I love animals but are we getting our priorities wrong?

[seeker2122]

I'm a huge animal lover. I must even confess that I probably love animals more than I do most people.
I love cats, dogs, just about anything cute and furry.

But I once heard that all it would take is about 30 billion dollars a year and we'd end world hunger but americans
alone spend 30 billion a year on pet food (dog/cat).

So we are essentially choosing to take care of dogs and cats more than our fellow human beings.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this? Do you think God would be displeased that we care more and spend more money
on our own dogs and cats than we do for hungry and dying human beings?

Also, my part time pastor has 2 cats and spends more time with them than he does with his actual congregation because
he spends 0 time with us. He's not a bad guy. I do like him still, and I realize he's just part-time cuz that's all the church
can afford to pay him but I find it odd that he actually spends more time, energy, and money on his cats than he does his
own sheep at church. Is this concerning?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

The United States spends over $50 billion on the pet food industry.

 

[Neogaia777]

I'm a huge animal lover. I must even confess that I probably love animals more than I do most people.
I love cats, dogs, just about anything cute and furry.

But I once heard that all it would take is about 30 billion dollars a year and we'd end world hunger but americans
alone spend 30 billion a year on pet food (dog/cat).

So we are essentially choosing to take care of dogs and cats more than our fellow human beings.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this? Do you think God would be displeased that we care more and spend more money
on our own dogs and cats than we do for hungry and dying human beings?

Also, my part time pastor has 2 cats and spends more time with them than he does with his actual congregation because
he spends 0 time with us. He's not a bad guy. I do like him still, and I realize he's just part-time cuz that's all the church
can afford to pay him but I find it odd that he actually spends more time, energy, and money on his cats than he does his
own sheep at church. Is this concerning?

First off, I really would like to hear a lot more about any plans about ending poverty/world hunger very easily, etc? And, secondly, I think there was a very good reason animal sacrifice was required by God as payment for mankind's sin(s) at first in the OT, etc, and that's because they were the only one's fully innocent before God before Christ came, etc, and that sometimes, even He feels the very same way about animals that we do, etc, or at least, I'd like to think so, etc...

Anyway...?

Please tell me more about these plans, etc...?

God Bless!

Oh, and it is not because they are cute and furry that I love them most of the time, if that's not already obvious by what I just said, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Human morality is greatly dependent on the condition of the world right now, and if the world went to pot, etc, humanities true morality would surface, etc, and in a situation like that, etc, if I ever had to kill another human being in self-defense, etc, you would not catch me saying a prayer about it, or praying over them, etc, but if I had to kill an animal for food, etc, in a situation like that, etc, you would catch me saying a prayer over them before I had to eat them, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Human morality is greatly dependent on the condition of the world right now, and if the world went to pot, etc, humanities true morality would surface, etc, and in a situation like that, etc, if I ever had to kill another human being in self-defense, etc, you would not catch me saying a prayer about it, or praying over them, etc, but if I had to kill an animal for food, etc, in a situation like that, etc, you would catch me saying a prayer over them before I had to eat them, etc...

God Bless!

In my view, morality born out of privilege, isn't any kind of true morality at all, and right now, that is the only kind of true morality human beings have, etc, but that is not so with animals in the animal kingdom, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Aryeh Jay]

There have been numerous attempts to ending hunger. More often than not most of the money ends up in the hands of the entity running the program and most of the food that actually arrives in the area ends up with a local warlord. So at the end of the day we get to go to sleep feeling like we did our part in improving the lives of people and the people we think we are helping get to go to sleep hungry.

 

[Neogaia777]

In my view, morality born out of privilege, isn't any kind of true morality at all, and right now, that is the only kind of true morality human beings have, etc, but that is not so with animals in the animal kingdom, etc...

God Bless!

You should all feel very, very lucky that I do not base my morality on these things, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I'm a huge animal lover. I must even confess that I probably love animals more than I do most people.
I love cats, dogs, just about anything cute and furry.

