Pets: Is It a Sin to Have Fur Babies?

Warning the following message may be offensive to some audiences. These audiences may include but are not limited to professing Christians who never read their Bible, sissies, sodomites, men with man buns, those who approve of men with man buns, man bun enablers, white knights for men with man buns, homemakers who have finished Netflix but don't know how to meal plan, and people who refer to their pets as fur babies.

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Salvation in Christ Alone and the Coming Judgment

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The issue is that humanity is in sin, and the wrath of Almighty God is hanging over our heads. They will hear His words, they will not act upon them, and when the floods of divine judgment, when the fires of wrath come, they will be consumed and they will perish.

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Jesus is saying there is a group of people who will hear His words, they will act upon them, and when the floods of divine judgment come in that final day, their house will stand.

Why the Podcast Is Addressing Fur Babies

Welcome to Bible Bashed, where we aim to equip the saints for the works of ministry. We're your host, Harrison Kerrig, and pastor Tim Mullett, and today we seek to answer the age-old question, is it a sin to have fur babies?

Now, the reason that we're doing this episode is because over the weekend, I was scrolling through Twitter, and I came across a post that disturbed me to my very core, and it read the following, pizza slice for my wife.

Thank you, God, for putting her in my life and allowing her to love me as her husband. Now, that sounds nice and loving and very heartwarming, especially in this holiday season, until you see the picture that is posted with it, and it is a picture of this man feeding a slice of pizza to his dog with his hands.

I was looking at that, and that was essentially the straw that broke the camel's back, where Tim and I, we were both like, all right, we've got to do an episode talking about pets in our society. It's time to have this conversation.

So, Tim, I guess we'll just start off by asking, okay, so is it a sin to have fur babies, to refer to animals as fur babies or children, essentially?

Yeah, well, it seems like it's been a conversation that's been building for some time, and so let's go there. But yeah, with the question, is it okay to have fur babies, I guess it's one of those questions that could be taken in several different ways, as far as I can tell.

So the first way to take that seems to be the most straightforward way to take it, which is probably not what you're intending by the question, but that is the question, is it wrong to attempt through science to create an animal-human hybrid, right?

How did you know that. That's exactly what I was trying to ask with that question?

I didn't think it was, but I didn't want to delimit that as a possibility. The second one maybe, which I don't think you're intending either, but is the more general question, is it okay to have pets, right?

So is it okay to have fur babies? Is it okay to have pets? Then a third way to take it would be to take it in a way to say, is it okay to call pets fur babies? Is that maybe getting close to where you're going with it?

Yeah, that's probably the closest to what I'm getting at with that kind of question.

Well, then four though would be, is it okay to treat pets like family members?

Uh-huh.

So what do you think? Where do you want to start?

I guess let's start with the post. So the post is about this man treating his dog as his wife. So why don't we start with the family members and work our way down to animal-human hybrid?

Okay, right.

Why Animals Cannot Fill the Role of Family

We'll work across the spectrum.

Yeah, so I don't even know where to start with is it okay to treat pets as family members, but I think I can I guess this is the kind of phenomenon. Maybe we could just step back a bit and then talk about why this is even a question, right?

So obviously we'll start out that way, just why is this even a question we're talking about? So you saw a post of a man referring to his pet as his wife, and in a lot of ways that's it's the kind of thing that I don't know what to make of that, right?

So I don't know if that's like a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing where it's just reflective of some animal lover who is pretty uncautious with his words or something like that, right? And just as reflecting some kind of sentiment like dogs are man's best friend or something along those lines, or maybe he has a troubled marriage or something like that.

It's like old Bessie over here treated me better than my wife ever did. But the thing is it's the kind of thing that it's the kind of question that really in some sense is the kind of question I've been expecting for a while now.

And it's the kind of thing that you've seen building for years and years and years to where we really we live in a world that really does not understand what the purpose of animals are, right? We don't understand how we're supposed to relate to them, I would say.

But then not only society in general, the more that we chuck a Christian worldview and throw it down the drain, essentially I think the more confused we are at this very point. But in the churches, it seems to be just as bad, right?

