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Answering Arguments Against Animal Rights |
| Part III - Argument Two: Animals Were Put Here for Our Use |
Argument two: animals were put here for our use.
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This is the most common argument that people come up with for abusing animals.
People who hold this view truly believe that we live in a human-centered
universe in which everything has been put here for our use.
But if this were true, there would be no such thing as...
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...mosquitoes, ...
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...poisonous mushrooms, ...
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...or viruses.
The fact that there are many things which act against our interests
contradicts the idea that this is a human-centered universe in which all
things were put here for our use.
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Secondly, this is an arbitrary claim. I could just as easily say that
women and children were put here for our use. I could then justify
child abuse and wife battering on the basis of this claim. Clearly, this
would just be a rationalization for acting immorally.
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Bible believers may object that this is not an a "arbitrary claim"
because it states in the Bible that God gave us dominion over the animals,
and said that we could use them for food.
We'll be devoting another program to the subject of Biblical morality, as
it is clearly beyond the scope of this program.
[Please see the online article:
Rational Compassionate Living.]
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Suffice it to say for now that the Bible also permits slavery and
dominion over women. Both of which we have come to realize are moral violations
of inherent rights.
So, we know that the Bible permits some things which we have come
to realize are immoral. We cannot say then that just because the Bible
permits the use of animals, that the user of animals is moral. Since this
could be just another instance of things the Bible permits which are immoral.
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The Bible is a collection of many writings which span a thousand years of
different authors and philosophies. Because of this, it has been called,
"a fiddle on which any tune may be played."
Not all of the Bible writers felt that killing animals was morally
okay. In place of this verse on dominion, why not focus in on the Biblical
commandment: "Thou shalt not kill"? Or on Proverbs, chapter 12, verse 10,
which reads:
The just man takes care of his beast, but the heart of the wicked is
merciless.
Even if we did have dominion or rulership over the other species
on this planet, that would not make it okay for us to abuse animals as
we do.
Being a ruler does not free one from moral responsibility towards one's
subjects. What sort of rulers should we be? Judging from factory farms,
animal laboratories, and veal crates, many of us are trying to emulate
the rulership of Adolph Hitler!
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Indeed, the Jewish writer Isaac Singer (a refugee from Nazi persecution)
has stated:
To animals, all humans are Nazis.
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