists have this world view. To me, it's why people will hold candle-light vigils over the removal of a hawk nest. I also see it in the environmentalists and California Coastal Commission's opposition to building a landfill to fortify three and a half miles of border between California and Mexico. on the grounds that it could harm a fragile Pacific estuary.
And don't even get me started on PETA. Mercedes-Benz is now offering cars with fabric or synthetic leather seats as a result of complaints by PETA's German chapter.
On a more personal note, I think that some dog owners in Manhattan fall into this wacko category as well. I remember once jogging in Central Park when a German Shepherd came up to me out of nowhere and started angrily barking at me. It's owner was standing about twelve feet away obliviously staring into space. So I said to the woman, "do you mind?" And what did she have to say? I scared her dog! Poor dog being harassed by big-bad Zelda! And there was another time when I was taking the elevator downstairs in my old apartment building. In walked a young man and his large unleashed dog who proceeded to invade my personal space. When I said something to the man, he acted as if I had just cursed him out. Now I will say that my sisters all have dogs and I enjoy playing with them. But otherwise, I'm not a pet person. Yet this man in the elevator seemed to assume that everybody and their grandmothers would want to be slobbered over by his dog.
Another time, my cousin was sitting on a bench in Central Park next to an old woman who went on and on about how children shouldn't be allowed into the park because they bother the dogs. I told my sister about this and she agreed with the old woman.
Not good.