So like that example you gave, I mean I could multiply examples just like that. So for example, there was a couple at the church I went to last, and I won't tell you their name to protect the guilty. But they posted a picture on Facebook that was essentially a picture of them, the couple and their dog.

And then the dog said had a shirt on it that said Big Sis, right?

And that was

How did we get here, Tim? How did we get here?

Now, all right. So that's not uncommon at all. Like that kind of thing is not uncommon. Just things like that. Now, me and you, we won't say her name, but we counseled a girl who was essentially a high school girl whose parents or basically her dad was long out of the picture and her mom abandoned her and her brother for long periods of time.

And she was essentially starving to death because she spent all of what little money she made from a part-time job trying to feed her brother and her cat. And so I mean that's a sad example. But I mean I think this was this kind of issue was really brought home to me probably about six years ago.

And I was at a funeral of a church member whose husband had died. And her kids, they were coming and they were in the midst of grieving and everything else. But the kids were two single people, both of whom were career people.

So there was a guy who was single and the girl who was single. And then they're in the midst of this funeral and their dad just died. And so they're coming to the house to figure out what to do with their mom and everything else.

And both of them come with they're both single career people and they both come with their pets, right? So they each have their own pet. And so instead of getting married, they're off getting a job and first thing they do is get a pet.

And I mean I've looked at every church I've been at. It seems like young people, the first thing they seem to do is it's like right when they want to start off life, its first impulse seems to be to get a pet before they even get married, right?

So get a pet. And then couples, instead of just getting married and having some sort of expectation you're going to have kids, first thing they do is go out and buy a pet, right? And so it seems like examples like that can be multiplied.

I mean you call Regions Bank, for example, and they have some absurd and obscene kind of whatever that is, call waiting music that's going on that basically is trying to persuade you to get a second mortgage on your home so you can give your furry friend the backyard he deserves.

And I mean it's like we're living in a society right now where we really don't understand what pets are for at all, right? I mean it's just overwhelming. It's obvious. It's like we're in some sense trying to do something with pets that you're supposed to be doing with people, right?

So I mean whether it's just like you have this deep desire for companionship and so you want to get married instead of having a hard time doing that so you go buy a pet or you have a desire to have a child and so instead of doing that you get a pet, right?

As a parent or... And so I mean I think the natural result of all that is obviously going to be at some point to where you're living in a society which blurred those lines to such a degree that now we're asking a question, is it okay to marry your pet, right?

But then the question you're asking is the question, is it okay to treat pets like family members essentially, right? So that's where we'll start. So is it okay to treat pets like family members? And I think this gets at something about the idea of pet in general that seems to me to be inherently problematic, okay?

So it seems like there's a passage in the Bible that seems to be relevant to this as far as I'm concerned. And so if you're listening and you want to open your Bible, open it to Genesis 2 .18. And Genesis 2 .18, it seems like if you want to understand why we're here, why God made us, then there's no easier place to go than Genesis and that's a book of origins essentially.

But then one of the things that's kind of amazing about this passage is that... I mean, Genesis tells you, in the beginning, God made man. He made man in his own image, right? In the beginning, he made him male and female.

If you want to look at our society and see all the things that are wrong with our society, almost at every single point, there's almost like a step-by-step reversal about what's happening in Genesis.

And one of the more interesting things that is happening in Genesis, and this is something that people don't often notice, is that in Genesis 2 .18, the Bible says that the Lord God said, it's not good that man should be alone, okay?

So it's not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him, right? So God didn't design man to be fundamentally alone. So God creates Adam first and then God is looking at Adam and the interpretation there is it's not good for man to be alone.

So I'm going to make a helper fit for him. And what immediately happens in the passage is that God brings... Now, out of the ground, it says, Now, out of the ground, the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them.

And whatever the man called every living creature, that was his name. So the man gave names to all the livestock. So at this point in history, right, you have man as a singular entity surrounded by animals, and yet God describes him as being alone, right?

Think about like the theological implications of that. So man is surrounded by animals, and yet he's saying God's describing as being alone, and that's not a good state. So what does God do? He brings all the animals around man to see what he would name him, right?

