For The Love Of Fido!
By Brad Thayer July 28, 2007
One of the growing phenomenon of our culture is our love for pets. For the past two Saturdays I’ve been working in Corydon, IN, which is about a forty-five minute commute. So I’ve been able to listen to all of NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. Two stories, one from today and one from last week, have illustrated just how much our culture has elevated the pet’s status and role in the home.
Today’s story comes from Roanoke, VA where the community is in the process of relocating a 20-30 year old pet cemetery. But before the relocation can proceed The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals interceded on behalf of the pets. This organization thought is was only fitting to contact the pets’ owners to inform them of where their pets’ “final resting place would be.” By informing the owners they are helping maintain the relational bond between owner and pet.
The second story is a little more…..Well, I’m not exactly sure how you would describe it. Entertaining, sad, unbelievable!? The state of Wisconsin is considering legislation that would set custody guidelines for pets in divorce cases. According to the report, there is a growing request from divorcing couples that the judge rule on the custody of their pet(s). If this legislation passes, the guidelines would be equal to that of child custody, e.g. weekend visitation rights, mandatory return times, etc. (There is a very comical story about a man that returned his dog to his ex-wife only after feeding it a pack of bratwurst.)
I think these stories illustrate and remind us of a sad reality in our culture: The family as we know it is continually redefined as something other than the husband/father, wife/mother, son/brother, and daughter/sister relationship. In many cases couples are choosing between having children or pets. Family vacations now consist of planning “pet-friendly activities.” All of this is another indicator that the created order is turned upside down because of sin. The family that is intended to reflect the character and relationship of the Triune God has become dysfunctional and distorted. As we continue in our Family Matters course we need to remember how God has ordered the family and how he receives glory from that ordering.