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OPINIONSome Effects of the Anti-Human Epidemic of Irrational Cynophilia
Written on 9 June 2019by Juan P. Flores
Written on 9 June 2019by Juan P. Flores
The Catholic Church suppressed the superstitious veneration of the dog Guinefort, who saved a baby from a viper and was wrongly put to death for it according to a medieval legend, as the Dominican friar Stephen de Bourbon (1190-1261) described; some deluded parents would subject infants to grave dangers in hopes of being assisted by the dog's spirit. In the present day, other delusions in favor of canines over humans have poisoned the minds of many, bringing untold harm upon society.
One can read how the inspired words of Sacred Scripture do not cast canines in a good light, as King David in his Psalm CXXI begs the Lord to spare him from the mouth of the dog, and dogs who return to their vomit are cited as an example of fools by Solomon in his Proverbs and St. Peter in his second epistle. Likewise, St. John the Evangelist in the Apocalypse numbers unbelievers as “dogs,” according to commentator Rev. Fr. Robert Witham (1667–1738), alongside sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, and idolaters, while St. Paul notes that the Judaizers are, as the author Ambrosiaster (IV c. AD) comments, like dogs that first bark and then mutilate the flesh with savage bites.
“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”—Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians 3:2, DRA
Dogs undoubtedly can be dangerous creatures. It is a well-known fact that most dog bites are never reported to authorities, and yet in the United States, for example, there are approximately 4.5 million in the record: one for every fifty inhabitants! Putting aside those just maimed, disfigured, and torn to pieces, hardly anyone besides Almighty God knows how many people die every year as a result of dog attacks worldwide, ever stripped of their opportunity to hear of the Redeemer of mankind and be saved in the one true Church, particularly given that anecdotes show the majority of them are young children. God knows how much good could have been otherwise accomplished by those people savagely cut down by these animals, and likewise He knows the moral culpability these people bear for their reckless actions, which some misguided people may otherwise dismiss. Moral theologians, however, make it clear that reckless murder is still murder nonetheless.
“[G]reat evil arising from grave negligence is seriously sinful even though only voluntary in the cause[...]”—Thomas Slater, A Manual of Moral Theology for English-Speaking Countries, 1925
The blood of the victims of these reckless homicides surely must call to Heaven for vengeance, and these murderers who callously let their beasts maim and kill innocent people will be held accountable either in this life or in the next. Indeed, the words of Holy Writ, penned by the Holy Law-Giver Moses, prescribe the death penalty for those who are guilty of letting their animals kill fellow men, or at least a death indemnity from those whose guilt is uncertain.
“When [...] the untoward death of a person is the outcome of an action which is prohibited [i.e. letting dangerous beasts loose] precisely because of the founded likelihood of its having this fatal result, then in the court of conscience the doer is held to be guilty in spite of his disclaimer of all intention in the matter.”—Exodus 21:29, DRA
Besides being mauled to death, vicious dogs have other means to inflict, wittingly or not, an ignominious death on humans, with the possibility of heavy modern vehicles literally crushing away their ability to receive absolution and extreme unction. It is difficult to establish how many earthly lives have been snuffed out in such manner, yet the frequency of such cases is made evident by their mention in legal commentaries dedicated to such subjects.
“Drivers who encounter a loose dog in the road automatically swerve to avoid hitting it, which can cause them to run into another car, a pedestrian, or other objects on the side of the road. If a driver slams on his or her brakes to avoid hitting a loose dog, they can end up being rear-ended by the driver behind them.”—Michael Jeandron, “Who is liable if an off-leash dog causes a car accident?” (Extracted from a webpage from a US Personal Injury Law Firm)
In this time of apostasy, valid ministers of the sacraments are few and far between. If reckless dog owners persist in causing vehicles to crush bystanders or leading people to veer into incoming traffic, there might be more fatal victims, with eternal consequences for everyone involved. Witnesses may have their conscience disturbed for the rest of their lives, especially as one cannot count on most people having access to good confessors or firm spiritual guidance.
