Paul Hansen's Blog (20)

In a short comment on Culture & Ethics, Discovery Institute’s Wesley J. Smith applauded Donald Trump for declaring January 2018 as “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.” Trump’s decree reads in part as follows:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby…

Sporadically, I watch the “Outdoor” channel on cable TV in a recurring attempt to understand the mind-set of trophy hunters and why they seem able to take the life of a wild animal so glibly and gleefully without regard for its suffering, respect for its natural habitation, or (in some cases) concern for its nursing offspring.

I still don’t understand their apparent callousness. They seem devoid of empathy. Some have suggested…

Despite the 1990 ban on ivory trade, elephants continue to be killed by poachers. According to Defenders of Wildlife, at the turn of the 20th century, there were a few million African elephants and about 100,000 Asian elephants. Today, there are an estimated 450,000 to 700,000 African elephants and between 35,000 and 40,000 wild Asian elephants. Defenders of Wildlife is working through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to maintain a ban on the sale of ivory…

Professor Eleonora Gullone, Associate Professor in Psychology at Monash University, Australia, believes that “Almost without exception, the perpetrators of animal cruelty crimes are the same individuals who carry out aggressive and violent acts including assault, partner and child abuse. Thus, animal cruelty crimes should be treated with the same seriousness as crimes against humans. Moreover, the punishments should reflect their severity." For more details on her new book, Animal…

Modern institutions like to euphemize their worst habits, and nowhere is this more evident than in the meat industry. Animals have been reduced from sentient individuals to material commodities that contribute to the production of capital. Hence, they are captured, caged, raised, poached, trapped, skinned, traded, or sold as “exotic” pets or for their fur, body parts, or supposed medicinal value.

The semantics of meat-industry terms is itself revealing. Such terms as “poultry”,…

In reality, the meat industry is interested NOT in animal welfare, but in maintaining its “market share” or bottom line—and that means substituting euphemistic labeling for true ethical reform and getting anti-cruelty laws compromised. Read this essay by James McWilliams: …

It has never been a “level playing field” between humans and wildlife, especially where profit is at stake. The pressures of smuggling, poaching, and abuse continue. Here’s one more example from Thailand.

Yet another example (among hundreds) of animal cruelty and oppression. Click on http://www.thepetitionsite.com/216/630/739/bear-dancing-is-cruel-not-cute/?cid=Facebook_petition_bear-dancing and watch the live footage.

Dr. Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle who directs a newsletter site called “The Human Exceptionalist” (see http://support.discovery.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=4143.0&dlv_id=9642). Smith and his colleagues—understandably—are concerned about “increasing attacks on free will” and the…

(Note: Since a thorough defense of this thesis would require expanding my discussion in several directions, this essay is presented only as an abstract or outline.)

Several contemporary philosophers (including Alvin Plantinga,¹ atheist Thomas Nagel,² and former atheist Antony Flew³) have argued that ‘scientific naturalism’ is an inadequate view of our universe—which is to say, it…

The adjective “innocent,” which frequently occurs in pro-life discussions about “innocent human beings,” does no justificatory work, except to identify those subjects who cannot defend themselves against the more powerful. So used, it can apply equally to “innocent mammals” who cannot defend themselves against poachers or abusive owners. If Greg Koukl’s appeal to “transcendent human value”¹ works to ground…

In a previous blog post, I suggested that the history of animal exploitation was like a centuries-old ‘trail of tears’ in that, just as the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forcibly separated Native Americans from their homelands, so the treating of animals as mere commodities separated them from their natural lives and habitats. In the case of the Cherokee and other tribes, white Americans sought to acquire their land and the tribes were simply “in the way.” In the case…

During August of 2010, the Animal Planet channel repeatedly televised a documentary entitled “The Last Cowboy,” which narrates the lifestyle, work habits, struggles, and rewards of three Wyoming cattle ranches—those owned by the Stuckey, Hughes, and Galt families respectively. 

Every year at the end of “calving” season, family members must assist in branding each new animal in the herd, which may include as many as 400 “head.” This entails roping, dragging, innoculating, and…

Personally, I don’t think this is how God intended for people to relate to animals (an understatement). This is obnoxious.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7HRoZmKbqY&feature=digest_wed

Nicolette Hahn Niman argues in her recent book, Righteous Porkchop, that it’s acceptable to raise animals for food as long as they are treated humanely and killed quickly. She assures consumers that the animals at the ranch that she manages with her husband, Bill Niman, have a “good life and an easy death.”¹ Similarly, meat industry advertisers are doing all they can…

Recently I’ve been viewing an impressive 8-disc historical documentary series (produced by Octapixx and narrated by James Earl Jones) entitled “The American West.” Discs 3 and 4 of the series cover the infamous “Trail of Tears” experienced by the Cherokee and other tribes of Native Americans. As a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 under President Andrew Jackson, thousands of indians were snatched from their homes and forcibly marched some 800 miles…

Ordinarily, those who are concerned about animal ethics or animal welfare would instead ask, “Does culling justify hunting?”—In other words, “Does the need to curtail overpopulation in a species justify killing them (even from helicopters!) in large numbers to ensure their own survival and that of their prey?” This is a fair question, and one that requires careful consideration by conservation biologists.

However, if the political propaganda of hunting lobbyists (and of course gun…

There is no doubt that the gun culture is replete with euphemisms. Terms such as “sport”, “harvest”, “game”, and “livestock” grace the rhetoric of those who want to subdue animals and gather trophies of victory and dominance with impunity. 

To ask if hunting is analogous to either a sport or a harvest is often to evoke passionate debate between animal lovers and “arms-bearing” traditionalists. Certainly, an argument can be made for the taking of “livestock” in the wild by hunters…

In response to some criticisms I raised about his paper “What is Speciesism?”, Oscar Horta has graciously replied with some Clarifications to it. To extend that discussion, I am offering this follow-up reply, which will neither address all of Horta’s points, nor do so in the sequence he presents them. In addition, not all of my comments will pertain directly to something he has written, since I cite the views of Mary Midgley, Peter Singer, Tom Regan, Steve Sapontzis, Gary…

Thanks again, Kate, for the link to Oscar Horta’s paper, which I am very glad to have gotten. To avoid wasting space or being too tangential, I am responding to it here, rather than as part of the David Nibert dialogue. 

Professor Horta does a good job in laying out the philosophical options, and, in fact, ratifies my own point when he writes: “The term ‘anthropocentrism’ should be clearly distinguishable from ‘speciesism.’ These two words are not synonyms.” (p.…