Pet Dog Walks Bride Up the Aisle

The BBC reported recently that Sonia Wilde, 29, will "walk down the aisle in Stockport, Greater Manchester with the Collie cross, Lucy Brown, at her side. The three-year old will even be dressed in a pink frilly dress and bonnet for the service at St. Mathew's Church" (Link).

Chuckles aside, the fact that a bride would want, and the Anglican Church of England support, a canine taking the place of a human, in what is supposed to be a solemn procession, is emblematic of what is actually a serious concern. I personally know several women, (one an executive who speaks several languages and graduated from Yale) that when asked if they had children replied with all seriousness, "no, we have dogs instead". One of these ladies produced a wallet sized picture of "her kids".

Related to this, I recently overheard a telephone conversation of a colleague who became very emotional about the medical condition of "her baby". Her voice quaked as she described the tests that needed to be performed, the hours she was preparing to take off work, and the many arrangements she was making for what I assumed to be her child's welfare. My heart went out to her until, finally, it became apparent that her "baby" was in fact a poodle.

Now don't get me wrong. I love animals. I grieve and admit to even crying when one of my pets dies. But something is amiss when animals are elevated to the stature of human beings, which I see happening more and more. Though anecdotal, when women especially are asked who they would save if they could only choose one, a stranger or their dog, most choose their dog over a fellow human being. There is something gravely wrong with this.

What kind of soul would let another human being perish to save their pet? The answer is a soul that's been treated like and instructed over and over again, in school textbooks, on the university campus, on TV and throughout pop culture, that people are merely the product of evolution, that there's nothing particularly special about us, except perhaps the size of our brains, which arguably causes as many problems as it does benefits. Just look at the way we've ruined the environment and the harm that we inflict on one another. By contrast, animals, and domestic pets particularly, are environmentally friendly, easy to care for, have no emotional baggage, are unconditionally loving, loyal, and ask nothing in return. On the merits, why shouldn't we love and value our pets more than people?

There's only one reason. Because of God. Because He's said we are created in His image, have been afforded a value and nobility far above His other creatures, and are destined for eternity. Reject this and there is no other reason to value humanity over our fellow creatures. Reject God and love is redirected. Correction. It is mis-directed, first away from God, then away from each other. That is why I am not chuckling at Sonia Wilde choosing a dog to be her bridesmaid.