The Guardian: All beings that feel pain deserve human rights.

[shockra]

Equality of the species is the logical conclusion of post-Darwin morality

Richard Ryder
Saturday August 6, 2005
The Guardian

The word speciesism came to me while I was lying in a bath in Oxford some 35 years ago. It was like racism or sexism - a prejudice based upon morally irrelevant physical differences. Since Darwin we have known we are human animals related to all the other animals through evolution; how, then, can we justify our almost total oppression of all the other species? All animal species can suffer pain and distress. Animals scream and writhe like us; their nervous systems are similar and contain the same biochemicals that we know are associated with the experience of pain in ourselves.

more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1543755,00.html

Posted in GD:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4278234

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

1. Very good article. Thanks for posting!

[smbolisnch]

2. Great article! I kicked your GD thread.

:)

[livinginphotographs]

3. I'm way too mellow for this tonight.

Maybe tomorrow, but for now, we'll let the fundie carnivores have their fun. After all, we wouldn't want to hurt their feelings. :eyes:

[shockra]

4. Well, damn.

It's already been locked.

I was in a pretty mellow mood myself or I would have posted the PETA Ruffles Feathers article.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0508060070aug06,1,3016639.story?coll=chi-news-hed+OR+http%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2F886j9&ctrack=1&cset=true

I wasn't up for that, and I didn't think anybody else was either.