By: Obed Pineda
Equality. This has been the word that has prompted an array of protests, movements, and demands for societal change in the world lately. On the surface, it has an appearance of a fight for social justice that seeks to bring balance and peace to the world. Upon closer inspection, however, one will soon realize that what may have begun as a noble cause for social justice has quickly been denigrated into a mockery. The battle for gender equality is now a moot point since the most recent debate has been that a person’s gender is “nonbinary.” Proponents who favor this argument are proposing that a person’s gender is not exclusive to male and female, erroneously claiming that being “labeled” (their words, not mine) as either gender is nothing more than a social construct. The reality of this perplexing movement is that it has achieved nothing more than to create so much confusion in our current world, that many today tragically do not know how to answer the question, “What is a woman?” Truth be told, the fact that such a simple answer as, “Someone who is not a man,” evades the minds of those who do not “know” how to answer the question unveils the rebellious heart possessed by them. This is because the reality is not that they are unable to tell the difference between a man and a woman, but that they just refuse to accept God’s design of His creation (cf. Romans 1:20-23). Further proof that the battle for equality has been severely diluted by a disoriented state of mind is the attempt of elevating domestic animals to a human being’s level. Recently, there have been news reports of several wealthy men and women who have decided to leave their entire estates to their cat or dog following their death, in lieu of their own human children. The lunacy of these situations are amplified when it is revealed that the deceased’s will actually has to be disputed in a courtroom! In other words, it is normal in today’s lifetime for a human being to take a cat to court, and sue it for riches it does not even understand it possesses. The mockery of modern civilization’s definition of equality is further enlightened when it is learned that there are human lawyers willing to represent an animal as their “client” in a courtroom. This author admits that he wonders when he reads these types of articles if the lawyer representing the cat in its legal battle, actually agrees to be paid in catnip for his or her legal services? It is flabbergasting that humanity fails to comprehend that treating animals as if they were human beings dehumanizes mankind as a whole. Still, with examples such as this one illustrating how there are individuals who believe that animals are equal with humans, it will not be surprising when the question, “What is an animal,” will also no longer be an easy question to explain. Although it is comical to imagine a dog barking commands to its human attorney, the reality is that it is not a laughing matter when it is discovered that this is a direct assault on God’s established sequence of natural order (cf. Genesis 1:26-28). Once again, it is not that man is unaware of lowering a human being’s worth in creation, but instead it is more proof of man’s blatant rejection of God’s design (cf. Romans 1:24-25). Additionally, the world’s passionate reaction to the death of pet, but displayed apathy toward the shedding of innocent blood (i.e. abortion) demonstrates how thick the clouds of confusion are at the moment in this lifetime. What a travesty when the life of a domestic animal is valued over the life of an innocent, unborn child. Yet, one must not be taken aback by how much society has regressed in basic principles because it is not the first time mankind has done this. After the prophet Jonah had become incensed with God because the Assyrian capital of Nineveh would be spared from destruction, “the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose,, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself,, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’and he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death” (Jonah 4:6-9)! Jonah’s strong desire for vengeance against the enemies of his people had engulfed him in a dense disorienting cloud causing him to forget who God truly is (cf. Luke 9:51-56). Like today’s world, Jonah had more compassion for a plant than a “great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left – and much livestock” (Jonah 4:11). Biblical scholars state that God’s description of the thousands who were unable to distinguish their right hand from their left refers to mental infancy. It is surmised that God was bringing to Jonah’s attention the enormous amount of children’s lives that would be lost before a fair chance was granted to the fathers to turn away from their wickedness, sparing the bloodshed of the innocent. Therefore, Jonah’s inhumane rage against Nineveh enveloped him and was transforming him into the very beings he detested. Remember that Holy Writ refers to Nineveh’s violent and atrocious tendencies by lamenting, “Woe to the bloody city! It is full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs” (Nahum 3:1). It is valuable to note that what caused the prophet to value a plant’s existence over human existence was replacing God’s will with his own (cf. Jonah 4:1-5). This is the same source that is provoking much of society’s moral disorientation today because “for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (1st Corinthians 14:33). The irony of the sinful transgressions that have taken place in modern times is that mankind wrongfully blames God for the chaos that has been ushered in by the erred philosophies concocted and espoused by them. Observing these dreadful circumstances unfold in our current civilization truly sheds light on the meaning of walking “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17a-19).