The other day a dog was awarded a VC – or its canine equivalent. And deservedly so. But why was it not a proper VC, the sort a man has pinned to his chest? The answer is of course that a man is different from a dog. A man is able to think as well as show his loyalty to a person or a cause. And a man has hands, so that he is able to get things done. Advertisers may tell us that a dog has a hand – its mouth. A dog picks up a ball – with its mouth. A dog brings in the evening paper – with its mouth. But we all know this is playing with words. A dog is different from a man. Some time ago a man was accused of committing a murder. In a zoo he had shot an ape that was – or appeared to be – threatening a child that had got into its enclosure. But reprehensible as it may be, killing an animal is not the same as killing a man.
What makes a man (and the term may be understood to include woman; see the derivation of the word ‘woman’) different from the rest of creation? In humanist terms, that is, in thinking that takes no account of any supernatural perspective, a man has in the course of evolution developed possibilities denied to other creatures. Amongst other things he has learned to become proficient in productivity, in innovation, in analysis of abstract questions. He has also created ideas of what it is to be good and to serve ends beyond himself.
‘What is a man?’ pondered Hamlet, ‘if his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast. no more…’ And he goes on to say that our maker gave us unusual gifts so that we might make good use of them. Disraeli asked whether man was an ape or an angel and said he was on the side of the angels. A debating point maybe but it suggests a serious choice none the less.
And that choice is important in our innovative society. There is an absence of any general agreement that a man is more than a dog. The Christian faith has to take something other than that for its starting-point. It does so. It claims that humans are unique creatures in God’s scheme. Moreover humans need and can choose the redemption that Christ offers.
And let’s agree that every dog must have his day and every dog must know his place.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.
Comentários