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4.5
What does it take to change? I know for many vegetarians it was reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. For me, animal lover, yet ardent meat eater and fox hunter, it was a gradual process that led me to the point I am now, most closely allied with the Jains of India who kill nothing, a blend of the eastern religions which speak of higher spiritual evolution through pacifism. One doesn't, however, arrive at such a point in life without help, so I say thank you to Matthew Scully author of Dominion.Why, Matthew Scully asks, is cruelty to a puppy appalling and cruelty to anonymous livestock or laboratory animals by the billions a matter of social indifference? This is the kind of question that erudite and compassionate Scully raises within the 400 pages of Dominion, in prose so beautiful you want to read it over and over experiencing his sense of kindness, intelligence, and logic, realizing that never once does he come across as self-righteous even in the midst of painting a picture of appalling cruelty. Be forewarned, however, certain chapters are not for the faint of heart. Although first published in 2002, I didn't read Dominion until 2006, but it is easily the best book I read in 2006, both in content and in style. I would urge any student of literature to leaf through enjoying Scully's beautiful command of language, and animal advocates will cheer his thorough research and extensive knowledge of the subject.Matthew Scully, ex-speech writer for President George W. Bush, is a Christian conservative. As such, one might think he offers at best a new perspective beside the many books already written on the subject of animal exploitation, and at worst, assuming his motives are political or economic, nothing. Yet as a Christian, Scully shows us the true meaning of the word, not what the extreme right, in co-opting the term for their personal agenda, has done with it:"Many of today's cruelties come at the hands of people quick to identify themselves as good Christian folk. It is galling. If the exercise of examining the words of the Bible will at least spare us the sanctimonious airs of those who wantonly kill or mistreat animals, as if beckoned ever onward into field, forest, or factory farm by the Good Lord himself, that would be a small victory."As a conservative and realist, Scully offers the hope that maybe, if animal activism is not limited to the hands of liberals and leftists, the plight of so many animals suffering needlessly will be taken seriously by more people."If reason and morality are what set humans apart from animals, then reason and morality must always guide us in how we treat them."The result is a prose and plea written from the heart and stemming from the same conditions prompting anyone else, liberal or conservative, to write a book on behalf of animals: a desire to make animal lives better:"For me it was a simple moral step of extending that vision [appreciation of all animals because of love for a dog] out into the world, for what are dogs but affable emissaries from the animal kingdom?...What gifts they all are if our hearts are inclined in the right way and our vision to the right angle--seeing animals as they are apart from our designs upon them... Go into the largest livestock operation, search out the darkest and tiniest stall or pen, single out the filthiest, most forlorn little lamb or pig or calf, and that is one of God's creatures you're looking at, morally indistinguishable from your beloved Fluffy or Frisky.Scully may be faulted by many who believe animals are our equal for his and the theistic contention that humans have dominion over animals, but this is his call for mercy. For those of us who see animals as not only equal, but often surpassing us in emotional intelligence, we cannot deny that animals still have no voice in our government, hence no say to stop current atrocities. And as Scully points out:"Animal advocates sometimes speak a language of liberation bearing little resemblance to the world that animals actually inhabit, or to our own world for that matter... Much as I admire anyone who bothers to take the matter seriously, some theorists, at least in their more abstract arguments, miss a crucial point by assuming that to be cared for a creature must somehow be made our equal, which isn't even true in our human affairs, where often those we love most are the weak and vulnerable."Scully has remarkable grasp of the issues and looks in depth at many major industries including factory farming, whaling, big game hunting, the fur industry, zoos and animals used for experimentation in laboratories. There are passages such as one about a mother elephant and her calf that are so powerful, so moving I can't even now recall them without feeling tears well in my eyes, a lump in my throat and strong indignation rising. But Matthew Scully opposes violence, asking instead that we educate ourselves about the practices being conducted, quite legally, around us. Then there are other passages whose sheer sarcastic brilliance is surely lost on the very people to whom they are directed. There are passages so graphic and heartrending they will, if one has half a conscience, urge some form of committed action on behalf of the animals. And then there is his unshakeable logic:This always surprises me. If you express concern for the fur bearer in question, his or her paw all but severed by the time the trapper comes along for the forking bludgeoning, or huddled for its entire life in a tiny cage in 32-degree temperatures--why, then, you must be one of those ridiculous, killjoy fanatics. A bore. But rise in furious defense of a coat--now there's the mark of a serious man. Likewise, express qualms about some little delicacy like foie gras--fifteen thousand tons of the stuff eaten every year in France alone, all of it obtained by forcing a metal pipe down the ducks' throats and pumping in pounds of food until their livers are grotesquely enlarged--and that makes you petty and trifling and sentimental, and why don't you have your mind on bigger things? But reach for the knife and crackers, never mind the damned duck, and then you're thinking straight. Now, you've got your priorities in order.Nobody likes being preached to, especially about meals and clothing. I sure don't, and most of us who worry about animal welfare have learned to let the point go. But spare us the haughty airs. If moral seriousness is the standard, I for one would rather be standing between duck and knife than going to the mat in angry defense of a table treat.In fact, let us just call things what they are. When a man's love of finery clouds his moral judgment, that is vanity. When he lets a demanding palate make his moral choices, that is gluttony. When he ascribes the divine will to his own whims, that is pride. And when he gets angry at being reminded of animal suffering that his own daily choices might help avoid, that is moral cowardice."Read Dominion for Scully's elegant prose and comprehensive research. For those of us working to help amend such industries as factory farming, the book is an excellent resource. Scully reminds us that instead of worrying about cruelty, we serve best if we begin by doing something about it. This can be as seemingly insignificant as speaking honestly our beliefs that animals are sentient beings, or perhaps deciding not to eat meat. Aside from that you can buy copies of Dominion and hand them out to all who'll accept.Review first published in THE ECHO magazine.Flash's Song: How One Small Dog Turned into One Big Miracle
