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Summary: Not your typical "animal rights" screed
Review: Like a lot of conservatives, I have tended to dismiss most "animal rights" people as fanatics or extremists, because too often they want to put animals on the same level as human beings. Mr. Scully's book is different from 99% of the other animal rights books at Amazon because he is not coming from that persepective AT ALL, and in fact spends some time discussing the problems with that kind of thinking. What he IS saying - and it makes a lot of sense - is that it is precisely because human beings ARE superior to animals that we owe them compassion and respect - and he gives graphic examples of how we are failing in that regard (factory farms, unnecessary hunting, etc.). If you believe that God's mercy extends even to the humblest of His creatures, this is a book you MUST read.
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Summary: So very thoughtful
Review: It is so amazing the types of things that go on around us that most of us never see. And even when we are made aware of the horrors that man is capable of, if it does not affect us directly, then we easily dismiss it. Reading a book like "Dominion", though, will completely change your views on just how evil some people can be. There were points in this book where I actually felt myself getting so upset I was visibly shaking. Many times I would put the book down for a day just because what I read was so moving that I couldn't bear to read any more at that moment. But it is a book I had to read more of, because these are facts and issues of which everyone should be aware. How can it be that we as a species can use and abuse animals for profit like this, most of the time for things that we can do without. We have the power to do the right thing by these animals, and treat them with the dignity that they deserve. Matthew Scully does not preach to us and try and convince us to become vegetarians. He just points out how things have gotten so out of hand that we treat animals now as just commodities and things, not creatures of the earth, who live and breathe as we all do. This book has really made me want to become more active in animal rights. I think that you will find that it will make you think twice before you have that next hamburger, pork chop, or buying that new fur coat. A more beautifully written book you will not find.
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Summary: vegetarian christian coalition
Review: "Whether you're a left wing progressive who thinks "Christian conservative" always equals irrational, hateful venom of the Jerry Falwell sort, a Reaganite who's convinced that animal rights are the exclusive province of liberal crackpot sentimentalists, or someone who sympathizes with animal causes but questions the ethical formulations of key animal rights proponents such as Peter Singer, this eloquently reasoned book is for you."...
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Summary: Clear and precise logic
Review: This book is a fantastic treatise based on sound reasoning, logic, and compassion. Mr. Scully uses an even-handed approach to discuss his topic. Although he does come down against hunting as a personal preference, he in no way disrespects those american hunters who treat their game with dignity and compassion. Don't be dissuaded if you're a hunter, he does distinguish blood-thirst from simple traditional hunting. This book is a brain-sharpener.
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Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Excellent book! Waiting to read more works by this author.
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Summary: Dominion is Full of Contradictions
Review: Scully makes two strong, yet completely contraditory arguments: 1. Modern industrial animal farming is immoral. Regulations should be enacted/enforced to allow animals more free-range and natural lives. The detached consumer enables this awful practice to continue. 2. Hunting - especially ranch-style hunting -is immoral and should be outlawed. This has been done already in some states. In the first case Scully says free-range animals are the solution. In the second case -where he gets precisely what he wants- an involved consumer of an animal in a relatively naturaly environment...he thinks should be outlawed. That Mr. Scully writes for Bush2 is no surprise. No stronger argument against animal rights has ever been written. Todd
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Summary: This book may help to change the future!