And it says, No helper fit for man among the animals. So what did God do? Well, then God makes a woman for the man so that he will not be alone, and that he'll have a helper fit for him. And that tells you something about like none of these animals were meant to be his companion, right?

Wait, so he didn't give him the golden retriever and the slice of pizza?

It seems to be the case that if that was what God intended, there was no need for a woman, right?

Right.

But then this creation account says it's not good for man to be alone. This basically gives us a biblical view of what marriage is in general. Marriage is one man plus one woman in a covenant forever.

I mean, this is how you argue against polygamous marriage. You think about the formula one plus one equals one flesh, right? One man plus one woman equals one flesh. That's where you argue from polygamy.

That's how you argue pedophilia. It's one man, one woman. It's not one man, one child. I mean, that's how you argue against homosexuality, right? It's not one man plus one man equals one flesh. It's one man plus one woman.

So it's not good to man to be alone. Man's supposed to look to a woman to be his corresponding helper, to be his companion, right? But then apart from that, even having all the animals there related to this topic, he's alone, right?

So it seems to me that if you're going to say, hey, is it okay to treat pets like family members? Well, like the problem there is just to say that from a biblical perspective, like a pet is wholly unsuited to that role, right?

Right.

Does that make sense?

Right.

Because the pet is not a human. And there's a fundamental difference between man and animal. Man is given dominion over the animal. And I mean, it just is a simple passage. When I think it was a Samaritan woman was asking Jesus for healing.

And he looks at her and he says, hey, it's not good to give the children's bread to the dogs, right? And her response is to say, hey, but even the dogs eat the bread from the master's table. She didn't seem to be offended by that.

Like a good feminist should have been. But the problem, though, is to say that his principle is right. Like there is a fundamental difference. Like it's immoral to mix categories in that kind of way to treat.

Like there is a care that a person has that he ought to be given to his children that does not belong to animals.

Right.

Now, I mean, just to give you a funny story along those lines. I mean, I, you know, I'm constantly trying to warn my children that pets are not people. Right. Right. And so I'm trying to tell them this all the time.

And so I probably roll their eyes at me because I say so much. But I am constantly saying pets are not people. They're food. Right. Now, I've told them this over and over and over. Pets are not people.

They're food.

Because I don't want them to fall into this lie that I see that's giving birth to the pizza man.

Right. Right.

OK.

One of my kids and I won't tell you who it was. But he found a lizard and wanted to bring him home and put him in some sort of enclosure. And he looked at all of us and he said, hey, we have a new member of the family today.

Right.

And I said, hey, wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

That animal is not a member of our family. Like I do not love that animal the way that I love you. I'm not making any commitment to care for that animal. That animal can go at the moment it starts to bother me.

Right.

It can be disposed of. This is an animal. This is not a creature that's made in the image of God. We might think that he's fun or neat to look at and see how he camouflages himself with rocks. But we should not love him or treat him as a human or act like he's a human or attribute to him human names as far as that goes.

Well, it may be ironic to attribute him human names. I meant human emotions and affections and treat him as if he's a human being.

So, yeah.

No, I think it's fundamentally immoral and abiblical to treat pets as family members.

Why Christians and Nonbelievers Treat Animals the Same Way

So, you know, like we said at the beginning, this is obviously a problem that is pervasive in our society right now. Even in the Christian community, I think, I mean, honestly, I don't even really see a difference.

Just anecdotally, I don't really see a difference between unbelievers and believers in terms of, you know, the way they treat their animals. Do you agree with that?

Oh, I mean, absolutely not. I mean, like I, you know, just looking at couples in the church world, we're doing the same thing. I mean, the first thing that any couple does is they go out and they get it.

If they haven't already acquired an animal for themselves, it seems like the first thing that they do is acquire an animal.

Right.

And then they, you know, they obviously treat them as if they're family members despite whatever they claim to be doing. And I mean, you know that they do because I test this all the time just because, you know, I like to, you know, put people in situations where I'm going to get more information out of them than they think I am, you know.