But I once heard that all it would take is about 30 billion dollars a year and we'd end world hunger but americans
alone spend 30 billion a year on pet food (dog/cat).

So we are essentially choosing to take care of dogs and cats more than our fellow human beings.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this? Do you think God would be displeased that we care more and spend more money
on our own dogs and cats than we do for hungry and dying human beings?

Also, my part time pastor has 2 cats and spends more time with them than he does with his actual congregation because
he spends 0 time with us. He's not a bad guy. I do like him still, and I realize he's just part-time cuz that's all the church
can afford to pay him but I find it odd that he actually spends more time, energy, and money on his cats than he does his
own sheep at church. Is this concerning?

God gave us dogs and cats. He made them specifically to be dependent on humans. They are naturally loving and attracted to humans for a reason. It is absolutely possible for someone to love humans and also love their pets.
Now to the crux of your post, a part time Pastor. I can't imagine there is such a thing as being " part time" when a Pastoral position requires a lifetime commitment. Always on call and available for their flock. I believe the church Elders are at fault and the Pastor does not take his commitment seriously. You can't lead a congregation part time! This is the real problem, not pets.
Blessings.

 

[Desk trauma]

But I once heard that all it would take is about 30 billion dollars a year and we'd end world hunger but americans
alone spend 30 billion a year on pet food (dog/cat).

So we are essentially choosing to take care of dogs and cats more than our fellow human beings.

The US also spends $40 billion on lawn care, $32 billion on Starbucks....

 

[Aryeh Jay]

The US also spends $40 billion on lawn care, $32 billion on Starbucks....

They can have my venti white chocolate/hazelnut mocha frappuccino when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

Just kidding, I hate coffee.

 

[Neogaia777]

The US also spends $40 billion on lawn care, $32 billion on Starbucks....

People go without their Starbucks to end world hunger???

Are you crazy, or completely off your rocker???

People everywhere should go without any pets instead, and ther pets should all go without food instead, because that's much more reasonable, etc...

The insanity of humanity, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

In a way, the true morality of humanity is already showing, etc, because people are not going to go without anything in order to help those that don't have, etc, and that is just only one small facet of the true morality of humanity, etc...

The animal kingdom does not always behave like this though, or however, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Clare73]

I'm a huge animal lover. I must even confess that I probably love animals more than I do most people.
I love cats, dogs, just about anything cute and furry.

But I once heard that all it would take is about 30 billion dollars a year and we'd end world hunger but americans
alone spend 30 billion a year on pet food (dog/cat).

So we are essentially choosing to take care of dogs and cats more than our fellow human beings.

The correlation is assumptive, not factual.

All pets ceasing to exist does not mean world hunger would be eliminated. . .nor anything else resolved.

 

[Neogaia777]

In a way, the true morality of humanity is already showing, etc, because people are not going to go without anything in order to help those that don't have, etc, and that is just only one small facet of the true morality of humanity, etc...

The animal kingdom does not always behave like this though, or however, etc...

God Bless!

The minute it becomes a major sacrifice for them, they bail, or jump ship, etc...

Like I said, it is all based on the current condtion(s), or current priveledge(s), etc...

And other than that, or if you take those away, all of humanity has no morality, basically, etc...

They are and/or become, way much more worse than animals, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

The correlation is assumptive, not factual.

All pets ceasing to exist does not mean world hunger would be eliminated. . .nor anything else resolved.

I think they are jealous of my pets, etc.

Yet another ugliness that exists in humanity, etc.

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

God gave us dogs and cats. He made them specifically to be dependent on humans. They are naturally loving and attracted to humans for a reason. It is absolutely possible for someone to love humans and also love their pets.
Now to the crux of your post, a part time Pastor. I can't imagine there is such a thing as being " part time" when a Pastoral position requires a lifetime commitment. Always on call and available for their flock. I believe the church Elders are at fault and the Pastor does not take his commitment seriously. You can't lead a congregation part time! This is the real problem, not pets.
Blessings.

