> Now when we are looking at the way that the animal kingdom breaks down, > didn't you have the right to self defense against the aforementioned creepy > crawly? Were you not defending yourself and your roomy? As humans are we > not superior than the animals and bugs that we come in to contact with, and > does that give us a right to kill them, or are there only situations were it > is ok?
My response below nothing to do with Todd killing the spider BTW - that was probably the best solution, despite my following argument: I don't consider humans "superior" to animals or bugs, we are just another animal on the planet. We are however, smarter, this gives us the ability to do all kinds of things to animals that other species cannot. We can domesticate them and alter their ability to care for themselves in the wild. We can torture them. We can slaughter more than we can ever need to eat. We can kill for sport with weapons. We can neglect domesticated animals that we are responsible for and starve them to death. I dont' think our ability to do these things makes them "right". Just because we can, doesnt' mean we should. I personally think that the concept that man is "superior" comes from the bible - God created man in his own image. As I am not a religious person, and believe man evolved more fortunately than other animals on our planet, I also believe we have no more right to this planet than any other creature on it. Domesticated animals are an interesting case. We created cows - they are a species that would not exist had we not created them. I believe being the creators of cows gives us a special responsibility to them (you break it, you bought it). They were created to be FOOD, and I have no problem with them being food, however, i also think its our responsibility to ensure that the short lives they lives before becoming food is humane and pleasant. And their death isn't painful or stressful. Pet animals are an even bigger responsibility, IMO. We created them to be our companions and our helpers and our friends. These animals should be treated as our companions, helpers and friends. If we can't do this, then we dont' deserve them. ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-community@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