Review: Unless you've read this book, believe me, you have NO idea how bad it is. I doubt the most cynical paranoid conspiracy theorist could dream up stuff HALF this bad. Thank you Mr. Scully for being a concern-a-tive and using all your mind and soul (and guts) to show us what unimaginable things we are doing to our fellow Earth dwellers. My favorite words about this book are in a "blurb" on the back cover: "Matthew Scully has set forth a case...that will resonate with any reader who values logical reasoning and ethical conduct." That should include most everybody, I'd like to think...at least all those bothering to read these reviews.... In other words: BUY THIS BOOK NOW : ) What I especially value are Scully's lengthy dissections of mind boggling statements (devoid of any logical reasoning) from industry heads, whaling commissions, hunters, philosophers, and most shocking, our current or past elected officials. In deconstructing their arguments on paper, I can use Mr. Scullys facts, logic and moral reasoning as a resource I can go back to time and time again until I learn how to communicate better to help people see the light when they say "I can't give up meat." Or, "I learned to hunt when I was a boy, it's the American way" or, "We Japanese eat whale, you eat burgers, what's the difference?" (Believe me; this book has the answers from many perspectives) Another review here chided Mr. Scully for giving such a Christian slant to his book. I don't have statistics, but MANY Americans probably consider themselves Christians, and although they may only have vague ideas about what Christianity is, they value what they think is the general idea. Most who got thru 8th grade probably remember that Christian values played a part in the mythology of what made our country. In other words, even in our confused USA of 2003, Christianity is a "touchstone" for many. The author demands the reader to ask himself "who am I to support this cruel treatment of animals for my own benefit when I don't really need to" and the words from the Bible will certainly help LOTS of readers ponder this soul searching question. As far a Mr. Scully being part of a conservative majority government that is five tantrums away from killing 1000's or 100,000's, maybe that will be another book for him once we are all full of mercy and compassion for lower species. Indeed, he speaks of the origin of conservative thinking (which isn't what I hear our conservative pundits or politicians expressing) and I believe him. To quote him: "I, myself, as an occasional Republican speechwriter, have toiled many hours to convey this credo of human aspiration and creativity unhindered by the presumptuous and meddlesome state. The problem to guard against is that this very same outlook can at times cut against the conservative's own belief in man as a fundamentally moral and not merely economic actor, a creature accountable to reason and conscience and not driven by whim or appetite" and later on the same page "...conservatives above all should see in modern dominion the eternal question of earthly power and its abuses, the corruption to which any power in the hands of is prone." and later on the next page " Conservatives are wary of environmentalism and its more radical strains of nature-worship. They would do well, however, to examine their own beautiful abstractions, their laissez-faire outlook toward animals and where it sometimes leads." (pages 100-102). It should be noted that Mr. Scully will deconstruct his conservative friend's logic as quick and devastatingly as anyone else's. Except for the I-Ching telling me to move south when I was 19 years old, I don't think any books have really changed me too much. However, after reading and having sleepless nights over the modern horrors I learned about from this book, I found myself searching New York City for days looking for leather-free high waterproof shoes for the nasty slushy winter sidewalks here...
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Summary: I-It
Review: Few of us have the opportunity or the desire to visit factory farms, Safari Club, or a whaling conference. But these visits by Scully, requiring only honest reporting, are the most persuasive argument that something has gone terribly wrong in our treatment of animals. You don't have to be a vegetarian to recognize cruelty or the illogic which tries to defend it. But some recent commentators, calling themselves conservative, have developed a moral blind spot when it comes to animal welfare. Remarks by Roger Scruton, Digby Anderson, Walter Williams, and Tom Bethell boil down to moral relativism, easily dismantled by Scully, and have little in common with the traditional conservatism of Russell Kirk or John Bliese. Worship of the self has a long history, and its detractors are many. Martin Buber warned against the I-it approach, in which the world and everything in it is merely an object for one's own uses. John Paul II wrote that, by setting himself up as master, man has ignored the Creation's own inherent order, laws, and purpose. What Richard Weaver meant by piety was a recognition of a world not created by us that exists independent of our desires. In short, there is nothing in conservatism, religion, or any ethical code that approves of the thoughtless destruction of nature, the torment of its creatures, or the utilitarian worldview that purports to defend these actions. Although the ideas of stewardship and dominion come from the Bible, one need not be a Christian to defend them. We can all recognize certain horrors, inconsistencies, and moral lapses. The vocabulary of factory farming, for example, reflects the attempt to apply to living beings the language of machines -- "productivity," "efficiency," "units"-- in order to deny them any existence independent of our own desires, in this case the desire for mass profit and more, more, more. Disorganization and repetition mar Scully's long refutation of current animal theories. Moreover, the tone of indignation wears thin after 400 pages. Nevertheless, the book has a stark honesty that I admired. Scully asks questions people don't want to ask, visits places people don't want to visit, and calls things as they are. His recommendations in the last section ought to have everyone's support.
