Valuing animals more than people?

Ok so anyone who knows me knows I adore animals, cats especially. My Instagram is full of cats and kittens, and I could literally just sit and pet a cat for hours.

That being said....you ever notice how there has been a weird shift in how our current generation values things? This is especially true for millennials (including myself). I’ve heard “I’m not ready for kids I have my dog” more times than you’d imagine. People freak out about kill shelters but don’t care about abortion. A person gets killed in a movie no one cares but the dog gets shot then everyone is crying.

Again, I’m in this boat too since I find myself getting more passionate about true fair treatment of animals to people. I’m by no means against fair treatment of people, but like it’s not such an automatic response. Does that make any sense??

I guess my question is: what do we do about this? There’s nothing wrong with caring for animals, but is it that we have our priorities messed up? It’s like our hearts know we want to nurture, and find a substitute.

Maybe we need to pray for our priorities to be set in the right way. And not our way or anyone else’s, but His way.

Wow Steph. Good post my friend!

Animals are just as important to God as people are.. But yes, the world does have it's priorities screwed up..

We must put human and animal in their proper positions Biblically.

God number 1 tells us in Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

As you can see humans from the start are created to be on top of the so called food chain. We are to subdue every living creature. In Genesis 4:4 we already see the subjugation in livestock and the killing of livestock.

Genesis 4:4
4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

In Genesis 9 we see God give Noah further instructions

Genesis 9:2-4
2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.

3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.

Then in Exodus and Leviticus only the Israelites received further instructions related to what animals to eat.

In Acts 15 the Apostles tell the Gentiles the only food requirements.

Acts 15
29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. FAREWELL.

And Romans 14 explains that food is more of a conscience issue.

Romans 14
14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.

15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.

The point is that animals are to be subdued and are for our daily needs. Our ancestors would of died if it wasn't for animals. Livestock has provided much of lifes crucial needs.

But this also means we need to protect and manage wildlife. The life of mankind comes 1st as seen when Samson took on a Lion that attacked him and killed it. There is a balance. Animals need us to protect the balance. If one species gets overpopulated then it could gravely affect the local wildlife. If one population gets sick, it could spread to other populations.

So when you see people get all crazy over a zoo gorilla being shot because a human child fell into its pen then Biblically the child comes first. If more people was to get out and experience farm life then they would understand the God connection between human and animal.

This doesn't diminish the care or love for the animal but it just keeps it in the proper perspective.

God loves humans and animals alike. Being caretakers of the world we should care for all living beings equally with God’s love as our foundation.

Proper perspective.... Amen!!

We also see this at work when we see people doing stuff like doing everything they can to spread awareness about saving the elephants, but not saying a thing about the horribly impoverished people in Africa.

Not all are commanded to hear children t hough. I think animals and people are both important and people are made in God's image and v special to Him but I don't feel guilt about having pets instead of children. Of course I understand that am unusual, and if everyone thought like me then we would die out, but majority of people desire children or have them anyway, so I don't feel like am sinning.

Satan is the god of this world. He hates the human race because we are created by God. One purpose for mankind is to evict Satan from this earth. Satan is determined to destroy everything that remains that is good about people. Sexual corruption, gender confusion, utter selfishness, all kinds of violence and much more are Satan's tools. If God says one thing, for example, we are created male and female, Satan intends to incite people to rebel. So we have this insanity that people can choose their gender.

Only God is worthy of worship. So Satan attempts to get people to worship everything else. I've fallen foul of a neighbour who worships her dog. It barked all night and I complained. You would have thought that I was some kind of monster. Almost every reference to dogs in the Bible is negative. Fur babies? Give me a break.

The tree of knowledge is both good and evil. People are capable of compassion, mercy, love, tolerance, patience and generosity. The problem is that unbelievers live independently of God. It is easy for the "good" part of people to be misdirected. So people feel sorry for animals and demand that everyone become vegan. How cruel, they say, to kill an animal. Yet the animal kingdom has no such qualms. Our "fur babies" are savage killers given the chance.

The only hope is that Christians will seek God on these issues and maintain the dignity of people who are created in God's image. We need to get back to the fundamental that love should rule our hearts - love for our fellow man, not for pets. Oh, as a single guy I can tell you that my microwave is my best friend. I'd probably starve without it.

