God's Creation

I have never been much of an animal rights activist. I respect animals, but I guess I never really thought about all the abuse that goes on in the world around us and our responsibility, as Christians, to address that.

Until recently.

A few months ago I watched the documentary "The Cove." The film was about the abuse, torture, mutilation, and murder committed in Japan each year against dolphins. Some of the dolphins are used for meat, others sold to museums, but regardless of the end destination the torture and abuse the animals suffer is unconscionable. Watching the hidden camera footage was startling and certainly gave me a few moments of pause.

I have been thinking about that film ever since, but I didn't really know what to think about it. Then last week I watched another documentary, "Food, Inc." The film is about our food process, and some of the abuses we are all suffering as a result of the way the food process has been manipulated in this country. Though some of that information was startling, it was another aspect that has continued to stick with me.

Part of the film centered on the food farms that bring us our beef, pork, and chicken. Seeing the animals relegated to those conditions, continually abused, tortured, and trapped in filthy conditions was disheartening. As I said, I've never considered myself an animal rights activist, but I don't know how, as a human being, you could not be troubled by some of those images. Of course, the fact that the way animals are kept and slaughtered is adversely affecting our food sources doesn't help matters.

As I reflected on what I saw in that film as well as "The Cove," I began to consider God's charge to Adam and Eve in Genesis. When God created all the things of this Earth, he gave man dominion over all the creatures and charged us with the duty of acting as caretakers of his creation.

Genesis 1:26-30 says, "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so."

Obviously we need some animals for food, but I doubt we honor God or the creation he charged us with ruling over when we callously abuse and torture animals. I don't know exactly what it is, but I know there has to be a better way.