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1. Poor old Trapper. He's a dog. Why on earth did he finish up getting the ban because of the ignorant behaviour of his owner and the vicar who thought that giving him a Communion wafer was OK. They might as well have given Trapper a tax-return to fill in. Again....he's a dog!
   Both the vicar and his owner should have been sat down by the bishop and given a run-down on the differences between dogs and people. In that incident, they ignorantly treated a dog as if he were a person.
   I'm sure Trapper is a fine dog. He just had the bad luck to come up against a couple of people who put him in a stupid position. The bishop should be targeting them, not the dog.

   Posted By: Marie H, Brisbane Q'ld

2. 'Give not what is holy to dogs'. (Matt 7;6) What else can be said?

   Posted By: Stan Harris Sun Valley California

3. Let's hope the three of them don't jump ship and we get landed with them.
   This appears to be a 'dog eats dog' situation and we have enough problems as it is.
   

   Posted By: L Newington Bendigo Victoria

4. Absolutely right, Marie H! And the big difference, in this case between people and dogs may well be that dogs are not fallen, only people are. Only people need the redeeming life of Christ. Dogs are already perfect!

   Posted By: Joan Seymour Albion, Vic.

5. Well said, Joan. Poor old Trapper must be the first dog to be the subject of religious abuse! The RSPCA should take him and find him a new home with sensible people.

   Posted By: Marie H, Brisbane Qld

6. At least in that church it is only a wafer.

   Posted By: paul monagle

7. Is Trapper perhaps The Hound of Heaven?

   Posted By: James Evans Adelaide

8. I appreciate the sentiment behind Marie H.'s post and I liked Joan Seymour’s corrective, but I'd like to go further. Marie H. writes 'they ignorantly treated a dog as if he were a person'.
   I think this is an unfortunate turn of phrase and may be wrong on two grounds.
   First, it might not have been ignorance that prompted the spontaneous gesture - it might in fact have been a deliberately inclusive embrace of all creation. That may not be an orthodox approach but it’s certainly one that could rest on some intelligent premises. Second, though a dog is not a “human person', he or she can reasonably be seen and appreciated as a “canine person'. Mammals, especially, demonstrate intelligent and emotionally responsive self-ness, which is the operational essence of person-ness.
   Indeed I think the refusal of personhood to animals - in our thinking - has played a large part in encouraging the often dismissive and cruel way humans treat (other) animals, and the recognition of existential equivalence to them lies at the heart of a new (or perhaps very old) awareness of creation that is not anthropocentric.
   I think Francis of Assisi had a similar insight.
   Some might insist on a traditional doctrine or attitude, but I draw readers' attention to the works of Andrew Linzey for a refreshing theological perspective on our fellow creatures.

   Posted By: smk, Bundarra

9. Smk: St Francis said no such thing. There is no “existential equivalence” between man and any created thing. The most appalling thing about our society today is that although cruelty to animals is regarded as absolute evil, with many even pretending that animals are persons and treating them as such, many ignore or even deny the personhood of many of their fellow men, even wantonly killing innocent persons and claiming a “right” to do so.

   Posted By: Peter G Thornleigh

10. I won't quibble about what Francis might have or not have said, since we only have second hand reports.
    But I think what I said about his inclusive attitude stands: St Bonaventure wrote that Francis 'called creatures no matter how small by the name of brother and sister because he knew they had the same source as himself'.
    Andrew Linzey stresses that Francis' appreciation of animals was thus ontological not aesthetic, nor emotional. He certainly appears to have had, in his speaking to animals, (see the Little Flowers of St Francis) some significant measure of respect and acknowledgement of them as individuals able to be spoken to and treated with dignity. I think this is food for thought and a model for emulation.
    I agree that if we always treated all our fellow human persons with dignity, especially any we recognise as “innocent”, we would have a very different world (no killing etc.) However I do not agree that cruelty to animals is regarded as an absolute evil. The facts contradict this. Many people continue to regard animals as simply commodities and units of consumption and my point arises from this: animals are individual beings in their own right and deserve a fair ethical regard. Thinking of them as persons is, I think, a key in finally understanding that we need to interact and respect them better. (I understand this approach lies at the heart of the principal argument against abortion.)
    Again I recommend the works of Andrew Linzey for consideration.

    Posted By: smk, bundarra

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