One would be remiss to not condemn those whose reckless dog ownership leads to death, yet too infrequently are condemnations issued against those selfish persons who scare innocent people passing near their property with their aggressive hounds. They often leave only a flimsy fence between their frightful beasts and people who have done them no ill so as to have their peace disturbed with the prospect of either getting maimed and killed by the hounds, or in some jurisdictions, from going through an arduous legal process in case they happen to use a weapon in their own defense. In some cases, they have caused pedestrians and cyclists passing by to veer into incoming traffic, and in many more they constantly disturb the peaceful environment which pilgrims and travelers could use to effectively pray and meditate on their journey. One should have trust in the perfect justice of the Divine Majesty. Let us trust with perfect faith and hope that the good Lord will punish their selfish recklessness, and for audaciously treating their fellow man with such callous disdain, that their lack of hospitality will be reciprocated! Their actions come from their wholehearted selfishness to protect their own things at the expense of the peace and tranquility of others. How distant is greeting strangers with the harassment of a vicious dog from the counsel of the Gospel, which calls for believers to welcome strangers as if they were in the presence of Christ.
“All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35). Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith (Gal 6:10) and to pilgrims.”—Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia, Chapter 53: 1-2
Law enforcement should fulfill their duty under pain of sin and stop neglecting to enforce ordinances against unleashed and unrestrained dogs. An illustrative example of police negligence infamously manifested in Bucharest, Romania on 2 September 2013 with the death of the four year old boy Ionuț Anghel and injury of his brother, both caused by unrestrained dogs roaming the city parks. Later investigations revealed the dog to have belonged to an organization devoted to the purported interests of such savage beasts: these foolish activists recklessly had let the beasts roam the streets and advocated against common-sense laws to extirpate the plague of stray dogs infesting the country. It can be rightly said that these people betray their own species in diabolical treason to the natural order established by the Almighty.
“While Catholic ethical doctrine insists upon the merciful treatment of animals, it does not place kindness towards them on the same plane of duty as benevolence towards our fellow-men. Nor does it approve of unduly magnifying, to the neglect of higher duties, our obligations concerning animals. Excessive fondness for them is no sure index of moral worth; it may be carried to un-Christian excess; and it can coexist with grave laxity in far more important matters. There are many imitators of Schopenhauer, who loved his dog and hated his kind.”—James Fox, “Cruelty to Animals,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908
With erring philosophers, irresponsible dog owners, and animal advocates joining hands as traitors to the interests of the human species, people in diverse parts of the world are losing their sovereign God-given rights and even children in recreation as they have done for millennia must now be mindful of not only wild beasts prowling around at night, but also domestic ones in the day! This anti-human disease of the mind is also contributing to a demographic catastrophe, as even the most infamous modernists have noted.
“And today [...] there is a certain selfishness. The other day, I spoke about the demographic winter that exists nowadays: people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one because they do not want any more, but they have two dogs, two cats…. Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children.”—Jorge Bergoglio, “Udienza Generale” 5 January 2022
While the situation seems alarming to anyone with common sense or at least an instinct to prefer their own species over others, one should take heart that if natural laws remain unimpeded through the passage of time, those who value dogs over humans will inevitably raise less children, and therefore their problematic anti-human ideology will progressively cease to be a blight on this world.
One can also pray that the Lord grants parents the wisdom to implant in their children values informed by divine revelation and right reason, and children the grace to keep their thoughts and actions in line with the same.
“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”—Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians 3:2, DRA
Dogs undoubtedly can be dangerous creatures. It is a well-known fact that most dog bites are never reported to authorities, and yet in the United States, for example, there are approximately 4.5 million in the record: one for every fifty inhabitants! Putting aside those just maimed, disfigured, and torn to pieces, hardly anyone besides Almighty God knows how many people die every year as a result of dog attacks worldwide, ever stripped of their opportunity to hear of the Redeemer of mankind and be saved in the one true Church, particularly given that anecdotes show the majority of them are young children. God knows how much good could have been otherwise accomplished by those people savagely cut down by these animals, and likewise He knows the moral culpability these people bear for their reckless actions, which some misguided people may otherwise dismiss. Moral theologians, however, make it clear that reckless murder is still murder nonetheless.
“[G]reat evil arising from grave negligence is seriously sinful even though only voluntary in the cause[...]”—Thomas Slater, A Manual of Moral Theology for English-Speaking Countries, 1925
The blood of the victims of these reckless homicides surely must call to Heaven for vengeance, and these murderers who callously let their beasts maim and kill innocent people will be held accountable either in this life or in the next. Indeed, the words of Holy Writ, penned by the Holy Law-Giver Moses, prescribe the death penalty for those who are guilty of letting their animals kill fellow men, or at least a death indemnity from those whose guilt is uncertain.
