FYI: This post is in reference to the Deborah Jones book:
The School of Compassion: A Roman Catholic Theology of Animals.
pnewton, I love ya, but before you dish the book, you might want to do at least a little research on the author and the content of the book. It is completely NOT mythical or new age. (It is a deeply Catholic book.) I started reading the book and haven’t finished because it is not a light read. It is very deep with scriptural quote, Church history, theological discussion, and forensic examinination.
It explores the history of the Church’s ideas about/toward animals. (And this includes the significant contributions by St. Thomas Aquinas–who was greatly influenced by Aristotle in this regard.) It covers significant readings from the Old and New Testaments. It covers other themes and influences on the Church, including Celtic monasticism, the spirituality of St. Francis, liturgies of the Eastern Catholic Churches, British Catholic tradition (which is more favorable to animals), etc.
There is a forensic examination of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the portion that pertains to animals. And the contemporary issues of stewardship and anthropocentrism are discussed as are key ethical theories. From the few pages of the book that I have read, it is evident that our current attitudes toward animals have changed through time, and in studying some of the history, analyses, and Church perspective, one is bound to think a little deeper about the current way that animals are treated/viewed in our industrialized society.
The author, Deborah Jones, is general secretary of the international organization
Catholic Concern for Animals and a
Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. She has worked as editor of the
Catholic Herald, deputy editor of
Priests & People, is a writer and lecturer, and is a diocesan advisor for adult religious education. Her work is not even faintly New Age–and it is wrong to even suggest this. For anyone who is Catholic and has concerns about how animals are treated in our society, yet is really turned off by secular organizations like PETA, I recommend looking to the Christian and Catholic organizations and authors. ***Catholic Concern for Animals ***is an excellent organization.
amazon.com/School-Compassion-Deborah-M-Jones/dp/0852447310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257010755&sr=8-1