The Shabbos Model applied to Aslan's Commands

Treat [the Dumb Beasts] gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways... 
The Magician's Nephew

What would happen should we apply the Shabbos model (defined in the last post) to Aslan's command? 

(We again note that this command consists of a positive and a negative which are opposites of each other. For now, we're only going to concentrate on the negative the command) 

OK, we first need to determine what might be included in the ways of the Dumb Beasts. Could the prohibition include seemingly innocent actions like when Talking Horses roll or when Talking Beavers build dams? Well, it might, after all Aslan my command whatever he wants even if our logic doesn't agree. 

But perhaps a more fruitful way to determine prohibited actions would be to look at the command in context. Aslan has just commanded the Talking Beasts to "Love. Think. Speak... be Talking Beasts." Perhaps returning to the ways of the Dumb Beasts is doing the opposite of these commands. Let's try this out starting with "Love."

Who should the Talking Beasts love? Well, Aslan of course. But also each other, both of the same species and of different species. 

Great, now we're getting somewhere. Let's say a Talking Beast would hunt or eat another Talking Beast. Well, that's certainly what Dumb Beasts do, and so if a Talking Beast were to do so (say a Talking Owl were to hunt a Talking Mouse) that would violate Aslan's command of returning to the ways of the Dumb Beasts. 

However, that is not enough. What's the definition of hunting? What if a Talking Beast just hunted his fellow for fun? Or what if a Talking Beast ate another Talking Beast that was already dead? Would that violate the prohibition? 

Once we walk down the road of definitions, categories, and rules we're kind of stuck. New questions appear, novel technologies develop. All of these may effect the way I love my fellow Talking Beast and needs and thus needs to be explored in that context. 

The same would be true if we analyze the requirement to love Aslan. Dumb Beasts don't recognize a creator nor do they show deference. So, if a Talking Beast failed to love Aslan or honor him, that might be another category of prohibited actions under the rubric of returning to the ways of the Dumb Beast. 

For example, Aslan has both a crown and a standard. If someone were to carelessly misuse the standard, perhaps that would violate the need to love Aslan. Or perhaps if someone did not pay proper respect in some other way. Again, all of these possibilities should be defined and outlined via logical derivation of Aslan's words. 

Furthermore, the care and love the Talking Beasts have for Aslan's commands should motivate them to ensure that Aslan's commands are not violated even by accident. 

There is no evidence that the Narnians ever did such things. 

But there's another Jewish model one can use to approach Aslan's commands. We'll explore that approach next.