The point was, or should be, do animals experience pain the same way
humans do? We now know this to be “yes” with some qualifications based on
neurological function. Do animals think? Again, most scientists pretty much
agree that animals experience a thought process, but whether this is similar
to that of humans is debatable (see “Do Animals Think” by Clive Wynne,
which was written in 2006 and is now quite dated. Newer research is
reported at Positive News where the conclusion is that animals experience
cognition in a manner similar to humans). The old distinction between
elevated cerebral cogitation versus hard wired indomitable instinct are falling
away, as we discover more and more ways that human are also hard wired
in many areas, and animals exhibit decisions based on choice and are able
to learn. Any shepherd with a sheep dog could have told you that 5,000
years ago.…
The comparison of our genetic material also is a factor bringing us together
again. The genetic evidence linking humans to other animals is undisputable.
The religious fundamentalists take refuge in the contention that the
similarities exist because god made it that way or they deny them although.
Neither position is worthy of a response. The funny thing is that many
religious people today in the West want their animals to have souls. They
want to be reunited with dear old fido or fluffy in the great hereafter
(perhaps to get forgiveness for euthanizing and neutering them?). The myth
of heaven thereby comes into conflict with the myth of the uniqueness of the
human soul. In Islam, heaven is well described, and pets don’t make it
there. In Christianity little or nothing is said about heaven, so you can pretty
much believe whatever you want, although all orthodox thinking does not
ascribe souls to animals.
Will people following Islam and Christianity start to believe that animals
have souls again? I doubt it. But will they stop fighting against laws
protecting animal rights in the name of religion? That is a different matter,
and I hope that they will come to support animal rights as more evidence
accumulates on the character and nature of our furry relations. According
animals a modicum of compassion is not anathema to the core beliefs of any
of the three monotheisms, so hopefully this will be able to progress. Will
they all become vegetarian? No way. Humans developed with the capacity to
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