Pets Aren't People

Recently, The Guardian published an oddly intriguing article entitled, "The Case Against Pets: Is It Time to Give Up Our Cats and Dogs?" Though arguing from the perspective of the animals, the author actually made a powerful observation about humans. As one expert who was quoted put it,

The level of emotional dependence humans have on their companion animals is different from any time in the past. …

Of course, there's nothing wrong with having pets. It's a way of fulfilling the creation mandate. The problem comes when pets replace people, something increasingly common in a culture in which people struggle with meaninglessness and loneliness.

Blaise Pascal once wrote that "the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself."

God created us first to need Him and, secondly, other people. Pets are a distant third. If we get the order of creation wrong, it just doesn't work out like He intended.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org