In light of the Michael Vick circus ensuing over allegations of dogfighting, and the headlines made when two teenage girls set a kitten on fire, I got to thinking about the mindset that one must have to be able to commit acts so despicable. I live in the "Deep South" where some people believe that animals are nothing more than dumb creatures put here by God for mankind to do with as he sees fit. Somewhat amazingly, many times these same people claim to be Christians as well, and will even try to use the Bible to justify their beliefs:

Genesis 1:28

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

 The last part of the verse forms the basis of "Dominion" theology, which is basically the belief that God placed mankind on earth to rule over it, animals included. There's just one problem with that line of thinking. . .that's not what it actually says, and not only that, but there's many more verses that indicate that God cares just as much for His creation as the (usually) intelligent beings He placed on it.

In Genesis 1:28, the words translated in the English as "have dominion" actually mean "be stewards over." The verse is not stipulating that man should just do whatever he wants, but that man should care for the Earth, as a guardian would a child. This would not be an issue at all if not for the fact that modern mindsets read a lot more into the word "dominion" than the KJV translators did.

 Further into the Bible you find many verses stipulating the dietary guidelines of the Israelite people: when an animal was to be slaughtered for food, it had to be done quickly, with a slit throat, rather than beaten to death as that would cause the animal's blood to be bruised into the meat. The guidelines today are known as kosher, and are still followed by practicing Jews worldwide.

On a more humorous note, the Bible records an amusing episode where a prophet named Balaam was riding his donkey, not knowing an angel was waiting for him in the way to kill him. The donkey sees the angel and refuses to budge, which causes Ballam to beat her. God then opens the donkey's mouth, and she pulls an Eddie Murphy impersonation on the clueless man. In fact, the angel then reveals himself and chastises Balaam for abusing his animal, with a curt warning that he could have been dead otherwise.

 Finally, Jesus Himself used animals to great effect in His ministry. In one of His most memorable parables, He describes a shepherd that left his flock of 99 to search for one lost sheep, and rejoiced beyond measure when that sheep was found. These are not the images and stories that a God that could care less for His creatures would use, but reflect His love for all of His creation. The fallacy that most humans fall into is believing that we're the "dominators" when we're really nothing but the guardians. And pretty sorry ones at that.