And so, but I mean, I'm constantly testing this very thing because, I mean, I, you know, people will probably just roll their eyes at me and think I'm crazy, but I'm doing it for a reason. But, you know, I'm constantly making jokes about like, hey, you know, isn't it nice to have an additional food supply in case the zombie apocalypse comes, right?

But no one thinks that's funny but me. You know, in fact, I mean, I think it's hilarious, but then no one thinks it's, I mean, no one thinks it's funny. In fact, they think, they look at me as if I've said something fundamentally immoral almost every time.

Like I, without exception, like they look at me as if I've said something fundamentally immoral. And that tells you though that, that like there isn't, like they are, they are treating them like a family member, right?

Like, you know, why wouldn't you, if things got rough and tough, kill that thing in order to feed yourself or your family if you're starving to death? But then, I mean, you know, we live in a society right now where, I mean, the major plot of like TV shows and movies is that very point, right?

So like Superman, which one was it with the, where the dad walks into the hurricane?

I forgot, I forgot all about that. Oh, Man of Steel.

Man of Steel, I mean, yeah. Yeah, the whole plot, you go ahead.

Where he, yeah, the tornado is coming and the dog is, is the dog trapped in the car? Is that what happens?

Yeah, and then he like doesn't let Superman save him. He goes in the car and like, you know, it's like, let me go save the dog. You know, it's like, that's not heroism, right? That's, that's insanity.

Like, that's like, you know, but that's the major plot of a TV show. This is us or whatever, where the house is burning down and the dad goes in there to save the dog and ends up dying. And then they have to deal with it, you know, it's like, this is immoral.

This is not like greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his pet. You know, it's like, come on, you know, like this is, this is sub biblical. This is sub Christian, you know, this is, this is, this is not even remotely helpful in any way, you know, but anyways, no, I don't see, I don't see the difference.

Okay. Right. I don't see the difference in the Christian world. Right. We, we, we, we may not be yet at the point where we're going to, you know, hold out a slice of pizza and, you know, call the dog or wife, but we've done everything else.

Right. So, but go ahead.

So, you know, like, like we said, there, there's not really a difference between unbelievers and believers in terms of how they treat their animals.

So I guess first, yeah, I mean, example of that is Karen Swallow prior, a former professor at Liberty basically says that she has a more visceral reaction to like an animal being abused than the thought of abortion.

So this is, this is a problem. Okay. But anyways, good.

Um, so I guess, um, the first, I guess the first step in the question would be, so your argument was, was essentially, you know, Hey, Genesis is showing us that Adam was alone. Even when all of the animals were there, he was naming all the animals.

They were all around him. He was still alone. And God said that it, it wasn't good for him to be alone. So he, he makes a helper. He makes Eve and he says that, um, that it's very good. Right. That, uh, that Eve is with him as a help mate.

Um, he names Eve and he's now no longer alone. Um, so, so that tells us that, you know, obviously we've in some way elevated animals to a position that they weren't meant to fill. But then what does that mean for us morally?

Um, I mean, is it, is this just like a, like a, Hey, you know, whoops, my bad. Or is this like, is this sin we're talking about? Is this unwise, um, actions that we're taking, unwise things that we're saying, unwise views that we're, um, applying to our animals?

Or is this something worse? Is this, is this to the point where, you know, it's, we're in like sin territory now?

Yeah. I mean, I guess just maybe you could clarify, uh, what is the, this,.

Oh, uh, the, this would be, uh, treat, you know, treating animals as a member of the family, whether it's, you know, the, the, you know, dog wife or it's fur babies or whatever, you know, it's the lizard that's now joined your family.

Uh, you know, where, where is this falling in terms of moral categories?

Yeah. Treating a pet as a family member. Um, I think, I think it's a difficult question to answer because there's obviously a spectrum of people who are doing things along these lines. And so in some sense, it's like, it's hard to, um, talk about, um, like, like something, you know, like the, like the couple or whatever, who has the dog in there basically has a big sister shirt on it or something like that.

Right. Um, like if you were to confront them about it, it might be that the response is, Hey, yeah, I know that they're not their actual sisters. Come on, man. Just like lighten up a little bit and it's just a joke.

