Are people animals?

My kids love pets; cute little animals that they feed and love. Unfortunately, their pets are usually killed, maimed, or missing in a matter of time. In spite of the fact that their furry little friends’ demise seems inevitable, they still continue to want one—or two. My kids aren't too dissimilar to most kids (and some adults); pets can be fun to have around. However, what makes you different from your pet? Your job? If that’s the case, some of our children need to be reclassified. Is it the fact that we wear clothes and use technology? Truth is those aren't the things that make us human and our pets animals.

I read an article not too long ago that listed seven signs humans are domesticated animals. The author went on to describe them:

1. We survive due to agriculture

2. Population crashes become common

3. Our jaws are small and rounded

4. Diseases cause more injury than war

5. Humans socialize like dogs

6. Humans look and act like children

7. Many adults can digest milk

These were the topic subtitles in the article that published last summer that assumed these were incontestable proofs that we are simply domesticated animals. Articles like this one are not uncommon. There are dozens, hundreds, probably thousands of articles that want us to stand in awe of the evidence that humans are simply advanced animals. The entire premise is based on the theory of evolution.

Assuming you've evolved from a squid, or a lima bean, or a chimp, can cause a person to question how important life really is. In fact, one evolutionist explained our propensity to overrun and/or pollute an environment by saying, “Humans share that honor with other invasive species, including extinct animals like trilobites, as well as living ones like rats, crows, cockroaches and more. Invasive species have roamed across the Earth since life began. Humans are about as special as dirty little rodents, scampering between walls in search of some garbage to eat.”

Darwin wrote about this in one of his lesser-known works, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Today, hundreds of scientific studies claimed to have solid evidence that animals from chimps to rats share the same kinds of emotions and motivations that we do.

These could very well be the same folks who want to make sure that you have a positive self-image before you graduate high school. It seems destructive to a society to consistently brainwash those listening to think of themselves and other people as dirty cockroaches.

So what does God say about the pinnacle of his creation? Genesis 1:24-26, “Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.’ And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’”

To God there is a clear distinction between all animals and humans. And for that reason, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever would believe on his name would not perish…” (John 3:16). So how will the animals believe? It seems clear that we’re not spreading the Gospel to our pets, but to our friends and family. We share hope with strangers and even enemies within the human race. People who will be destroyed on the earth at the Day of Judgment if they do not believe in and trust God.

The urgency is that we need to make sure we think of people as created in the image of God, and encourage others to think of themselves that way as well. And since they are at the pinnacle of God’s creation, they need to hear the saving message that only comes by God —their creator. They are the ones we have to think enough about to give them the hope of Jesus Christ. The more mankind regards their peers as nothing more than domesticated animals, the less they’ll be thinking about being the bearer of The Good News that saves souls.