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Summary: And then there was light
Review: Matthew Scully devoted many months to learning the truths behind industries that exploit animals (hunting, factory farming, and whaling, for instance). He approached each industry as an outsider, with an open mind and a keen desire to learn. He attended conventions, interviewed hunters, toured factory farms, spoke with industry executives. This book is the fruit of his efforts. While his book is strong in many areas, I think it is strongest in its deconstruction of the barbaric practice of hunting. I haven't read any book that taught me nearly as much about bloodsport. Scully quotes a hunting apologist and we realize that sometimes these guys reveal their own ignorance with no outside help: "These people trying to stop hunting don't understand elephants. A hunter's bullet spares the elephant from the suffering of natural mortality." (page 189) How would that hunter feel about being spared from his own natural mortality? Some of the hunters Scully interviewed had more intelligent things to say. Quoting one who leads African safaris: "Elephants, yes, I always feel regret and sadness ... [T]hey are very intelligent, very sensitive animals. They even know when the hunting season begins and ends. I have seen elephants who wandered into the hunting areas running back into protected areas and you can see them visibly relax [now imitating a body relaxing] when they've crossed the road, as if they know they're safe. And they begin grazing again." (pages 85-86) We learn that hunting enthusiasts buy the most gruesome of gadgets to help them bag their kill. One imitates the "frantic squalling of a terrified cub". Another digitally reproduces "12 different sounds proven to arouse the curiosity" of deer, including the "estrus bleat" and "fawn distress". (page 103) All to lure an unsuspecting victim into the crosshairs. In a sense, the book is structured as a crescendo. Scully starts his discussion with hunting, with his coverage of the subject making it easy for readers to disapprove of hunting as a "sport". He gradually builds up to much touchier subjects, including the convention of eating animal flesh. Scully is deft: if we can all agree that hunting and killing a wild animal is barbaric, then the dispicable conditions factory farmed animals endure (during their rearing, not to mention their slaughter) are even less tolerable. Scully repeatedly makes the point that many of the animals we eat, hunt, and otherwise abuse, are highly intelligent creatures. The book ends on a hopeful note. In the last chapter, Scully quotes a Republican Senator (previously a pig farmer) who was horrified by what he saw after touring a modern hog factory. The Senator first describes the conditions he saw: six-hundred pound hogs living for months at a time in metal cages so small they cannot turn around or lie down in natural positions. Then the Senator says, "God gave man dominion over the Earth. We are only the stewards of this planet ... Let us strive to be good stewards and not defile God's creatures or ourselves by tolerating unnecessary, abhorrrent, and repulsive cruelty." (page 390) If an ex-pig farming Republican Senator can see the light, surely anyone can.
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Summary: Staggering
Review: Matthew Scully's book Dominion, is an amazing and a shocking book at the same time. I did not want to read this book when i first seen it, but thought that it was important to do so. It delves into some of man's terrible practices of cruelty to animals such as canned huntings (executions) and so called safaris. It's simply unbelievable that an animal can be taken from it's environment or bought from a zoo just about anywhere in the world, shipped to a private kill ranch, and shot just like that for enjoyment. What has this world come to?
It also questions our own moral duites and attitudes towards animals from us being intelligent and compassionate entities. I have to tell you i was truly shocked and angered from this book, i had no idea that such practices were so prevalent and much of it perfectly legal. His detailed account of a hunting convention could very well be used in a Steven King novel. When humans get a thrill and enjoyment out of the killing of a defenseless lifeform something has indeed gone wrong. Death has become a recreation.
Some places in the book i found repulsive of the total apathy that many of these humans felt towards other life besides themselves. Some of these people are well known.
I commend Scully for writing this surperb book and give it my highest rating possible. In my opinion it should be available in every school library within the country.
An important read for everyone. This insanity must be condemned and stopped.
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