It is a full time job, although it may not seem that way to them, etc.

God Bless!

 

[keith99]

The US also spends $40 billion on lawn care, $32 billion on Starbucks....

How much is spent on home security systems?

When I had my dogs they were a far better system. They went off before someone could break in. Far better than a gun since they were target seeking and would not kill the kid when he came home from sneaking out (but did alert us!).

They also had a feature that no home security system had, they would discourage unwanted door to door salesmen.

They would still cost under $2.50 per day for the pair. Far less than cable TV and far better company.

 

[FireDragon76]

God gave us dogs and cats. He made them specifically to be dependent on humans. They are naturally loving and attracted to humans for a reason. It is absolutely possible for someone to love humans and also love their pets.
Now to the crux of your post, a part time Pastor. I can't imagine there is such a thing as being " part time" when a Pastoral position requires a lifetime commitment. Always on call and available for their flock. I believe the church Elders are at fault and the Pastor does not take his commitment seriously. You can't lead a congregation part time! This is the real problem, not pets.
Blessings.

God didn't give people dogs and cats, they were domesticated through a long evolutionary process. Cats in particular were initially tolerated because they kept down rodent population in granaries in the ancient Near East. There were not so much pets as symbiants. Only later did cats start actually becoming emotionally attached to human beings.

Most people now days in the US prefer pets because they are lonely and lack the social skills to have alot of friends, and/or they live physically isolated lives.

 

[Neogaia777]

God didn't give people dogs and cats, they were domesticated through a long evolutionary process. Cats in particular were initially tolerated because they kept down rodent population in granaries in the ancient Near East. There were not so much pets as symbiants. Only later did cats start actually becoming emotionally attached to human beings.

Most people now days in the US prefer pets because they are lonely and lack the social skills to have alot of friends, and/or they live physically isolated lives.

I love cats and dogs, and was raised with both, etc, but have two cats out of necessity right now, as it's not very practical for me where I live right now to have to take a dog to go out potty, etc...

But, yes, we did domesticate them, but there was an inherent love there all along, etc...

Much of the animal kingdom is still much more moral than us, when you strip us all down, or take all of our priveledges away from us, etc...

God Bless!

 

[ViaCrucis]

I'm a huge animal lover. I must even confess that I probably love animals more than I do most people.
I love cats, dogs, just about anything cute and furry.

But I once heard that all it would take is about 30 billion dollars a year and we'd end world hunger but americans
alone spend 30 billion a year on pet food (dog/cat).

So we are essentially choosing to take care of dogs and cats more than our fellow human beings.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this? Do you think God would be displeased that we care more and spend more money
on our own dogs and cats than we do for hungry and dying human beings?

Also, my part time pastor has 2 cats and spends more time with them than he does with his actual congregation because
he spends 0 time with us. He's not a bad guy. I do like him still, and I realize he's just part-time cuz that's all the church
can afford to pay him but I find it odd that he actually spends more time, energy, and money on his cats than he does his
own sheep at church. Is this concerning?

If world hunger could be solved with 30 billion dollars, then it begs the question why some people have more than 30 billion dollars or why the world's most wealthy and powerful governments don't spend the money to truly address world hunger.

For one, it's certainly far more complicated than that. Assuming the 30 billion dollar figure is true, it's still going to be more complicated than just having the money and spending it.

For another, why does the US government spend 30 times more than that every year on the military, there is a truly exorbitant amount of money that goes into military spending that far exceeds what any other nation spends, an absurd amount of money. We could cut military spending by half and we'd still be spending more than any other country, we'd still have the world's strongest military.

That I'm over here buying food for my dog isn't the problem, morally, as it pertains to the needs of the hungry. That those with the wealth and the power and the means do nearly nothing is the issue--and that's always been the issue throughout history. Wealth and power are in the hands of the very few, while the majority struggle to survive.

Passing the buck to the little people who are struggling to get by is just an example of the tools the powerful use to absolve themselves of responsibility.

-CryptoLutheran