It's just a joke. Yeah. As far as that goes. But then the problem is it's like, it obviously doesn't seem like a joke. The problem is it obviously doesn't seem like a joke because it seems like you love this animal as much as you'd love a human being.

And like your life revolves around this animal and you treat it as if it's a kid, you talk about it as if it's a kid, right? Uh, you act as if it's a kid. I mean, like you, um, you're turning, you know, from a, for a long time, you've turned to these animals to do for you what human beings should do.

And so you'll forgive us if we think perhaps that there might be possibly something a little bit more to it than just a joke. Right. So there's that. I mean, I think, but, um, you know, obviously people, when it comes right down to it, they are going to retreat to, Hey, I was just joking, right.

Or just quit taking everything so seriously or lighten up or whatever else. And you can't really judge the heart when it comes right down to it. And so there is that kind of basic problem. But, but I mean, I would, I would say that, um, you know, Satan's plan is at every single point to undermine everything that you see happening in Genesis, right?

So God like basically gave us the book of Genesis to tell us, you know, basic questions like, who are we? Why are we here? Where do we come from and where are we going? You know, all those basic worldview kind of questions.

And so if you read Genesis, then what you find is, you know, God made us and he made us distinct, distinct from the animal. He's given us dominion over the animals. And so, um, like we're living in a society right now that, you know, basically finds it more immoral for Joe Biden to experiment on puppies, right?

Cause them harm than to create a vaccine that is going to, um, uh, that is done with aborted humans. And so Satan's plan is obviously to mix those things up. So God says, Hey, we have dominion of the animals.

God's made us male and female. And then he's told us to be fruitful and multiply. And every single one of those components is being under attack, under attack at every single conceivable level. And so, you know, knowing that then essentially, like if you're the girl who's saying, Hey, you know, I want to be married, but I can't.

So let me go out and buy a dog. Right. All right. Well, um, or you're the guy who's like, Hey, I want someone to love me. So I go and buy a dog and he's going to love me more than any woman is going to do because women are crazy hard and all that.

Right. Hard to get along with. They look pretty, but you know, it was just a lot of work and this is easy. Like the problem is like you're what you're doing at that point, like to answer your question, is it like in terms of moral categories, is it sinful?

Like what you're doing is you're fundamentally rejecting the reason God made you. Right. It's like you're doing something like very similar to homosexuality. Like homosexuality is like rejecting the natural function of a woman and turning to a solid way shoot to do what a woman is supposed to do.

Right. So what you're doing is you're rejecting the natural function of the woman. And so you're doing something similar to that when you turn to an animal to meet those basic needs for companionship that you're supposed to get through human beings.

Does that make sense? So there's not fundamentally, I guess just a difference of degree, but not of type. Does that make, do you follow what I'm saying?

Yeah. Yeah. You mean when you, when you say that you're, you're just meaning, um, you know, uh, it's the same, it's the same exact mistake that's being made. It's just obviously not as bad or maybe not as bad isn't the best way to say it.

Well, well, no, it's not. I would say it's like, um, sodomy is much worse than, you know, a couple putting a t-shirt on the dog saying big sis, but it's the same basic error. Okay. Like you are rejecting the natural function of an animal, right?

Uh, uh, rejecting a natural function of human companionship and trying to find an animal. It's the same type of thing. It's just to a different degree of depravity. Does that make sense? Yeah. So if you're doing that, yes, I think yes.

That's obviously like you're rebelling against God and a pretty high handed way. But the problem is, it's just like, is it like in order to say, to make that land or stick, you have to do some sort of judging of a person's heart, you know, where they can just retreat and say, Hey, you know, and everyone does.

It's just like, Oh yeah, I know it's not a human being and whatever else. And I, you know, it's just, uh, you know, but it's God's creation. We should care for them and everything else. And I'm just, I'm just joking, you know, it's just all in good fun and everything else.

It's like, yeah, okay. You know, but I just, you know, you'll forgive me if I, I, I don't believe you. But the problem though, is that you can't substantiate it like very easily. Right. You're, you're, you're left with just, okay, well, right.

