Beast

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" -Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)

The horrific attack on a SeaWorld trainer by a killer whale1 reveals a common truth that we are prone to ignore. We expect animal viciousness in the wild, but we are somehow surprised when captive animals return to their instincts and kill without remorse. Their cuddly appearances can be deceptive, and thus we do not expect it when Roy Horn2 is nearly killed by one of his "trusted" tigers during a show, or when Charla Nash3 is severely disfigured after being attacked by a dear friend's pet chimp.

There are those that take great sympathy on the killers and claim its humanities fault for caging the poor creatures.4 We give them a human name like Travis, implement "affection conditioning," and lavish upon them our love. However, we should realize that animals can never be adopted into personhood. Such domestication is impossible. A wild beast can never contain a heart of compassion without divine transformation, no matter how much training or how many treats we offer it. Our amazement should not be that animals attacks, but rather that more of them do not.

The same applies to the human soul. In our depraved state, man has a beastly heart, one that is set on rebellion and death. The only good we cherish is for selfish gain, and our quest for the supernatural is nothing more than attempts at personal exaltation. And we are beyond hope, for in our depraved volition we will never humble ourselves before God, for we are slaves to another (Romans 6). We should not be surprised by the Mansons and the Hitlers, rather we should be surprised there are not more of them.

I conclude that man is a savage, and even though he possess a mind with emotions and a will to guide it, he is still at the mercy of his desires. And those desires are carnal and have no taste for true holiness. If it were not for divine transformation, we would all still be beasts.

Notes:
1. "Tilikum" the Orca Attacks
2. "Montecore" the Tiger Attacks
3. "Travis" the Chimp Attacks
4. PETA response to SeaWorld accident