Another intriguing post at VOX NOVA on a topic I visited last week. See God and Creation: Are Humans the Only Ones Made in the Image and Likeness of God?.
It is funny how the intenet works. I saw the above link today at the the same time I saw A Tale of Two Dogs (see ahh pic) that a link to this incredible story Rufus the Dog: Hero of Bravo 2-121.
Here is a part:
Our National Guard unit is currently deployed to Afghanistan. We recently had a suicide bomber attack our base.Five soldiers were wounded in the blast, but the outcome could have been far worse.We have had several dogs come onto our base from time to time, and we have somewhat adopted two of them. We have a small puppy named Sasha, and an older dog named Rufus.On the night of the incident, both dogs were seen barking at and trying to attack someone in an Afghan police uniform near one of our buildings.
Two of the five soldiers that were wounded heard the commotion and yelled at the dogs, which were right outside of their room.Right after them yelling, chaos happened. The suicide bomber detonated himself in the doorway of the building. Amidst the smoke and confusion, soldiers were scrambling to find out what had happened.
Once everyone realized that we had taken casualties, everyone started to move and treat the wounded, and we began to secure the base. After the five casualties had been medevaced to another base, secondary assessments of the area began. During that check, Rufus was found lying outside of the building. Witnesses said they saw Rufus and Sasha biting the leg of the attacker as if they were trying to keep him from entering the building. Because of their efforts, the attacker was only able to make it to the building entrance. Had the dogs not tried to stop him, no one knows what the outcome would have been or how many more casualties we would have taken.Plain and simple, Rufus saved countless lives......................
So yeah I think Henry might be on to something which is one reason why I might be sending a few bucks today also to Operation Bagdad Pups- No Buddy Gets Left Behind!! that appears to be helping in both places.
Update- Let me connect further the VOX NOVA post and the two articles. Why do humans seem attracted to dogs. Why is it a dog can make the most GRUFF guy break down when they see it hurting. Why in this case ( in talking about dogs in particular) do these animals show love and loyalty. Why in so many cases does their survival instinct not kick in and they go running away when their master is in trouble.
I'm glad you (and I hope others) understood my post. It is not that I deny distinctions, as I hope I made clear, but how we see those distinctions which I think is important. I see evolutionary biology should offer a theological development in the same way as modern cosmology did. In doing this, the trick is always to stick with tradition when one can, and to understand what tradition is doing, and then adapt with the new data. It is not easy, and I admit I will myself probably will make mistakes. But I think the issue is important and there is valid tradition to help deal with the new science, if we only bring it out to the forefront. I am trying.
ReplyDeleteHenry I do love your posts on this subject. I have to admit I am not a great theology major at all. But the animals I have had close to me well I would give them anything.
ReplyDeleteThere is something going on special here..
Of course I am biased. I love my dogs and they were so special. I have no ideal what "Hevean" will look like. But goodness they did love me.
James
ReplyDeleteYes, I have had special experiences with animals - not the kind of the saints, who really had special encounters, but nonetheless communication which showed me how aware they were and how capable they were. I have a sense of wonder about them. While I might make arguments via theology, as I must because of my background, it really is theology relating to experience when I discuss animals (some theology I do is more academic). If God graces my work, this is certainly one of the four areas I would like to be remembered for (animals, cosmology, comparative theology, and liturgical-based theology, the third being an area I've only dabbled in right now but I hope to do more as time moves on).