Jul 03 2008
Planet of the Apes? Yes in Spain!
[BP]
The Spanish Parliament’s move to grant rights previously reserved for human beings to chimpanzees and other apes is a victory for those seeking to minimize the uniqueness of humanity, a bioethics specialist says.
An environmental committee in Spain’s legislature approved a resolution June 25 calling for the government to abide by the Great Apes Project, a 15-year-old campaign to grant the right to life, freedom and no torture to chimps, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos. The measure has the support of a majority of members of Parliament and is expected to become law, according to Reuters News Service.
The declaration, developed in 1993 by a group of primatologists, ethicists, and psychologists known as the Great Ape Project, demands “the extension of the community of equals to include all great apes.” According to the declaration, apes may not be killed except under “strictly defined circumstances,” such as self-defense. They may not be imprisoned without due legal process, and they may not be subjected to the “deliberate infliction of severe pain,” even if doing so is said to benefit others.
The Great Apes Project (GAP) is the brainchild of philosophers Peter Singer, a controversial ethics professor at Princeton University, and Paola Cavalieri, who founded it in 1993, Reuters reported.
GAP’s goal is not just to improve conditions for apes but “to demote human beings from the uniquely valuable species and into merely another animal in the forest,” Wesley Smith wrote on his weblog. Smith is a bioethicist, author and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute.
“Once people accept that premise, Judeo/Christian philosophy goes to the guillotine allowing the utilitarian agenda to proceed unhindered, leading in turn to the moral value of the weak and vulnerable among us becoming archaic, resulting in their loss of the right to life and being used instrumentally for those deemed more valuable.
“In the world being born out of the ashes of the sanctity/equality of human life ethic, value will be subjective and rights temporary — depending on one’s individual capacities rather than humanity,” Smith wrote. “And we will see apes … being viewed as more important than some humans.”
Read more here.
[From the Bible]
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
[From me]
I guess they waited for Charlton Heston to die before they tried this. I’m not for any kind of torture. But Animals are not equal with humans. Did Apes create vaccines to cure diseases? Can they participate in diplomacy? Do they talk? What’s next? Roaches? Ants? Fleas? When will it end?
What do you think?
8 responses so far
Peter Singer is wildly pro-abortion. He, like other pro-legalized abortionists, realize the folly of trying to say that the unborn aren’t human (those pesky 4-D ultrasounds and embryology textbooks teaching that life begins at conception get in the way of that), but they moved on to philosphical “personhood” arguments. They claim that if humans don’t have self-awareness or some such things that they are fair game for abortion.
The only good thing about Singer is that he takes the illogical personhood arguments to their logical conclusion and supports infanticide as well, such as the rights to kill disabled babies - http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2006/09/22/peter-singer-ok-to-kill-disabled-babies/ . The other pro-aborts (other than Barack Obama)usually draw the line at birth.
So, these questions arise: Where do unborn humans and apes and humans and apes allegedly without consciousness fit in the chain? Can you have ape abortions? Can you have ape infanticide?
Neil’s last blog post..Are you sure you want to bring Jesus into this?
I think this sounds suspiciously like a setup for a joke my brother told me, about school integration, that I heard perhaps 55 years ago. .
Bob Cleveland’s last blog post..I Got Your “Flip” Right Here, Pal……
I saw this report earlier this week. My first thought was: “How crazy can our world get!”
Then, I looked down at my dog. She’s planning a revolt if I don’t soon give her equal status around our house. She wants treats more often, a medium well steak once a week, and a softer bed to sleep in. Oh, and when it’s raining, she wants me to walk her outside, with an umbrella over her head.
Ain’t going to happen! Not as long as I am the alpha male around here!
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Sweet Home Alabama
I saw this earlier this week as well. I knew it was in the works, I just didn’t actually think it would happen. Apparently my naivety got the best of me. This is completely ridiculous.
It does make me wonder though, since abortions for humans are ok, and animals are now equal to people, can I now hunt without PETA getting mad at me?
Anyways . . . this is dumb. Things like this make me want Jesus to come back today!
Michael’s last blog post..God and Vanilla Dr. Pepper
Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus!
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Sweet Home Alabama
Looks like somebody’s made a monkey outta parliament.
Marty Duren’s last blog post..Taking a Break
“IT’S A MADHOUSE!!! A MAAAADHOUSE!!!”
Chris Knight’s last blog post..How the BBC resurrected Davros for DOCTOR WHO
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