Comments on: Sorry, But Your Dog’s Soul Just Died, Says Chicago Tribune

By: Grimmy

Grimmy — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:11:55 +0000

C’mon, people. Isn’t it obvious what’s going on here? HIS NAME IS ZORN!

If that doesn’t clue you in …

Anyway, yes, to Darwinists, we are all nothing but meat driven to survive. So what we think of as love and courage and honor are nothing more than evolutionary tricks of the “mind” – which is nothing more than a bag of chemical reactions shaped by that drive.

Most of you don’t remember, but Darwinism also brought us “scientific” racism not too long ago – e.g. Nazism, the plight of the Aborigines in Australia. Sneakily, this is being rewritten today in movies (e.g. “Gettysburg”) where Darwinism is said to bring thoughts of universal brotherhood instead.

By: RebeccaH

RebeccaH — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:15:58 +0000

“Give me a bag of treats and a week and I’ll make your dog forget you ever walked the earth.”

This has already been disproved to my satisfaction several times over. For example, when my daughter and her family spent two weeks in Florida, I kept their dog. She’s a sweet-natured, funny, playful boxer, and I spoiled her outrageously. Yet sometimes she would stand on the back deck and whine for no apparent reason (I maintain she was missing her family, prove me wrong). When they came to pick her up, she practically tied herself in knots she was so overjoyed.

Obviously Mr. Zorn and his like have never lived with dogs.

By: Number 6

Number 6 — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:01:05 +0000

This is an old and ugly idea. Rene Descartes was a great mathematician, an interesting philosopher. Desscartes taught that animals are nothing but machines. So we should feel nothing at all when dismantling a machine no matter how much it screams. A few years later the leaders of the French Revolution applied that standard to humans, since they’re nothing but meaty machines, destroy the ones that are inconvenient to your purpose. This idea has been useful to governments in the 20th century.

By: Rob Crawford

Rob Crawford — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:39:49 +0000

The dog I grew up with was cared for by the entire family. Mom and Dad fed her; I let her out after school; I played with her.

Fast forward more than a decade. I’m a freshman in college. Over the last seven months I’ve been home maybe three weeks. Mom and Dad came to visit, and brought the dog with them. Now, according to the “they’re just acting as they’re conditioned”, what connection have I had to the dog’s life lately? I haven’t fed her, walked her, played with her, ANYTHING for months.

Yet… as they pulled onto campus, I was walking across the quad. They said the dog saw me out the car window and “woofed”. They parked, let her out, and she took off for me like a bullet.

If it’s all about their basic needs being met, if it’s all about them rewarding US for taking care of them, then what did she care for me at that point?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:15:34 +0000

If you’ll permit a detour into rational thought: one of these guys (I forget which, but I think it was Katz) claimed (approximately) “Give me a bag of treats and a week and I’ll make your dog forget you ever walked the earth.” That’s either provably true or it isn’t. Instead of blustering and blithering, someone who cares about this controversy should run the test.

Fact-free emotionalism is the province of liberals.

By: Percy Dovetonsils

Percy Dovetonsils — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:52:05 +0000

Personally, if I came upon Eric Zorn drowning in near-freezing waters, I’d jump in myself… to make sure he didn’t get out.

By: GW Crawford

GW Crawford — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:20:11 +0000

I firmly believe that there is no soul, no divine spark and that we are bags of chemicals with memories – and there is no way in hell you can convince me that me family dogs did not love me
When I would come back from university, my original family dog would start wagging her tail so hard that she was skipping back and forth and she would start crying.
They see us as dogs, pack members. We see them as human, family members. We are not seeing the same thing but the end result is the same.
If some liberal cat owner cannot appreciate love that is because they attribute to others the same selfish, evil motivations they possess.
Also, to any culture that considers dogs unclean – maybe if you understood the fundamental decency of dogs, you would overlook their personal hygiene – like I frequently have to overlook on you

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:55:36 +0000

I think people and dogs ARE just “meat machines”, as “K” puts it. So what? They can still love, that’s part of the machinery.

At the end of the day, when the dog has been fed, watered, exercised, entertained, etc. and is just plain exhausted she still flops down next to me rather than in the corner. What more evidence do you need than that?

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:32:58 +0000

Zorn is a dick.

And I bet a dog is better company.

By: Salamantis

Salamantis — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:42:41 +0000

Dogs give us unconditional love;
Cats teach us humility.