What religions support speciesism, and which are for equality?

Question

A speciesist is someone who thinks one species (humans usually) is superior to another, and gives unfair treatment to other species while overlooking important similarities.

The Native Americans live side by side with animals, respect them for their strengths, and even call on animal spirits along with the spirits of their own ancestors for healings and rituals.
Native Americans are the antithesis to speciesists.

Have you been brought up as a speciesist, and was it because of your religion?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesism

Answer 1

Jainism is probably the strongest I can think of in its belief in compassion for animals.

Answer 2

I want to respond to one user's comments:
"Are native americans vegetarians? I don't think so! So don't tell me that native americans do not believe in speciesism(as you call it). They eat animals. When they stop eating animals or start eating humans then I'll agree that they believe in speciesism. As long as they are eating animals and not eating humans, I think one could make the logical argument that they think humans are better than animals"

Just because one is not a vegetarian does not mean that they believe they are superior to animals. That is a very linear way of thinking. In general Natives do not think in such a linear way. I am a Native woman. Don't believe what this user is saying.

And the bible I would say promotes speciesists. They have a sort of heirarchy. Man, Mammals, and down the line. Even though man is supposed to protect those lower they also have the right to claim superiority over them. I've learned this in class as well as had many discussions with Christians about this.

Answer 3

I have the feeling that monotheism also brings on speciesism. As God created us as his own image then we must be better that the rest of the crowd, right?

All the native religions, however, respect animals and see them as our brothers. That doesn't mean that everybody used to be vegetarian, though. Sunman's answer clarifies that.

My people, the Estonians (a fenno-ugric nation in Northern Europe, closest relatives are the Finnish), were originally shamanists and animists. The Christian faith was forced on us by invaders and probably because of that, most people still remain pagan in their ways and core beliefs.

In my family, it was just understood that animals deserve the same respect and compassion as humans. It has not even occurred to me that people are somehow better or more deserving, although I understand that a lot of humans may feel that way. (After all, how many animals own an iPod? watch Idols? or Desperate Housewives? ;)))

Answer 4

I think many Bible-based religions support
the idea that humans are superior.
Even science uses animals in inhumane ways to further their research.
I am full-blooded Native American of the Apache tribe, and even though I'm Americanized, I'm still in contact with family
members who practice the traditional
teachings when it comes to the animal medicine you speak of.
You are right on target.


-----upsman: even the animals know the sacred relationship that exists between all species. They understand the give and take involved, and in their own way, they make room for all the others. Though they struggle to live, they are not jealous for their individuality and they understand the relationship between the hunter and the hunted. There is no violation.

Answer 5

Are native americans vegetarians? I don't think so! So don't tell me that native americans do not believe in speciesism(as you call it). They eat animals. When they stop eating animals or start eating humans then I'll agree that they believe in speciesism. As long as they are eating animals and not eating humans, I think one could make the logical argument that they think humans are better than animals.

Answer 6

Jainism is a great example of a non-speciesist religion I think.

Answer 7

Catholicism states in the Principles of Social Justice on Care for Creation.

Man was given dominion, this does NOT mean ownership or superiority. It means we are the stewards responsible for caring for our brothers and sisters of nature. Our direct love and care for them shows our direct love and care for the creator and all of his gifts.

St Francis said it best in his Canticle to Brother Sun

Answer 8

well, christianity teaches that men are superior to animals and that we are to use them as we see fit, biblically speaking. buddhism teaches the highest repect towards animals. they won't build a temple without first sorting through the dirt that will be the foundation, and safely removing all of the bugs and worms, etc. - crazy.

Answer 9

Hindus teach that the entire world is divine (that is manifested from God...is contained in God...and that God still also exists in an unmanifested form beyond the universe). Thus Hindus teach that you should treat everyone and everything with the same dignity and respect that you do God. Not all Hindus are vegetarian, but at the same time they still respect and honor even the plants that they eat and acknowledge that life is being sacrificed so that life can be sustained. They believe that this acknowledgement along with the respect that it is sacred helps remind people not to be wasteful (because no one should ever waste what was sacrificed) and to also not be greedy (take too much), but to strive for harmony and balance. This is why there are temples set up in India by Hindus for animals to come and be fed by the people. Jains in India go even further than Hindus with some monasteries/temples that they have throughout India where they not only feed the animals, but they take in injured animals and care for them.

While Hindus often say that being born a human is a blessing, it is not to say that they think of human beings as being far superior than other life. Instead what they mean is that human beings are often more able to do spiritual practices and thereby being born as a human is considered a blessing because it is thought that you have a greater ability of achieving spiritual goals (like moksha) faster than as an animal. But that is not to say that Hindus do not think that animals are not spiritual. Animals perform their dharma (duty) and dharma is part of spiritual life, too. And if you read stories you can see this idea reflected as animals often help divine incarnations (like the monkeys and bears in the Ramayana that helped Rama rescue Sita from Lanka to use just one example).

As for whether I grew up as a speciesist the answer is no. I come from a very religiously diverse family and have friends from many other religions. At the same time my family is very enviromentally conscious, some of my family own ranches and farms or own land out in the country. I grew up going to a rural school surrounded by farms (though we lived in a midsized city with a population of 45,000, the neighborhood I grew up in was on the edge of town and in the school district of the rural school I attended and not in the school district of the city's public schools). And almost every member of the family owned animals of some kind (dogs, cats, rats, birds, octopus, fish, cows, hamsters, snakes, etc) and if they lived in the country were well aware of the animals that lived on their land (deer, wolves, foxes, skunks, raccoons, squirrels, opposums, etc). And I was always raised that if you see a wounded animal to help it if I was able (which meant that sometimes we had wounded animals at our house....or we'd be visiting family and they'd be taking care of a wounded animal). And I had friends whose families were much the same way. In fact I still have friends like that. One of my friends has her license to care for wounded wild animals and birds seem to know to build their nests in her tree in her backyard for safety. Anytime we've had a storms usually afterwards there are baby birds she has to take care of and once they are old enough she releases them. Her house is fun to visit because her tree always has lots of birds in it (I think animals can sense safe places.....that or they spread the word somehow). My grandmother was definately "the cat lady". She would feed stray cats that had been abandoned near the neighborhood (like I said it was on the edge of town....we lived a block away in the same neighborhood). She would leave water bowls and food bowls on her back porch for them. And I had a friend whose parents did the same thing for dogs (they lived near the entrance of the neighborhood and so abandoned animals would often find their house first. They'd take the dogs in and let them stay in the backyard until they found good homes for them. Both of these folks, my grandmother and friend's parents would take the animals to the vet if they were injured or sick and have them treated and both always tried to find good homes for them. Growing up in this enviroment I was always taught that humans aren't superior to animals, but it is our place to live harmoniously with them and that it is our role, as humans, to care and look after the enviroment, animals, etc.

With how I grew up and the religion I adopted for myself to practice also sharing similar perspectives on this issue it should then come as no surprise that my beloved is a Native American.

Excellent question.

Peace be with you.

Answer 10

Christianity believes in specieism in a way, but we definitely don't believe in unfair treatment of other species. we were taught that we are superior to other species, but that we still must respect them and care for them just as god cares for us.