Humans seem to have a thousand ways to use and abuse other species. In terms of some Faith Groups, the BBC sums it up very succinctly in terms of the historical attitude to other species– Religions/ Animal Rights [extracts from article]
‘For most of history Christians largely ignored animal suffering. Christian thinkers believed that human beings were greatly superior to animals. They taught that human beings could treat animals as badly as they wanted to because people had few (if any) moral obligations towards animals.
When early theologians looked at “nature red in tooth and claw” they concluded that it was a natural law of the universe that animals should be preyed on and eaten by others. This was reflected in their theology.
Christian thinking downgraded animals for three main reasons:
- God had created animals for the use of human beings and human beings were therefore entitled to use them in any way they want
- Animals were distinctively inferior to human beings and were worth little if any moral consideration, because:
- humans have souls and animals don’t
- humans have reason and animals don’t
- Christian thought was heavily humano-centric and only considered animals in relation to human beings, and not on their own terms.’
Fast forward to the 20th century…..many attitudes haven’t changed.
Imperial War Museum – article relating to the 1st World War
‘Whale oil was an extremely important material in the 1st World War. Around 58,000 whales were killed during the war to provide Britain and its allies with the oil they needed to continue fighting.
A common use of whale oil was to make soap. A by-product of this process was glycerine. Nitro-glycerine was a key component of cordite, the standard propellant used in British artillery shells and small arms ammunition. The high demand for cordite meant the glycerine became the main product of British soap factories during the war.’
