Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."—Genesis 1:24-26\ In this crucial passage from the Old Testament, God grants mankind power over animals. But with this privilege comes the grave responsibility to respect life, to treat animals with simple dignity and compassion.\ Somewhere...
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Matthew Scully seems an unlikely animal advocate: he was special assistant and senior speechwriter to G.W. Bush, and also wrote for Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney. The Genesis 1:24 quote about God granting humanity dominion over the fish and fowl and cattle is the platform on which Scully moves to (Christian) stewardship and charity arguments, that is, dominion need not mean domineering and should instead mean caring. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Library Journal This is one of the best books ever written on the subject of animal welfare. Scully, a journalist and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, chooses to fight on his own ground, and he rightly argues that the important thing is not insisting upon equal "rights" for animals but in treating them with a modicum of respect and dignity. His book is as close as a philosophy can come to representing "animal rights" goals while not proclaiming animals to be equal in status to humans, as do classic works like Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. As a journalist, Scully personally investigated several major animal industries, including those of hunting, whaling, and factory farming. He asks penetrating questions and shows the logical and political inconsistencies used to defend cruel industries. Although some may balk at the author's sarcasm, it adds an emotional element to his unequaled depth of insight. Scully has a remarkable grasp of the issues and a unique perspective on our societal treatment of animals. Every library should purchase this book. Highly recommended.-John Kistler, Utah State Univ. Lib., Logan Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Introductionix1The Things That Are1Mere Pain2Into Your Hands11Practical Ethics20Reckless Divine Cruelty24This Lovely World28Tasty Nibbles362The Shooting Field47Skins and Bones49Take Charge52Fair Chase56The Deer Factory62Men of Influence67A Spot of Plains Game72The Curators77Nimrod.com813Matters of Consequence88Go Forth90The Lord of Mercy95Laissez-Faire100Imperative Cooking108Deeper Than Choice112The Prosperity Bible120Back at the Ranch126Think a Second Time130Mild Qualms1354Riches of the Sea141Save the Whales for Dinner142Collective Guilt146Time to Death150Wise Use155Scientific Research161Cultural Imperialism169Brave Fish177Sanctuary1865The Laws191Unknowable Territory194The Masquerade200Want Nut209Thinking About Thoughts217Profound Respect229The Stress Gene235Knowledge Without Love2416Deliver Me from My Necessities247Managerial Intensity249The New Agriculture253State of the Art259Lean Generation263For Their Own Good269Piece by Piece2777Nature and Nature's God287Necessary Evils288Thou Shalt Not294Self-Evident Truths299The Mirror Test305A Crime Against Nature312A Fresh Start325An Obligation of Justice3378Justice and Mercy350Game Butchery353An Abomination360Noah's Choice368Sinning Bravely375They Know Pain389The Good Shepherds393Notes399Acknowledgments423Index427
\ From Barnes & NobleIn the Book of Genesis, God grants mankind "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." With that dominion, contends reporter Matthew Scully, comes the responsibility to treat animals with kindness. Moving from biblical injunction to torture-filled factory farms, he argues that we have violated logical reasoning and ethical conduct by treating other sentient beings as efficiently processed production units. Passionate, controversial, and contentious, Dominion could become the most influential book on animal protection in decades.\ \ \ \ \ From the Publisher"Scully's riveting account... shows how unspeakable and systematic animal cruelty is the currency of a soulless industry that has shattered American rural communities, poisoned our soils, air, and water, made family farmers an endangered species, and undermined our democracy. Scully's book gently questions whether we can foster human dignity in a society that treats other sentient beings as production units." —- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.\ "Matthew Scully has set forth a case - in a wry and riveting manner - that will resonate with any reader who values logical reasoning and ethical conduct. I expect that Dominion will be the most influential book on animal protection in the last twenty-five years." — Wayne Pacelle, Senior Vice President, The Humane Society of the United States\ \ \ \ Library JournalThis is one of the best books ever written on the subject of animal welfare. Scully, a journalist and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, chooses to fight on his own ground, and he rightly argues that the important thing is not insisting upon equal "rights" for animals but in treating them with a modicum of respect and dignity. His book is as close as a philosophy can come to representing "animal rights" goals while not proclaiming animals to be equal in status to humans, as do classic works like Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. As a journalist, Scully personally investigated several major animal industries, including those of hunting, whaling, and factory farming. He asks penetrating questions and shows the logical and political inconsistencies used to defend cruel industries. Although some may balk at the author's sarcasm, it adds an emotional element to his unequaled depth of insight. Scully has a remarkable grasp of the issues and a unique perspective on our societal treatment of animals. Every library should purchase this book. Highly recommended.-John Kistler, Utah State Univ. Lib., Logan Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsA moral inquiry into the human treatment of animals. \ Like it or not, humans have a measure of dominion over animals, but what are our moral obligations toward them, Scully asks. Do we sit mute before the unspeakable conditions and unadulterated cruelty of factory farming of animals or the staged machismo of big-game hunting? Do we recognize animals as having intelligence and capacity for pain, recognize their moral worth and our duty and kinship to them under natural law, "which advances a being onward toward its natural fulfillment"? If one is an eater of meat, asks vegetarian Scully, do you ask whether that pork chop had a good life before the blade ran home, and are you willing to support giant operations in which pigs are denied every conceivable natural moment, including sunlight? Scully has done plenty of fieldwork to make it plain that humility and empathy don’t guide our dealings with fellow creatures on megafarms or on "safari." Decency and mercy are ostensible values governing behavior between humans, and it’s ridiculous to Scully to think they wouldn’t play a part in our interactions with animals. Yet, however vivid Scully’s descriptions of feedlots or however righteous his moral ground or unsparing his critiques of Peter Singer or Stephen Budiansky, he is also preaching to the converted. He takes pains to alienate hunters and will irritate fence-sitters with his coyness ("the creatures’ little lives of grazing and capering"), meanwhile offending everyone else and betraying his speechwriting past by unctuously draping expressions of uncertainty over the utter absence of his own uncertainty, with his buffed prose and his tendency to mewl: "The images bore witness."\ Still,Scully’s appeal for respect and dignity in our treatment of animals certainly beats the big-game outfitter who’s quoted: "You shoot ’em at close range. And the thing is, they don’t go right down. They get up. And now they’re piffed."\ \ \
