The Animal Lover's Bible

Oh, PETA, will you never cease to amaze me? Surely you are all aware that the new NIV translation of the Bible is, much like it's failed cousin the TNIV, a more "gender inclusive" translation of God's Word. No, I'm not going to get into that here. I think by now most of my regular readers can probably guess how I feel about that issue. But now that the NIV translators have swung wide the door of inclusivity, PETA is barging their way in. CNN reports:

PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is calling for a more animal-friendly update to the Bible. 

The group is asking translators of the New International Version (NIV) to remove what it calls "speciesist" language and refer to animals as "he" or "she" instead of "it."

"Speciesist language?" Are you kidding me? Now, I love animals probably more than most people do, but this is absolutely ridiculous. Where does it stop?

Friedrich, a practicing Roman Catholic, said, "Language matters. Calling an animal 'it' denies them something. They are beloved by God. They glorify God."

“God’s covenant is with humans and animals. God cares about animals," Friedrich said. "I would think that’s a rather unanimous opinion among biblical scholars today, where that might not have been the case 200 years ago.” 

Okay, God cares about animals. I'm certainly not going to deny that. They are, after all, a part of His creation. I look at my two cats and I can clearly see God's amazing handiwork, as well as His goodness and His love simply in allowing me to care for them! But animals are hardly at the same level as man (yes I said man meaning "mankind" and no, I am not going to apologize for my lack of gender inclusivity!). Man was made in God's own image. Animals were not. I think we can safely assume that animals, for all intents and purposes, may be called "it" without any offense being taken by God. Oh, sure, you probably refer to your cat or dog as "he" or "she" or Max or Fluffy, but when you go to the zoo and watch the elephants, do you make every effort to refer to them by their proper gender?

Just because God cares about all of His creation doesn't mean that we need to scour the Bible and replace every neutral pronoun with a male or female equivalent. Perhaps the PETA people would do better to pay attention to the true message of the Bible, the Gospel. All the grammatical changes in the world won't save you, PETA, and when you face God on judgment day, I don't think He's going to care about your efforts to have a lion referred to as "he" instead of "it." God is God of the universe, but He didn't die to save animals, He died to save sinful men.