PETA's Thirty-Year Legacy

[Geee]

American Thinker:

"...a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy" - PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2010. They honored their longstanding animal rights battle in style by hosting a star-studded Hollywood gala in September. Former President Bill Clinton soon gave them more to celebrate when he announced that he is, at least for the time being, a vegan. His newfound diet appears to be for health reasons more than for any real concern for animals, but such details did little to dampen the animal rightists' mood.

Despite some success for the animal rights movement on state ballot initiatives, the percentages of American vegetarians (3%) and vegans (1%) are small. The philosophy of humans and animals as morally equivalent has gained minimal traction in the past thirty years, and for good reason. A common thread among most animal rights philosophies is a rejection of the belief that man was made in the image of God and bestowed with dominion over animals. The proportion of animal rights supporters that claim to be atheist or agnostic is reportedly five times greater than that of the U.S. population. It is not surprising that those who view mankind as little more than smart animals find no reason to treat animals and humans differently.

Unfortunately for those who consider their vegan lifestyle ethically superior to what we meat-eaters and milk-drinkers do, there may be no worldview that provides less support for treating animals humanely than the naturalism that underlies their beliefs. Charles Darwin understood that according to his theory of common descent, our sense of morality is also a response to the forces of mutation and natural selection.

The first foundation or origin of the moral sense lies in the social instincts, including sympathy; and these instincts no doubt were primarily gained, as in the case of the lower animals, through natural selection.