Views on Animal Cruelty...

[Doredia]

I was reading some blogs about animal cruelty, most of them containing phrases like "This is an abomination before God" and similar things. I was wondering, should we threat these animals nicer just because God wants us to? Or should we just be kind to them simply because they are living things? Even a theist could see the obvious choice.

Any opinions?  

[ranch_and_potatos]

i dont think there are any options. if an animal loves you then you love it back and take care of it. you dont beat it because it peed in the house while you were gone for two days. i could never ever, never, never, NEVER abuse my puppy. the occasional smack on the nose and pointed finger for eating garbage but there is a line between smack on the nose and broken rib. same as child abuse. difference between smack on the but for running into traffic and bruised liver.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

I can see where a theist would be inclined to say that animal abuse is an abomination before God. There's nothing really wrong with that statement.

The important thing is that they understand why it should be considered "an abomination before God." "God said so" might work for them on one level, but it's important for them to look deeper and discover why "God said so."

 

[The Singular Enigma]

I think animal cruelty is unacceptable, as long as human life is valued worth more. How many dogs is a human worth? If you could save every dog in the world or a single person, which would be chosen? I am not in favor of animal cruelty, but I would not kill a single person for the sake of a thousand animals.  

[dl1371]

Darkly Wishful

I was reading some blogs about animal cruelty, most of them containing phrases like "This is an abomination before God" and similar things. I was wondering, should we threat these animals nicer just because God wants us to? Or should we just be kind to them simply because they are living things? Even a theist could see the obvious choice.

Any opinions?

An anarchist would agree. Unfortunately, the only thing that keeps a lot of people from doing morally wrong things in the world (such as animal abuse) is the fact that they might end up in jail. Or in this case, their all powerful creator will punish them if they don't.

Essentially, all atheists who say that you can be moral without a God, believe anarchy works as well. Well at least having a God makes some people more moral, some stay just the same.

EDIT: I'm not saying religious people can't be immoral either, anyone can say that their God believes in murder, that was just saying that some atheists can also be immoral.  

[OtakuJeannie]

If they are referring to the Christian good, I'd find that statement unfounded, hell in the Old Testament sacrifice was required for certain things, including a sin offering for any children born, and don't forget that scapegoating originated from taking a real goat, leading it though town, having everyone put their sin's upon it's head and turning it out into the desert to die.

I find cruelty to any living thing wrong, not because god tells me, but because I do not like pain and I do not see any good reason to willfully inflict it upon others human or otherwise. I'm a little sensitive that way.  

[Levis Pennae]

Didn't they punish/kill vegetarians during the inquisition? I'm pretty sure the logic was that they are not grateful for God's gift of flesh or something like that.  

[PetreyDish]

I think animal cruelty is... Bad. Honestly, that's the only answer anyone can give if they have a conscience.

I don't know what the OP meant by "even a theist", I mean, really, I'm pretty sure theists as well as atheists can say, "Wait, I love animals, they're so beautiful and wondrous and blahblahblah, I could never be so terrible to another being," or, "Oh, wait. I'm a good person so I should do good things and not hurt that animal," or something else without appealing to a higher power.

For a theist, God is the ultimate good, and to say that something is "an abomination before God" is to say that "I find this to be one of the most disgusting things on the planet." It's also an attempt to point out an animal's worth, because the almighty cares about it, despite its seeming insignificance. I really don't see anything terrible about that line.

Furthermore, Christianity, because apparently that's the only religion worth raging at, has changed a lot since it's inception and the rise of the Inquisition. That's like hating all of the Japanese today because of Pearl Harbor. They're all completely different people with extremely differing beliefs, and to lump the population of today with a group from the past together is to deny their individuality.