The murdering of innocent animals for sport
Most of the civilized world has looked on in disbelief and disgust, following the shocking death of the much loved senior lion of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, who was tricked into leaving the safe haven of a wildlife preserve. This magnificent animal was killed for sport by a wealthy trophy hunter, leaving the animal to endure a painful and protracted death.
This senseless killing has brought to light the sick pastime of may wealthy Westerners who are willing to pay top dollar for the “pleasure” of killing a wild animal. An Idaho woman even went public with a photo of herself standing next to an old giraffe, which she said was an amazing animal, whose killing left her feeling that she “couldn’t be any happier”.
These disgusting and revolting sport killings come at a time when the modern world is moving toward an ethical stance that increasingly sees animals as worthy of the same rights as granted to humans. These killings also serve as reminders for all Orthodox Christians that animals are an important part of God’s creation, and like the environment itself, deserving of our respect, and protection. The psychologically disturbing images of someone posing next to the body of a dead animal they paid to kill, is no different than purposely polluting a pristine river, or cutting down an old growth forest for financial gain. Both acts are sins against God’s creation, and deserving of universal condemnation.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Monday August 3, 2015 / July 21, 2015
10th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Prophet Ezekiel (6th c. B.C.).
Venerable Symeon of Emesa, fool-for-Christ (590), and his fellow faster Venerable John.
New Hieromartyr Peter priest (1938).
New Hieromartyrs Simo Banjac and Milan Stojisavljevic and his son Martyr Milan of Glamoc, Serbia (1941-1945).
Venerable Onuphrius the Silent of the Kiev Caves (12th c.) and St. Onesimus, recluse of the Kiev Caves (13th c.).
Uncovering of the relics (1649) of Venerable Anna of Kashin (1337).
Martyr Victor of Marseilles.
Martyr Acacius of Constantinople. (Greek).
Venerable Eleutherius of “Dry Hill” (Greek).
St. Parthenius of Radovizlios, bishop (Greek).
St. Anna, mother of Venerable Sabbas the Serbian (Serbia).
Hieromartyr Zoticus of Comana in Armenia (204).
Martyrs Justus, Matthew, and Eugene of the 13 who suffered at Rome together with the Martyrs Trophimus and Theophilus (305).
Martyr Bargabdesian, deacon, at Arbela in Assyria (354)
St. Paul, bishop, and St. John, presbyter, ascetics near Edessa (5th c.).
The Daily Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
The Risen Christ, Our Hope
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Matthew 21:18-22
The Fig Tree Withered
18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Now address Planned Parenthood.
If you read my daily postings, you would know that I voice concern on many fronts. What happened to this noble creature is just further evidence of the terrible state of this fallen world. As Christians, we are called to usher in the Kingdom of God. For me to remain silent about any wrong doing, would be for me to personally fall down on my duty, as I see it, to be an usher for the Kingdom. That there are other issues, such as the resent revelation of the sale of body parts of unborn children, by Planned Parenting, is further evidence of just how far we’ve wandered from the place God intended for the human family. That we live in a fallen world, is no excuse or remaining silent when we see an attack on any part of God’s creation. All life is sacred.
Although I agree in principle that sport killing is immoral I’m disappointed to see the comment:
“These disgusting and revolting sport killings come at a time when the modern world is moving toward an ethical stance that increasingly sees animals as worthy of the same rights as granted to humans.”
Without any follow up response regarding our world’s increasing callousness towards human life as seen in Planned Parenthood’s latest atrocity of selling aborted baby parts.
We shouldn’t let liberals and liberal media dictate narratives to us. It is to our shame as a nation that Cecil has received at least twice the coverage that dead babies and ghoulish selling of their parts has received.
That the world now values animal life on par, and in some cases more important than human life, is a disgusting indictment of just how far we have strayed from even the most basic of understandings: that Man is made in God’s Image and by that very fact is infinitely more valuable than a lion in Africa.
As a counterpoint to the planned parenthood comments voiced earlier, I would like to compare the outrage reserved for one lone hunter, who killed an animal who had at least the opportunity until that point to live a natural life, reflect on the utter lack of outrage (on the same scale) of society toward industrial farming practices which deny billions of animals a natural life or a natural death and condemn their existence to be completely instrumentalised and their individual sufferings to be largely ignored by everyone.
If we do value animal life more on a par with human life it is only because as a society both are increasingly becoming valued only instrumentally. Human beings and animals must “add value” to be of worth (whence euthanasia, abortion, organ harvesting) and they “add value” in one of two ways – either as raw materials for industry (including “human capital”) – or as decorative objects such as in the case of animals in nature reserves or humans in the entertainment industry.
Life’s value as life, is utterly disregarded in both cases, the individual, the specific, personal life of specific animals and specific humans is ground up ruthlessly to feed the machine.
Agree with the spiritual issue completely. However, in a practical sense, it seems that even the lions within the “natural preserves” are threats to the local people. A local writer there
said that people there do not weep over the death of vicious lions that kill and maim. Of course, we see all of Creation as sacred and worthy of preservation, but we have to be practical as well.