In Theory:

The Los Angeles Times reported Feb. 2 that a church in Westchester, Covenant Presbyterian Church, allows congregants to bring their dogs to Sunday night services. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Tom Eggebeen, told The Times that the idea is to make congregants feel more comfortable attending Covenant Presbyterian by bringing along their four-footed companions who might be considered as family members. According to the article, the presence of dogs at church services is part of a trend by churches to recognize the bond between people and their pets. As a religious leader in the community, do you think that it’s appropriate to allow pets into worship services? Would you open your doors to congregants’ pooches, cats, goldfish or other non-human household occupants? In short, does Fluffy belong there?

Bizarre. And why stop at dogs? Why not a congregation of purring cats, chirping birds and twitching rabbits with whom their owners have “bonded.”

Many people are devoted to their pets, lavishing care upon them, grateful for their companionship and affectionate responses. Animals are to be treated with respect and compassion. We have special responsibilities to them and an animal’s rights are to be upheld.

But animals are not human beings, and welcoming them to worship services contributes to the blurring of distinctions. While we recognize that we share much in common with animals, we must be on guard to preserve the essential distinctions between man, created in God’s image, and animals that are of a far lower order of creation. There is nothing wrong with loving an animal, but a line has to be drawn. An animal cannot be a part of one’s “family.”

The Bible teaches a relative hierarchy of created life. Our society has veered from the Scriptural vision by ascribing a unique dignity and worth to animals while devaluing human beings. I have heard people say, “My dog is not just an animal.”

Oh, but it is.

Rabbi Mark S. Miller

Temple Bat Yahm of Newport Beach

Luke Haynes, our golden retriever, is certainly and completely a member of our family. Like other family members, Luke seems satisfied coming to church once a year; for him, this is when we bless all critters to celebrate Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi the first Sunday in October. He does love coming to church Saturday evenings to help me prepare for Sunday mornings.