But it's not me! What the heck? Dad obviously has a weak influence on these clowns. This is the second time that Fr. Jim Martin has gotten on my bad side. He redeemed himself the first time. But three strikes and you're out buddy!
I'm cuter than this dog, aren't I? What's the deal? Did I pee on their lamppost? Did I poop in their hallway? I even gave Fr. Jim McDermott a lick on the face. What's a dog gotta do?
Well, despite the obvious slight regarding the cover--they have a great article this week on animal rights which is a must read.
Few want to be reminded that we live within nature. We shield ourselves from the things that nature does, harboring the feeling that when nature does what it is supposed to do, such as rain or snow, it is inconveniencing our civilized way of life. Yet our place in creation is not that of master. The natural world is given to us by God in exchange for our responsible occupation of it. As the catechism puts it: “Man’s dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute...it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.” Creation owes us nothing. Rather, we owe creation reparation.
What many Christians fail to recognize is that most violations of the integrity of creation stem from a continuing desire to reorder creation in the way we would like it to be. So we genetically engineer crops to operate according to our demands, and we treat animals as if they have no right to fresh air and grass. In winking at questions of animal welfare, in stating that we are masters and that animals are at our disposal, we continue egregiously and willfully to commit that same first sin.
It is not the consumption or use of animals that constitutes the problem but the methods used to treat them. In his book Love and Responsibility, Pope John Paul II wrote: “Intelligent human beings are not only required not to squander or destroy…natural resources, but to use them with restraint.... In his treatment of animals in particular, since they are beings endowed with feeling and sensitive to pain, man is required to ensure that the use of these creatures is never attended by suffering or physical torture.”
Way to go. Glad to hear that the Catholic Church has my back! Read the whole article here
With all sincerity, there are only two magazines that I read regularly: Bark! (Of course) and America. So go get a subscription today!
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