A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy
September 15, 2010
The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement


Discovery Institute's Bioethics Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith will be speaking in Los Angeles on his book A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement.

Over the past thirty years the concept of animal rights has been slowly seeping into the very marrow of Western culture. One reason for this development is that the term “animal rights” is often used loosely as an instruction to be nicer to animals. But although animal rights groups do sometimes focus their activism on promoting animal welfare, the larger movement they represent is actually advancing a radical belief system. For some activists, animal rights ideology amounts to a quasi-religion, one whose central doctrine declares a moral equivalence between the value of animal lives and the value of human life. Animal rights ideologues embrace their beliefs with a fervor that is remarkably intense and sustained, to the point that many dedicate their entire lives to “speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.” Some believe their cause to be so righteous that it entitles them to cross the line from legitimate advocacy to vandalism and harassment -or even terrorism - against medical researchers, the fur and food industries and others whom they accuse of abusing animals.

All people who love animals and recognize their intrinsic worth can agree that human beings owe animals respect, kindness, and humane care. But Smith argues eloquently that our obligation to humanity matters more, and that granting “rights” to animals would inevitably diminish human dignity.


Wednesday, September 15
7:30 p.m.
Home of Dr. Robert and Leslie Hamilton
Los Angeles, California

Admission: $15

For further information and to register click here .

This is a Literary Café event sponsored by the American Freedom Alliance.