Factory Farms and Animal Cruelty

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Factory Farms and Animal Cruelty Imagine that Christ meant these words literally. Imagine that accepting Christ as your personal savior required lunching with him. Of course, if Christ were coming over today for lunch, you would probably dust, vacuum, adjust the pictures on the walls, pick your best outfit, comb your hair, jot down a few questions about heaven. But what would the two of you eat? Would you serve Christ fried chicken? How would you feel about setting a plate of steaming, sizzling pork chops in front of your savior? A few hard-boiled eggs wouldn't hurt, right? Maybe a glass of milk to wash it all down? For many Christians, faith has little to do with what's in the fridge. Lunch with Christ would raise issues far more problematic than choice of food. However, I propose that if the above-mentioned foods came from modern factory farms, Christ would not eat or drink them. I will argue that Christians are obligated to be morally concerned about animals, and that this obligation brings Christians into moral conflict with modern factory farms. Furthermore, I will argue that Catholic Social Teaching (hereafter "CST") should emphasize a theocentric basis for such obligation and conflict. Rethinking Aquinas: Why Animals Matter Some Christians think the words "animal rights" smack of wacky liberalism or of sentimentality. Such thinking presupposes that animals are not proper objects of moral concern. After all, in Genesis God commanded Adam to rule over creation. God gave Noah "everything that lives and moves" for food (Gen. 1:28). Therefore, according to this way of thinking, animals exist exclusively as means to human ends. This position, which I call the Utility Thesis, does agree with some traditional Ca... ... middle of paper ... ...nson, Andrew. Factory Farms. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991. Linzey, Andrew. Introduction. Animals on the Agenda. Ed. A. Linzey et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998. ---."The Theos-Rights of Animals." Animals and Christianity. Ed. A.Linzey et al. New York: Crossroad, 1990. Paape, Max. "Researchers Develop Effective Mastitis Treatments." Agricultural Research Service. 14 Jul. 2005. United States Department of Agriculture. 1 Nov. 2004 http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/ha/han15.htm Regan, Tom. Introduction. Animal Rights and Human Obligations. Ed. A. Linzey et al. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1976. Regan, Tom. "A Reply to Griffiths." Animals and Christianity. Ed. A. Linzey et al. New York: Crossroad, 1990. Wojtyla, Karol. "On Social Concern." Catholic Social Teaching. Office For Social Justice. 1 Nov. 2004 www.osjspm.org/cst/srs.htm

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