The Absence of Animals in Religion — New York Stay, Day 4

 On a Sunday in New York, my daughter took me to a nearby church to listen to gospel music.
What began as a cultural experience quietly turned into a reflection on how differently religions view life—and animals.

 

Today is Sunday.
My daughter took me to a nearby church where we could listen to gospel music.

Snow from yesterday still covered the ground, and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree stood inside.

Although it was called a church, the building appeared to have once been a theater.
As we entered, gospel music had already begun, accompanied by a live band.
We followed the subtitles and sang along with everyone else, raising our voices together.

After the singing came the sermon.

Christian sermons are difficult to fully grasp without some basic knowledge of Christianity.
Still, I listened carefully, reading the subtitles as they appeared.

At one point, I suddenly became aware of a difference in how animals are perceived.

Or rather, I realized that the Bible is, at its core, a book addressed almost exclusively to humans.
How, then, are non-human beings positioned within it?

Of course, there is the story of Noah’s Ark.
Yet somehow, it does not quite resonate with me.

As a Japanese person, I am accustomed to thinking that all living things—and even inanimate objects—possess a kind of spirit.
Compared with that worldview, Christianity feels fundamentally different.

I had always assumed it was different from the Japanese sensibility shaped by the idea of countless gods,
but I was struck anew by just how wide that gap truly is.

I once wrote on this blog about Descartes’ theory of animals as machines.
Western views of animals and those of Japanese people—or at least of someone like me, who lives with a dog—still feel profoundly apart.

And yet, attending such a service every week—singing hymns and listening to sermons—it is easy to see how faith becomes deeply woven into everyday life.
It also made me understand, on a very practical level, why Christian voters play such an important role in presidential elections.