Posted on 06/30/2011 3:29:04 PM PDT by NYer
Dogs are often given the title mans best friend. I get that. However, a new title has surfaced which turns ones dog from friend to family. These days people address their dog as baby.
Last December, I received a Christmas card in the mail with someones dog in the spotlight posing as Santa. Cute? Sure until I read the caption which read, Babys First Christmas. This was just the beginning of my observations.
More recently, I met a rather chatty woman in the post office. She was in the process of picking out a Fathers Day card for her son. Her only requirement was that the card include a dog in its design. At first, I thought this to be an innocent request. After conversing longer, she shared that her sons ex-girlfriend (who I gathered used to live with him) left her two dogs with this man after her departure. The mother was duly impressed with her thirty-year old sons ability to take care of these creatures. So much so that that was in fact the motivation behind purchasing a Fathers Day card for him. So, would such a mentality make her a grandmother?
I found that encounter bizarre enough, and did not think it could be topped. I was wrong. In my neighborhood, it is not a rare sight to see folks taking advantage of trails that line the roads. On one occasion, I came across a woman roller-skating. As I passed in my car, I glanced over to see that she had a baby carrier strapped to the front of her chest. I expected to see a child. Instead, a dog was strapped in with its legs dangling and its ears blowing in the wind. I passed in shock.
A few days later, I ran a 5k in some brutal heat. Surely, if anyone had offered me water, I would have happily accepted. That didnt happen, but I did overhear someone ask the couple behind me if their dog could use some water. I glanced behind me to see a bottle of water being held up to the dogs mouth.
It is not just water alone that is being offered to dogs these days. The options are endless from doggie cones at the ice cream shop to the best beef in town in the dinner dish. With so many occurrences of dog doting, perhaps in this culture I am the one who is seen as odd. Minority belief or not, dogs will never be humans, and therefore we should stop pretending that they are.
After so many extreme episodes of canine care, I began to ponder why dogs have been promoted from pet to person. I believe it reveals a truth that is written on the human heart. The truth I am referring to is that humans are wired for self-donating love. Scripture reveals each person is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 2:27). And who is God, if not Love? (1 John 4:8) The Triune God is a communion of Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Call it a family of three. Richard of St. Victor explained that a requirement of perfect love is sharing with another person, and perfect love between two requires loving for the sake of a third.
All persons are made in the image of the Trinity, and therefore, are also drawn into communion. In marriage, God invites man and woman to model this triune love in their human family. We hear what is written on our soul echoed in Gods command to husband and wife: God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 2:28). The love of spouses continues outside of themselves in the flesh of a human person. For conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs forth from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2366).
What does this truth have to do with dogs? If in marriage, husband and wife do not heed to Gods command to be fruitful in the begetting of children, then this hunger to love something outside of themselves, in union with each other, will find false expression. As seen, one example of this is in the adoption of a pet, where an animal gains the privileges of a person. They are seen as the third in this communion of husband and wife. It is a twisted truth, a pacifier. What these couples truly desire is a child. Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the begetting and educating of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute very substantially to the welfare of their parents (Gaudium et Spes 50).
I side with your husband. I think it is nauseating when people refer to their dogs as their “grandchildren” or refer to themselves as “mommy” and “daddy” to their dogs.
The mother of a friend of mine often referred to her dog as my friend’s “brother.” Granted, the lady was an elderly Episcopalian, and they’re famously ditzy. But still...my friend was not amused.
I’m one of the one who will never have a kid. I just don’t like being around children. I’m quite happy with my little shelter mutt. Luckily, my family has the same view as you and doesn’t give me a hard time.
That's a good point. I have noticed that. These are almost always young couples, in some cases quite well off, and they obviously have absolutely no plans to have children. But how they think a pet can substitute for a child and a family, I do not know.
There's certainly nothing wrong with having a pet and treating it well, but it's an animal and will never be your child.
Also, I'm half-Cuban and my dad's family here and in Argentina refer to pets as "mascotas". My husband is from Central America and they don't have a word for 'pets'.
LOL! One of the big problems, however, is that even among immigrant groups, Planned Barrenhood is making inroads. Groups like the Rockefeller and Packard foundations spend literally billions of dollars on convincing people in every culture that children are just a nuisance and human beings are a blight on the face of the earth
I think Dobie’s are very beautiful. I like the sleek coat. Do your dogs always pose?
Women, especially older childless women, have always tended to be a little nutty about pets. I attribute that to the empty womb syndrome, which in our society is particularly exacerbated by the fact that said womb has probably been the site of many abortions.
However, what really freaks me out is when I see a strong, healthy young man walking along the street with a dog (usually a chihuahua or other small breed) strapped to his chest in a baby carrier. I live in a tourist town, and I can’t tell you how often I have seen men carrying dogs in baby carriers on their chests or backs or have seen them pushing dogs in strollers along the street. (And these are not gay men...they’re usually accompanied by wives or girlfriends.) That upsets me much more than seeing ditzy spinsters and their anthropomorphized pets.
That’s strange.
“I love dogs, but to see the way some people treat their pets is just plain old idolatry. It can be sickening at times.”
From what I’m seeing in our society, idolatry of children is a far greater problem and one that many Christians and conservatives simply do not recognize, or else they think it’s Biblically justifiable. (It isn’t.)
Yep, and I was flamed when I said how weird this was on an earlier thread.
A lady in our neighborhood walked her dog every day. When the dog became old and arthritic she still took the dog out but now she carried him. I think that is lovely.
The rot always hits Britain before us.
NO cheers, unfortunately.
I know I will get flamed for this. But God cares about babies more than dogs.
Alex the Stroh's Dog would do it. Mine sure won't.
Those men are
as badly as Obama!
Same here.
But -- as you added, the joy of watching our children grow up into successful and decent adult humans made it all worth it.
Now that all four children are out of the nest, I finally have time to indulge my dog. So yes ... he's my baby. And what a joy he is, my little rescued mutt.
I’m with you. Our two “children” Buddy the Beagle and Coco the Chihuahua are our best friends. We love them dearly and spoil them rotten. They love us, entertain us and give us a lot of joy. I have loved and cared for animals since I was 6 years old. Nothing wrong with it and I encourage everyone to bring a pet into their lives. They give you more than you ever give them.
Memo to Jenaessa: Get a dog.
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