The problem of suffering. When you read those previous words, I can almost guarantee you reflected on a period in your life or the life of someone else where suffering presented itself. It’s in our DNA, as humans, to think of suffering as a purely human matter. What many ignore, and I myself am guilty of, is that suffering is not confined to the human species. Suffering exists at all levels for every living being, be it a person, a pet, or a tree. Despite what the church professes, the problem of suffering cannot be easily reconciled. Animal suffering is real; it is a problem, much like the problem humanity has attempted to solve since the beginning; and, like the human problem of suffering, it is far too complex to solve.
Meet Dusty. That’s the name of the cat in the picture at the beginning of this entry. Our family, particularly my mother and older brother Josh, adopted Dusty in January of 2016. He was a gift to my younger brother, Cameron. I can recall the day Cameron received his gift. I remember finding Elvis Presley’s song “Rock-a-Hula Baby” to be one of my all-time favorite songs. I remember, at the time, not knowing the value pets have and the impact they can make on a person.
I have never owned a pet. When I began studying theology and found my focus in the problem of suffering, I read C.S. Lewis’ classic work The Problem of Pain. There is a section in the book dedicated to the problem of animal suffering. Admittedly, I skipped this portion of the book. I admit, I discarded the problem of animal suffering because it did not seem to be as important as the problem of human suffering. And while I would certainly strive to prevent the suffering of a child over that of an animal, this problem has resurfaced in my mind in recent weeks.
Josh and I, along with his four cats (taking proper ownership of Dusty), moved into an apartment three years ago this month. That summer, a year after losing my mother to liver cancer, I had begun to develop an appreciation for pets. This only continued to develop after moving. I would like to take a moment to write on each of these cats. Majesty, the oldest, was gifted to Josh when he was about 13. I remember going to pick her up from the shelter. Lucky, a petite black cat, I found while camping at my childhood friend and neighbor’s home at the age of nine. Dusty came into the picture seven years later. Lastly, Sporty was a rescue and taken in by Josh and my mother, just a year before she passed.
Living with these cats and seeing them each day, I quickly came to love each of them. Lucky was always my buddy, since I found her years prior. I was not mature enough at the time, nor was I years later, to care for and protect her. Josh welcomed her with Majesty and took wonderful care of them both. Even after moving, when the other three cats were, frankly, hesitant of me, Lucky demonstrated a love for me that I could never understand. Lucky and Majesty crossed the rainbow bridge in 2021, only months after I initially recovered from alcoholism. Even then, I did not know how important these cats were to my life and how much they shaped me and showed me a love comparable to the love of my mother.
Dusty. Dusty passed away on August 20th, 2023. The cat in the picture above has, like Majesty and Lucky, crossed the rainbow bridge. Seeing this loving cat suffer, and Josh as a result, I began to reevaluate the problem of animal suffering I had skipped over a few years ago. I have come to the conclusion that, regardless of identification as a species, all living beings suffer. And it is our responsibility to care for them, to love them, and to cherish them for the value they serve in our lives.
Suffering is inevitable. Suffering is a problem. And suffering cannot be avoided, but it can be mitigated. I have wrote extensively on the church’s belief that all suffering is caused by human evil. But while human evil plays a role in the problem of suffering, it cannot explain everything. BioLogos is a controversial organization for supporting the concept of theistic evolution. I learned about the organization while studying at the fundamentalist, evangelical school Liberty University, where I earned my Bachelor’s. Regarding the problem of animal suffering, I came across a post that says this:
Some of the suffering and evil in the world is clearly the result of human sin: genocide, rape, and countless other acts of evil. These are sometimes called “moral evils” because they are caused by our intentional actions. As such we have moral responsibility for them. Such evils are very difficult for us to experience, but are not as problematic to reconcile with a good Creator, since they are caused by us, not by God.1
The problem is, the church views this as the only answer to the problem of suffering. However, Dusty was loved and cared for, tremendously, by Josh. I learned to love this cat. Human evil played no role, whatsoever, in what came to be. Cancer is a disease; it is one that I absolutely despise and wish to eradicate completely. And while there are trashy humans who mistreat animals, there is more to the story. Animals suffer; humans suffer; every living being, created in God’s image or not, suffers. To say this is all the result of sin simply aggravates me. Or, to say that suffering is meaningless because we are all “dust in the wind” is heartless. The church is wrong. There is evil in this world that exists beyond the confounds of sin and human nature.
I cannot say why animals suffer. I cannot say why humans suffer. There are many debatable reasons, each contingent upon specific circumstances. Circumstances that you and I may never even know. What I have learned in my experience with suffering is that suffering cannot simply be rationalized. To have a purely logical, Platonic explanation for the problem of suffering, one must be a psychopath. There are many Christians who “know” how to solve the problem of suffering. There are many opponents to Christianity who “know” the problem cannot be solved.
But how can a loving Christian tell a parent who has lost their child in a vehicle accident that they are suffering because of their choices? How can an atheist tell a passionate theist that there is no point as to why their best friend died of cancer and God’s will thus will not prevail? In the face of such extreme losses, logic is tossed out the window. It is forgotten. And it should be.
In my earnest belief, life is about finding beauty in the rage, as I have discussed before. The loss of Dusty was tremendous and I would do anything to reverse it. But I see the beauty that lies in my brother’s hope. It lies in the constant care he provided, that he gave this cat a wonderful life, and in the midst of his suffering, drove to another state twice in one day to give him the best care possible. This beauty does not remove the tragedy, but it makes the burden much more bearable.
Yes, sometimes we suffer because we have made bad decisions. Sometimes we suffer because people are just inherently evil. Sometimes our pets suffer, and we suffer as a result. Sometimes we suffer for no reason at all. And sometimes we suffer so that we can learn to better appreciate and cherish life. There are countless other “sometimes.” No living creature is “dust in the wind” because each soul contributes to the beauty of life. And each soul has value that is magnified by the love and care shown to them, as I have seen with Dusty. What matters most is that we have faith in what we cannot see, hope in what could come, and love for who and what is important to us.
Rest in peace, Dusty Bear. You will not be forgotten.
- BioLogos, “Is Animal Suffering Part of God’s Good Creation?” Retrieved from https://biologos.org/common-questions/is-animal-suffering-part-of-gods-good-creation.