Animal Rights Imagine if reincarnation were true and you are born a donkey in the next life. That wont turn out quite well if youre either indifferent or against animal rights. But more than this, do good things for nothing but goodness sake. Thats what humanism is! _______________________________________________________________________ I was discussing about #AnimalRights with my fellow atheists the other day and for once, I realized how science informed my morality. There is a heated debate in philosophy whether science is able to tell us what we ought to value or behave like. In part, morality has to do with empathy but science, knowing the facts about the world around us including facts about living beings who live in it is equally if not more important. In his book, The Moral Landscape Dr. Sam Harris tells us that the ultimate concern when it comes to morality is the assurance of human welbeing. And for me, this extends to animal welbeing as well. For most religious people, morality is about fulfilling the will of God so whatever God says is good is good and whatever he says is bad is bad so they dont pretty much understand what Im about to say. The story is different with secularists and it is about ensuring human welbeing and even though we believe in objective morality, we think most morality issues are subject to debate. So, yesterday I ran into friends who claimed that we shouldnt care about animals because were living in a country where human rights is at stake. I think this is a poor excuse. Just because there is a relatively rampant violation of human rights in Ethiopia doesnt make cruel treatment of animals justifiable. It makes it even worse. We know animals suffer. At least the cattle we slaughter every now and then for holy-days have complex nervous systems which means they experience pain. A camel, for instance, cries when it is about to be slaughtered. This has something to tell us. I dont know if they have some innate sensors which they developed through time which tell them when something bad is about to happen. I am not arguing that people should stop eating meat but lets learn to end their lives swiftly so they dont suffer a bit and make sure how the meat on our plate has come about before we consume it. Animals kill and eat each other in the wild all the time but we humans have a choice (a choice to be indifferent or be careful). This is not limited to cattle but look at how people treat donkeys. This is sad. Imagine if reincarnation were true and you are born a donkey in the next life. That wont turn out quite well.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:17:57 +0000
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