OBLIGATE CARNIVOR: GOD-AS-PET; GOD-AS-SCAVENGER..?

BIBLE STUDY 101

:

ST. MARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

"Well, 

we have (holy) Spirit as in with a big "S" and we have (holy) spirit as in with a little "s"..?"

~(Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts:  Senior Pastor St. Mark UMC)~

"Beth, 

you do you realize that Spirit as in with a big "S" and spirit as in with a little "s" translates into

GOD

 as in with a big "G" and god as in with a little "g"?"

~(Simply Jim)~

"...(silence)..."

~(Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts:  Senior Pastor St. Mark UMC)~

"Well fine then!  

If you are wanting to believe we have a God then we have a God; 

YOURS!

Why complicate things dragging one of my own into this..?!"

~(Simply Jim)~

Most of us are familiar with the tales of the reclusive cat lover who died in a locked house or apartment and whose starving cats began to consume her body. Often it is viewed as her just desserts - to be consumed by the animals whose company she valued over human company - and excused as an act of desperation by her pets.

More recently, soldiers in Najaf, Fallujah, Bosnia and other war-torn regions have brought back tales of feral cats eating bodies of the fallen. Some of these veterans have been so disturbed by the sight that they have developed an irrational fear or hatred of friendly pet cats back home.

What is so horrifying about the sight, or even thought, of cats (or dogs) eating dead humans?

CAT THE PET

In cat-keeping countries, cats are viewed as friendly domestic pets whose predatory instincts have been curbed, eliminated or confined to small prey. They also scavenge from bins and unattended plates. While many owners try to deter these behaviours, they are well aware that cats instinctively hunt and are attracted to fresh carrion. This is the acceptable view of cat the predator and scavenger.

Apart from owners of barn cats and those who profit from kitty-mills, most owners view cats as family members. Some owners erroneously scribe human emotions and motives to their cats (anthropomorphism). Quite how cats relate to humans is debated, but they do not regard us as prey. Cats lick us as they would lick other cats, they play with us and they often cuddle up with us to sleep. Those owners who accept their pets as non-human family members with non-human behaviours would, in general, still not want to think of cats eating the flesh of their caregivers.

CAT THE SCAVENGER

Abandoned and feral cats, especially those is war-torn areas, rarely have regular sources of food. They must scavenge whatever sources of food they find - dustbins, handouts and dead bodies (including their own species). Desperate ferals have been seen eating soiled nappies and sanitary napkins as well as bread, fruit and vegetables that cats cannot digest. Some have resorted to eating earth just to assuage their hunger. Post mortems of feral cats have found some to have stomachs full of insects.

Bodies of larger animals pose problems as the domestic cat's jaws are designed for small prey hence they are most likely to tackle the extremities such as fingers and toes. Although cats normally avoid decomposing flesh to avoid food poisoning, cats with no other options will try to eat a dead body that has begun to rot and soften.

At the 1992 American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in New Orleans, a forensic pathologist stated that individuals living alone sometimes died unexpectedly and unnoticed. He claimed that, in his experience, a pet dog would go for several days before it resorted to eating the owner's body. A pet cat would wait only a day or two. What he didn't mention was that cats are obligate carnivores and, unlike dogs (which are more omnivorous), cats cannot consume other potential foodstuffs that might be lying around the home (fruit, veg, cookies). For a dog, the corpse might be a last resort, but for an obligate carnivore, it may be the first resort

CONCLUSIONS

What makes the thought of cats and dogs eating corpses so horrifying is our inability to reconcile cat-the-pet with cat-the-scavenger at the same time as understanding that our bodies are meat and bone. Despite human technology and culture setting humans apart from "lesser animals", we find it hard that nature treats us all the same after death.

Having sanitised the disposal of our dead, we are shocked at seeing human bodies being consumed by scavengers. We are not shocked at nature documentaries showing scavengers consuming dead beasts, but we are unable to consider a dead human in the same light as a dead antelope.  Most of us want human dead to be treated with dignity, to do otherwise offends our sensibilities.

Even where it is acceptable for scavengers to consume dead human flesh, that practise is made acceptable by rituals. Where consumption by scavengers is not sanctioned by religious beliefs, it is offensive to us.

A PERSONAL VIEW

For my part, I'm not disturbed at the thought of my dead body being consumed by scavengers - after all, my mind and my sense of propriety won't be there to be worried about it. My family, and unrelated well-meaning humans, might be less keen at my remains being treated in what they consider undignified manner. What makes me an individual is my mind, something that will no longer present after death.

http://messybeast.com/cat-eat-man.htm


***

THE LORD GOD ...

has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens-wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.



The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?

Rev. John Turlington is right about our Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts.

"I almost said the graveyard."

  Having arrived late, I had asked him how to get to Beth's bible study class. 

"You go through the playground."

If he almost said it; then he definitely already thought it.

"She's nothing but a walk through the graveyard."