I think most people will agree with me--that finding someone from your alma mater voicing principles that are meaningful to you is quite wonderful and perhaps even amazing. Because--to my knowledge--my alma mater, Duquesne University, is NOT an institution of learning that has any programs to address the need and concern of alleviating animal suffering. However, it has been mine since 1975 when a wonderful little dog, Peaches, came into my life.
And so today, I happily read a wonderful post by Professor Ryan MacLauglin on AllCreatures.com. He is also a Duquesne alumnus who had earned a PhD in Theology from Duquesne University in 2013. For someone who disappointingly looks to the Catholic Church for what obviously is a a non-existing doctrine of compassion for animals, this post made me happy and gave me a glimmer of hope.
Someone other than myself from Duquesne is concerned about animals. And this someone had a great deal more clout and credentials than myself.
Happily, I also now recall a writer who took to task Thomas Aquinas who said animals were made for our use. I'm sorry I have forgotten his name, but I certainly wholeheartedly agreed with his denunciation of Thomas Aquinas views re animals.
In December 2017 SARX, a Christian animal-welfare entity, wrote about Professor Ryan and its first paragraph deserves quoting:
"Professor Ryan McLaughlin, lecturer of theology at Siena College, New York, explains how the biblical concept of 'dominion' necessitates eating a meat-free diet. Exercising the 'dominion' entailed by bearing the 'image of God' means non violence. It is therefore not 'dominion' or the 'image of God' that justifies hunting, eating, and wearing other animals. Doing these things embraces the non-ideal of 'fear' and 'violence.'"
I hope that this small introduction to Professor Ryan will have you turning to the 11-page post, which I believe deserves reading. If you agree, you will find the post at All-Creatures.org under the title --"A Meatless Dominion/ Animals: Tradition-Philosophy".
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