by Shannon Lisa

Created on: August 02, 2010

In order for animal rights to have gone too far, animals would have to have the same rights as humans and then some. Generally speaking, vaguely worded phrases such as "Have animal rights gone too far?" produce a slew of responses that are thought through from only one perspective. The question seems simple, but it goes deeper than that surface simplicity. It may be your opinion that animal rights have gone too far, but who are you to decide the rights of another living being. Who am I to decide the parameters of what defines 'rights' to a creature whose language I cannot even understand. It is interesting that humans have granted themselves the right to vote others rights away (including other humans) because in all reality, everyone is supposed to have rights. We as a collective DECIDED to start voting away the rights of others, we were not GIVEN this right by any actual authority other than our own.

Rights are defined as "that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc." When we hear the word 'anyone' we automatically think 'human'. We never stop to think that animals do have brains and nervous systems and they do have emotions. They do feel fear, they do think, they do feel. The very things that define us as living beings define animals too. Humans are animals by their very definition as well, yet we set ourselves apart from the rest of the world...we set ourselves apart from that which is nature because many of us feel we are above it. As evolved as we may be, we are still a part of nature, we are still animals, and we should still treat the world around us with more respect than we do. This is our home, yet we abuse it and everything in it on a daily basis.

There are many people who cite the Bible as a reason to claim animals are here for our use and consumption. Though not everyone in the world is Christian, this fact is still true and it cannot be denied to those who believe it. It does not say in the Bible, however, that waste is acceptable nor does it say that torture is either. We may have been given plants and animals for our benefit, but nowhere does it say we were meant to treat those things so poorly while using them. Gifts are supposed to be respected and treated with love and care, especially gifts from God according to those who believe in Him. We strip animals of their dignity treating them the way we do in general, and I do not think that is alright. Especially not when many of the people who cite the Bible

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