Does anyone here believe, truly believe, that animals should enjoy the same rights as people?
No. Animals CANNOT have the same rights as humans. The concept of ‘rights’ is purely human and does not fit the worldview of animals at all. For something to be a ‘right’, it must apply to ALL those it is meant for EQUALLY. This means that every creature must not only understand what it means conceptually, but that every species must treat every other species equally. Otherwise, it’s not a ‘right’…it’s a ‘priviledge’ for the elite and granted to others only at the whim and will of those elite. For example, if you say that animals have a ‘right’ not to be eaten for food, then this concept my apply equally to ALL animals. This means lions have no right to eat gazelles, alligators have no right to eat any animal it encounters, and so forth. You cannot say that animals have a ‘right’ not to be eaten by humans. This would make it a ‘priviledge’ extended by humans to animals. Bring on the DR’s.
Agreeing to that would entail that I agree that all humans are animals. I do not believe in Evolution so I think humans are above animals. Animals should be treated with respect and should be taken care of by humans. By stating that I do not believe animals and humans are equal I do not condone animal cruelty. They have a right to live and they do experience pain.
Your question is too simplified and some would think you mean right to a pension payment or something else etc. But I think you really meant the basic universal right of all sentient beings to exist without the fear that barbaric humans are always out to hunt, slaughter or torture them. Thus, the most basic right is they shall not need to fear humans because we must not kill them, (hence, thou shall not kill). If that’s the case then, of course, humans should not because of their might, live a barbaric livelihood by treating other living beings around them like they own them. We are not supposed to eat them anyway as the most conclusive study ever undertaken, The China Study, came up with all the evidences that only a plant-based diet (ie, vegan) is the most healthiest for human beings. http://www.youtube.com/v/w6GaAnM9jDM Humankind has treaded on the wrong path of eating other people’s flesh, and today with mass livestock animals slaughters to feed 6.3 billion people; the earth is cho
