Who're you callin' an animal?

Over the last couple of years, I have seen a increasing number of videos posted on the web, that show the amazing capacity of dogs to show love and compassion. In one video, a dog blocks highway traffic to protect another dog whom has been injured. Dogs protect their owners. And the babies of their owners. Dogs protect each other and in the case of search and rescue dogs, people they don't even know.

The only times that these dogs get upset or frustrated, is when they don't have the resources to do more. These magnificent creatures will risk their own lives and go to whatever lengths are in their ability to protect and save their charges. They have no promise of monetary reward. There is no outside agency that motivates them. They don't crave media recognition. They won't be going on a speaking tour, or given endorsement deals. They do it for love. Isn't that incredible?

In a lot of religious traditions, these heroic creatures are considered to not have a "soul" and therefore, cannot go to "heaven." First of all, I wouldn't want to go to a "heaven" that didn't include dogs. They are better "people" than most of the people I know.

Now, when there are "people" who refuse to use the resources they have (By the way, those resources are given to them by us!) to help others who are sick or poor, they have made themselves much, much less than any dog. Any. Dog. The same dogs that, by their religious beliefs, are not allowed into "heaven". A dog will use ALL of the resources it has, and go beyond, to help. When all along, there are "people" who refuse to help others, even though they have virtually unlimited resources (that they were given by US, the taxpayer), and they refuse to use them, insisting instead to give them to the rich and comfortable.

I think this demonstrates perfectly, who does and does not have a soul.
It shows without a shadow of a doubt who will and who will not get into "heaven."
It proves to me who deserves to be called an Animal.

Baby Steps...

ZPG bees.

Jan 12th, 2012 by Vince Curran
Okay, here's my confession.  Well, it's not really my confession, but my parents’.  My parents, like most Irish Catholic parents, or any kind of American Christian parents, had a large family.  In my family.  There were seven kids.  And that was only one set of twins.  In the grand scheme of things.  Having kids, or at least having a lot of kids, is one of the worst ecological disasters, you can inflict on our planet.  And inflict we did.  I was the first in 1955.  I can say with a certain amount of pride, even though it wasn't up to me, or my parents, we didn't use any disposable diapers.  The primary reason is they didn't exist yet.  Back in those days, you used cloth diapers, and usually contracted a diaper service.  Ours was “Tidy-Didy Diaper Service”, and the driver who came to our house to pick up the diapers and deliver the clean ones, actually wore a Pith-Helmet.  No kidding!  A Pith helmet.  How funny is that?

So, at least for the first five of us born between 1955 in 1961, we didn't use any disposable diapers, a huge ecological problem.  The other thing about children is they tend to become the same type of consumers their parents were.  If the parents are huge meat eaters, the kids probably will be too.  If the parents needed new clothes every week, guess what?  If the parents drive huge cars, the kids probably will too.  If the family had a huge Kentucky bluegrass lawn, that tradition will probably be carried on over and over and over.  The best thing you can do for the planet is to reduce, reuse, recycle.

Reduce the number of kids you have.  Please!

Reuse.  Okay, I know this is using the word little out of context, but there are plenty of children around the world who are already born, and need a home with loving parents.  Adopt!
This is sort of Recycle also, granted, not in the traditional sense.

I have to say, that our family, my siblings and I, have worked to try to balance out the population growth caused by my parents.  My wife and I both decided we wouldn't have any children.  My sister has two daughters, both adopted.  My next brother, no children.  The next two, the twins, have five children between them.  And finally, no children from my last two brothers, either.  A net gain of new people on this planet, minus two.  Not bad for an Irish Catholic family, huh?

Baby Steps...

(originally appeared in Denver Green Streets.com Jan 12th, 2012 by Vince Curran