Years ago I was part of leading a group of high school and college students on a trip to Mexico to work with migrants that were indigenous to Central America, but would come to Mexico to work. The people had no official status in the country, they were trapped in poverty. Though the trips were great in many ways, looking back there are a lot of things about those trips that make me cringe now. There was more than a hint of trying to bring Jesus to the poor people. Worse than that, the man who ran the medical centre and complex (church and lodging) where we worked wanted to speak in chapel each day to our group. His favourite topic seemed to be how horrible Bill Clinton was (the man railed against the then President’s immorality) and how the gay agenda was a threat to all of society. It was quite the place.
In this part of Mexico, as in many others, there were a lot of stray dogs. One of the dogs that hung around the medical centre had what can only be described as a repulsive head wound. A young woman from our group who had been working with animals back in Canada asked a local child at the centre if there was any way that the dog might see a veterinarian. At this the local asked, “What is a veterinarian?” The young woman replied in English as simply as possible, “A doctor for dogs”. At this the child laughed and looked wide-eyed saying, “You have doctors for dogs?”
The bewilderment was over the fact that there were barely any doctors for people in that particular area and the idea of a doctor for animals, particularly stray dogs, was hard to fathom.
I thought of this when I read a story recently on Pope Francis and pets. The headline was, “Pope Francis: Couples who choose pets over children are selfish” (If you can’t access The Times article linked above, check out this one from CNN that summarizes the story well).
Oh, where to start with this?
Let me just say that this is my most favourite Pope of my lifetime. Just the fact that he chose the name “Francis” indicates that he is interested in compassion and love for the poor more than dogma and religious exclusivity. As my friend Keith pointed out when we were talking about this story, it does seem curious that a Pope who took his name from a person most famous for his love for animals would say such things, but in these upside down days I guess anything goes.
You might recall the story of St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio. There was a wolf who was killing animals and some people in an Italian town. The people of the town did not know what to do so they called on Francis who was known to be able to speak with animals. Francis did indeed find the ferocious wolf and reasoned with him. He told the wolf that he would convince the people of the town to make sure that the wolf was cared for and fed and in return the wolf had to agree to stop the killing. In the end the wolf became well loved in the town and everything was harmonious.
You might also have seen those famous statues of St. Francis with a bird contentedly perched on his hand or a small animal at his side. We might ask Jorge (that’s Pope Francis’ real name) what St. Francis would think of pitting animal lovers against young parents. There’s also the consideration that a man who heads up an institution in which priests are not allowed to marry, says that choosing to not have children is selfish. Choosing pets over children is selfish, but choosing God over children is A-OK, apparently.
The other side of all of this, of course, is that people can go crazy in caring for their animals. There was a story this week on CNN about some people in Hong Kong paying for private charters to get their pets out of China as COVID regulations have barred most commercial flights from carrying animals.
The story is interesting and a little disturbing. It includes coverage of authorities stating that variants of COVID had been passed to people from hamsters (this has not happened). In response the government closed pet stores and culled hamsters. They also called upon people who purchased hamsters during a certain time frame to bring them to authorities so that they could be exterminated. Fearing that if the government is willing to kill hamsters, it might look at cats and dogs next, wealthy residents have been paying approximately $22,000 USD (for a flight from Hong Kong to New York) in order to get their pets out of the country. There is a lot to ponder in the news story and it might well play to the Pope’s point, but what made me cringe as well as the bags carrying I suppose a collection of hamsters, was that the woman running the air charter company kept referring to pets as “fur babies.” Maybe we should change the headline, “Pope Francis: People who choose fur babies over children are selfish”.
Quick Tuesday note;
A musician friend of mine shared an article this week from the Atlantic this week that had some very interesting stats on what is happening in the music industry. The article called “Is Old Music Killing New Music?” mentioned that 70% of the market for music in the United States is for old songs. The top 200 new songs (18 months old or less) accounted for less than 5% of streams.
I think that there is a metaphor apt for theological consideration in this. We haven’t been very good, in the church, at considering thoughtful theology that is not simply a variation repackaging of the old. While history and tradition matter, many churches have become wastelands in regards to compelling theological thought. I’ll write more about this soon, for now, maybe do a kind of catalog of what music you listen to. Is it mostly old music? Might you be one of the people who contend that old music is better than new music?
We have so much to talk about.
Recently I heard of a “dating App” for dogs. Apparently some dogs don’t like to go to certain Dog Parks because they don’t like the dogs there. The dog “parents” can make a date with dogs that are compatible with their pooch.
Many people now have fur babies. Friends of mine have “grand dogs” rather than grandchildren.
To be clear, I am an animal advocate and am horrified if an animal is hurt or neglected.
As well, I would be horrified to see any of God’s creatures hurt or neglected.
Animals greatly enrich our lives. I had pets for years.
However, in the hierarchy of our family, pets had their “place”.
A friend of mine sent me two photos, one of her child and one of her dog.
The photo of the dog was larger than the photo of the child.
I had questions about that..