If you say so. Right. But, um, if it looks like a dog and it smells like a dog and you know, then it might be your wife. It might be your wife. So is that, is that helpful?

How Christians Should Push Back on Pet Idolatry

Yeah, yeah, no. Uh, and that kind of brings up another question, which is, you know, obviously it seems like you're saying this is kind of a, uh, when it, when it comes to the way that we as a society treat animals, it's clearly wrong.

But then in individual cases, it gets a lot harder, um, to distinguish what is sin and what is not. Um, so, so that begs the question then, you know, what, what, how should we interact with our Christian brothers and sisters when they demonstrate this kind of behavior?

I know, I know you mentioned earlier that you like to, to mess, mess with people and essentially, you know, uh, suggest eating, eating the pet, you know, um, should we have similar responses, um, in general to Christians who are, who seem like they're treating their pets more than just, uh, animals?

Yeah. Yeah. If you're not pushing back on it at all, then I would say you're probably part of the problem.

Okay.

So like, and you just don't even know it, like you don't see it, like you don't see it for what's, what it is and what's actually happening. Uh, so if you're not like aware of, you know, like the, the issue, then I think if you're aware of the issue, then you're, you're, you're going to have to be pushing back because, I mean, it's just so like overwhelmingly obvious that you're living in a society right now that absolutely loves animals more than it loves humans.

And it's trying to get from animals what it should be getting from humans. And if you don't see it, then you're part of the problem. Okay. And so, I mean, like, uh, I mean, Matt Walsh just had a, you know, a video on, um, I listened to him from time to time just to see what, uh, pagan Catholics like him say.

But, um, I think the thing is, it's like, you know, he was pointing out the inconsistency of everyone that's sitting there losing their mind over, uh, you know, Fauci experimenting on the, um, you know, putting the little, um, boxes over the dog's head where they're being eaten alive by insects.

And they were outraged by that and incensed by that. But then you've been creating a vaccine that is done through, you know, aborted baby parts and no one cares. And, you know, the comments to him at that point were just essentially to say like, Hey, uh, you know, I love animal.

Animals are way better than humans all the time. And I mean, at every famous, like, you know, animal death. So like Harambee the monkey or whatever, or the kid falls into the enclosure and they have to shoot the ape.

You know, everyone is so like, they're, they're basically just like, you read the comments and it's just like, Hey, they, you know, this is fundamentally immoral. Like they're more concerned about the ape than they are about the kid.

Right. Or, you know, when one of those circus guys, I don't know if it was Siegfried or Roy or whatever, I can't remember who they were, but they got eaten by the tiger and everyone was like, well, that's what you deserve.

Right. Like we were living in a world right now that absolutely is messed up as far as that goes. And if you're not pushing back against it at all, then I think that you're probably part of the problem.

Okay. Like if, if you're not trying to say, Hey, you know, aren't we getting a little crazy? Like, why is it that, I mean, like I, I know young women who would love to get married and they can't, uh, but then everyone like there, you know, they will even tell you, you know, I can't, you know, like, I'm just going to go instead of get married and go buy a pet, you know?

Like it's a big, it's a big problem. And then you look at every young couple and it's just like, instead of having kids, they wait like three or four years and get a pet, you know, it's like, this is an issue.

And if you don't see it, then you're blind. Like, so, I mean, I obviously, I think we should be doing what we can, um, to try to, to say the obvious in as far as that goes. Uh, but, um, you know, from the reactions I've gotten as I've attempted to do that, I don't, I don't think that, um, many people really realize like how big of a problem this is, to be honest.

Yeah. I think we should be pushing back.

So what, uh, what does that look like exactly though? So, I mean, I know you're saying you you're making kind of like the, the joke about it. Um, are there other responses that would be helpful in terms of pushing back against this idea in your mind?

Well, I, yeah, I mean, I think we should be having, I mean, I, I, I make jokes about it all the time as kind of preventative medicine is what I hope to be preventative medicine. And actually it's just, you know, making me wildly annoying to be around, but, uh, uh, but no, I mean, you know, when I see a young couple and it's like, you know, they go out and they buy the dog, I, I, I do ask them, you know, what, why the pet, you know, why not children?