‘Dominion” & two linked articles by Matthew Scully
Lately in the media, Matthew Scully’s book, “DOMINION: The Power of Man,the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy” has gotten great reviews. Check out the following:
- the on-line version of Nicols Fox’s book review from the 10/13/02 Washington Post
- the printer-friendly version of Natalie Angier’s 10/27/02 book review from the NY Times
- and finally, the editorial and customer reviews from Amazon.com, which can be reached if you click on the book title.
This book sounds like a “must have”!
”Animals are more than ever a test
of our character, of mankind’s capacity for empathy and for
decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship….
We are called to treat them with kindness, not
because they have rights or power or some claim to
equality, but in a sense because they don’t; because they
all stand unequal and powerless before us.”
– Matthew Scully, from “Dominion”
[Doing the math based on the NY Times review, 329,200 pigs are killed every day in the United States, without remorse. Knowing that, how important is it, to celebrate a religious holiday like Christmas with an obligatory "traditional" ham, that our families have grown to expect? What does it take, to change people's hearts and minds?!]
NEWLY ADDED LINKS 11/3/2002:
I just found this article, ‘Veal: Not the Taste of Elegance’, by Matthew Scully of “The Times of Trenton”. I love his retort:
“Calves are adorable,” as columnist David Plotz expressed it in Slate magazine, “but veal is delicious. God gave man dominion over the beasts of the Earth (and) if any animal has economic utility, we should farm it.”
Actually, if we are going to get pious about it, God gave us lots of things, and one of them is conscience. Veal, no matter what seasonings cover it, or what sanctimony defends it, does not carry the “taste of elegance.” Veal carries, as Alice Walker observes, “the taste of a bitter life.”
And also this one: “Don’t Tolerate The Cruelty On Hog Farms”, from the 9/29/02 edition of the “St. Petersburg Times”.
“…[I]t is a terrible thing that religious people today can be so indifferent to the cruelty of the farms, shrugging it off as so much secular, animal rights foolishness. They above all should hear the call to mercy. They above all should have some kindness to spare. They above all should be mindful of the little things, seeing, in the suffering of these creatures, the same hand that has chosen all the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things to confound the things which are strong. ‘Who so poor,’ asked Anna Kingsford more than a century ago, ’so oppressed, so helpless, so mute and uncared for, as the dumb creatures who serve us — they who, but for us, must starve, and who have no friend on earth if man be their enemy?’”
– Matthew Scully, from Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy
Here is an interview with Matthew Scully, which church people ought to be able to relate to, whether conservative or liberal.