Love your neighbour (and his pets)
(From Philip Cooney, one of our Briefing readers in Wentworth Falls, Australia.)
Last week, the President of the RSPCA, Dr Hugh Wirth, gave a talk entitled “Animal welfare in the 21st century” at the National Press Club in Canberra. He began his address by saying that there was no evidence in the Judeo-Christian tradition of principles for showing kindness to animals, and went on to talk about how while William Wilberforce was praised for his work in abolishing slavery and child labour, he fell short when he said that animals may be used by humans for any purpose, provided they are not mistreated.
The question is not just whether the President of the RSPCA has read God's instruction in Genesis 1:28 or the Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20:8-11; the question is what sort of job Christians have done over the years to make the Bible's teaching known.
Or is this just another case of our post-Christian society once again overlooking its Christian legacy?