By Eric Wamanji
The media industry found itself in the classical nature of news recently. And it had to do with matters dogs. For starters, every first year student of journalism is taught that when dog bites man is no news but it is big news when man bites dog. And so, recently, it came to pass that though man did not bite dog, man is alleged to have bedded dog – a more bizarre (newsworthy) occurrence.
Our press was awash with pictures of girls barely out of their teens and a Caucasian man, all bowing in shame and embarrassment when it emerged the damsels were having some nice time with a mongrel, perhaps one of the most impure creatures. The social media too was characteristically animated with the porn discourse as well.
But beyond the news, what society should be interrogating is simple: why would one want to bed a dog, even if it’s for big money? No doubt, this is a manifest of moral depravity that our society suffers when such acts as bestiality, abortions, homosexuality and casual murders become ingrained in our systems and values. But, is money prize enough for one to sink to such indignity as to undress for a beast?
So what’s moral? It’s about good or evil. It is moral that which maintains social cohesion, and survivability of mankind. It’s moral that which conforms to societal estimation and appreciation of that which is good and right. Morals apply to man because he has the capacity to differentiate between right and wrong. Mankind too subscribes to a deity whose divine command sets standards of engagement. In our cases, the Holy books provide such guidance as we shall see shortly. Contravening such standards and endangering the species for selfish gains is therefore immoral.
You need to read a bit of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Charles Darwin in 1871 argues thus “I fully … subscribe to the judgment of those writers who maintain that of all the differences between man and the lower animals the moral sense or conscience is by far the most important.” Therefore as philosophers would say, human is not only homo sapien but also homo moralis.
Let’s go back to our canine scenario. First, a dog is a lower animal to man. To reduce oneself to such level is an assault to the mightiness of the human creature. Furthermore, in all societies, though dog is man’s best friend, this relationship is limited. Therefore, for our girls to take that saying literally is as appalling, disgusting as it is disturbing.
To begin with, the Bible is explicit as to who is cursed – one who have sex with an animal. Other cultures view the dog as a harbinger of good luck. The black dog is thought to be a devil incarnate. In Islam, if a dog licks a utensil it has to be washed several times.
The Old Testament is categorical on matters bestiality. In no uncertain terms, it suggests the ultimate punishment –death – for whosoever beds an animal. Have a look at this: Exodus 22: 19 directs that anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death. Leviticus 18:23 declares, “Do not have sexual relations with an animal … a woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.” Leviticus 20:15-16 commands, “If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. And for Deuteronomy 27:21 “Cursed is the man who has sexual relations with any animal.”
The Coastal dog sex saga can also be linked to drugs. Indeed, before someone undresses for the dog and allows a group of men to witness and capture on camera the horrific act, they must be under the influence. The makers of such films are just but part of a larger drug ring that is now minting money from such beastly acts. It is also a manifest of a society whose collective center bolt seems to be pulling asunder and may lead to a collapse.
What will happen to these girls? Their esteem and ego no doubt has been heavily crushed. As the Bible says, they are unfit for any societal engagement. By this, it means that no right thinking man with a morsel of self-respect would want to marry, let alone wink at the girls. So, they have forfeited their divine right of making families. I doubt if with the stigma, they will be welcome to any community for their conscience will be at war. They’re pariahs. The girls have unwittingly reduced themselves to wretched of the earth.
When I was growing up, the most derogatory abuse one could ever say was in relation to the canine. That a dog is not as prestigious is captured in some English idioms such as: gone to the dogs, it’s a dog’s life, or dog-eat-dog.
Yet this is not the first time narratives of a thriving pornography industry at the Coast are emerging. It’s an open secret of what happens in the private villas. So where is our intelligence and police? Is not part of police to ensure there is civility in a polity? Could it be that the police are also part of this ring and it only surfaced when the deal went sour somewhere?
Beyond the law and the money, still there is the question of morals and dignity. If the girls partook in the acts out of free will, then we need to interrogate instruments of our moral construction.
Of course there is no other gratification in these designs other than money. We don’t expect that these girls sought to be superstars of porn. This makes the relationship between the animal and the girls purely artificial. When someone forfeits her inherent dignity and purity to the level of a dog raises more dogmatic questions in relation to the role of social institutions that ought to form society.
One wonders what role did the family, the media, the school and the church played in the socialization of these girls such that they could make such judgments that contravenes societal conventions.
The truth is that over time, our society has lacked social support mechanism where we can lean on instead of resorting to the most horrendous exercise like the one alleged in the media. Indeed, to live a life of dignity is to live a life of self-respect, aware that man is never equal to any other animal as ordained at time of creation.
And on a lighter note, while our morals seem to have gone to the dogs literally, still, as they say, every dog has its day.
The writer is a media & PR consultant; teaches media studies at Daystar University. ewamanji@yahoo.co.uk
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