“When [...] the untoward death of a person is the outcome of an action which is prohibited [i.e. letting dangerous beasts loose] precisely because of the founded likelihood of its having this fatal result, then in the court of conscience the doer is held to be guilty in spite of his disclaimer of all intention in the matter.”—Exodus 21:29, DRA
Besides being mauled to death, vicious dogs have other means to inflict, wittingly or not, an ignominious death on humans, with the possibility of heavy modern vehicles literally crushing away their ability to receive absolution and extreme unction. It is difficult to establish how many earthly lives have been snuffed out in such manner, yet the frequency of such cases is made evident by their mention in legal commentaries dedicated to such subjects.
“Drivers who encounter a loose dog in the road automatically swerve to avoid hitting it, which can cause them to run into another car, a pedestrian, or other objects on the side of the road. If a driver slams on his or her brakes to avoid hitting a loose dog, they can end up being rear-ended by the driver behind them.”—Michael Jeandron, “Who is liable if an off-leash dog causes a car accident?” (Extracted from a webpage from a US Personal Injury Law Firm)
In this time of apostasy, valid ministers of the sacraments are few and far between. If reckless dog owners persist in causing vehicles to crush bystanders or leading people to veer into incoming traffic, there might be more fatal victims, with eternal consequences for everyone involved. Witnesses may have their conscience disturbed for the rest of their lives, especially as one cannot count on most people having access to good confessors or firm spiritual guidance.
One would be remiss to not condemn those whose reckless dog ownership leads to death, yet too infrequently are condemnations issued against those selfish persons who scare innocent people passing near their property with their aggressive hounds. They often leave only a flimsy fence between their frightful beasts and people who have done them no ill so as to have their peace disturbed with the prospect of either getting maimed and killed by the hounds, or in some jurisdictions, from going through an arduous legal process in case they happen to use a weapon in their own defense. In some cases, they have caused pedestrians and cyclists passing by to veer into incoming traffic, and in many more they constantly disturb the peaceful environment which pilgrims and travelers could use to effectively pray and meditate on their journey. One should have trust in the perfect justice of the Divine Majesty. Let us trust with perfect faith and hope that the good Lord will punish their selfish recklessness, and for audaciously treating their fellow man with such callous disdain, that their lack of hospitality will be reciprocated! Their actions come from their wholehearted selfishness to protect their own things at the expense of the peace and tranquility of others. How distant is greeting strangers with the harassment of a vicious dog from the counsel of the Gospel, which calls for believers to welcome strangers as if they were in the presence of Christ.
“All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35). Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith (Gal 6:10) and to pilgrims.”—Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia, Chapter 53: 1-2
Law enforcement should fulfill their duty under pain of sin and stop neglecting to enforce ordinances against unleashed and unrestrained dogs. An illustrative example of police negligence infamously manifested in Bucharest, Romania on 2 September 2013 with the death of the four year old boy Ionuț Anghel and injury of his brother, both caused by unrestrained dogs roaming the city parks. Later investigations revealed the dog to have belonged to an organization devoted to the purported interests of such savage beasts: these foolish activists recklessly had let the beasts roam the streets and advocated against common-sense laws to extirpate the plague of stray dogs infesting the country. It can be rightly said that these people betray their own species in diabolical treason to the natural order established by the Almighty.
“While Catholic ethical doctrine insists upon the merciful treatment of animals, it does not place kindness towards them on the same plane of duty as benevolence towards our fellow-men. Nor does it approve of unduly magnifying, to the neglect of higher duties, our obligations concerning animals. Excessive fondness for them is no sure index of moral worth; it may be carried to un-Christian excess; and it can coexist with grave laxity in far more important matters. There are many imitators of Schopenhauer, who loved his dog and hated his kind.”—James Fox, “Cruelty to Animals,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908
With erring philosophers, irresponsible dog owners, and animal advocates joining hands as traitors to the interests of the human species, people in diverse parts of the world are losing their sovereign God-given rights and even children in recreation as they have done for millennia must now be mindful of not only wild beasts prowling around at night, but also domestic ones in the day! This anti-human disease of the mind is also contributing to a demographic catastrophe, as even the most infamous modernists have noted.
“And today [...] there is a certain selfishness. The other day, I spoke about the demographic winter that exists nowadays: people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one because they do not want any more, but they have two dogs, two cats…. Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children.”—Jorge Bergoglio, “Udienza Generale” 5 January 2022
While the situation seems alarming to anyone with common sense or at least an instinct to prefer their own species over others, one should take heart that if natural laws remain unimpeded through the passage of time, those who value dogs over humans will inevitably raise less children, and therefore their problematic anti-human ideology will progressively cease to be a blight on this world.
One can also pray that the Lord grants parents the wisdom to implant in their children values informed by divine revelation and right reason, and children the grace to keep their thoughts and actions in line with the same.
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