If it comes to a choice between the wellbeing of an animal or a human, it should be the human first and foremost. In India, cows are sacred. That causes huge problems in society, not the least competition for food and the removal of an important food source from 800 million people.

nothing wrong with the furbaby thing but I do agree that nothing should be put ahead of God. And not ahead of humans. So yes we should make sure our pets aren't being disrespectful or causing issues for others e.g. dog barking all night

and if a parent has furbabies and human babies the needs of the kids should come first

As for being vegan, I couldn't live like that, myself!

As a childfree person with disabilities I do consider having animals as part of my recovery and they are like support animals for me. (Informally though because guinea pigs aren't recognised as service animals in the UK in an official basis. Only dogs)

1. God
2. Man
3. Woman
4. Child
5. Animal

That of course is the proper order. Anything God does is good. But anything God does Satan seeks to destroy. All satan has to do is rearrange the order. Something as simple as putting the child second or putting the animal fourth. It will slowly create a disease in families and soon that will spill over into a diseased society.

In my opinion, just my thoughts of putting things together, I think we as people started to move animals up the list mainly because of T.V. and fast food. I say that because whenever cartoons came out they gave animals human characteristics. That made them more lovable and to some relatable. To a kid their minds are easily molded. They had no idea that bugs bunny taste really well with seasoning lol They look at him as a "friend". They grow up with this wrong mindset and it manifest itself into an inordinate love for animals. After about 2 generations of the media drilling this into your kids head, they began to relate and like the animals more than humans. They are no longer animals that help us in life as God ordained, but they are small personalities, cute and loyal friends that care about us more than some of our family. This makes them easier to move up a level over humans. The flip side of giving things or animals human characteristics is taking the human characteristics away from the humans. The outcome of this is cruel slavery. To view a human as a animal takes the image of God out of the equation and make it easier to hate humans.
Fast food or processed food has a part to play because if you no longer have to kill an animal for food, you don't see the animal as food. Just like doctors keep women from seeing the heart beat of their unborn child, the women can still convince herself that it's not life yet. But research shows that if she does see it, a large percentage of women can't go through with the abortion.

All of this wickedness happens in baby steps. Your kids and grandkids will grow up in a time where homosexuality is the norm. Next on the list is beastiality. Its easy to convince a people who loves animals more than humanity that it's ok to marry these animals and have sex with them. They already kissing them in the mouth lol

May sound crazy, but you live in a world where people literally don't know if they are male or female! Never in history of mankind have we been this stupid lol and this is supposed to be the "age of knowledge" lol That's crazy.

Treat your dog like a human and he will treat you like a dog.

Maybe . Perhaps dogs will take over the world one day 😀

This can be evaluated quickly...

We often see animals as innocent. We do not always view humans in the same way.

I love my daughter. I love my dog. However, if ever I have to choose between them... I choose my daughter! This can be a difficult concept to fully grasp if you've never had kids.

If a dog escapes, it can still survive; natural instincts kick in. A child, no.

Uhmm...childless people do comprehend that human life has more value than animal life based on philosophical and religious perspectives.

I can't think of anyone who values animal/pets more than humans. There are people who love their pets very much, very much so that they would even risk their own life to save the pet (such as if the pet is drowning, or if a house with fire, or if the pet is near an alligator, etc.) or even empty their savings account. However, if they have to choose to save between their pet and another person even stranger, I believe they will try to save the human but then may come back for the pet risking their own life. If a person has kids and a pet, they would spend their savings on the kids. However, they are people without kids or other loved ones living so they devote more time and money on their pets because they can afford to do so. I do know someone (whom I believe may have eaten dogs in the past) who does not understand the connection between humans and animals, and he doesn't believe in having pets, spending money on them, etc. when there are starving children in the world. I see his point. At the same time, it is our responsibility to take care and tend animals. Taking care and tending for animals is not free; this costs money even veterinary bills. We are not only supposed to tend animals that are food sources, like cow, chicken, etc., but all animals. By having a pet, we are fulfilling this mandate to care for animals.