What exactly gives something a right to live?

Question

In my other question: http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index;_ylt=AjA.tGS_6WSE9Gznf3cEDr7b7BR.;_ylv=3?sid=396545163

a lot of people brought up the opinion that there is a big difference between killing a fetus and a serial killer. (We won't go into how the death penalty has been known to claim innocent victims).

But no one said there was a big difference between a fetus and an animal killed for food. Which is interesting, because there is a big difference. If the fetus is less than 5 1/2 months old, it doesn't feel pain or pleasure- it doesn't have a complicated enough nerve system at that stage. But the animals killed for food certainly feel pain- a lot of it in this country especially.

So why would an early stage fetus have more right to life than an adult cow, or pig? Is it because people believe fetus' have "souls".

I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts.

Answer 1

Are you advocating eating fetuses?

Answer 2

if you were in a life or death situation and had to choose your life or an animals, which would you choose. i don't see people laying down their lives for animals. don't be cruel to animals. all animals have a right to live even a fetus. i will kill to eat, i will choose my life over the life of an animal, and i would kill every animal on this planet and give my own life to protect a fetus because i was once a fetus and im glad no one ate me. humans come first if you are a human. do you think a pig cares about you? i never had a pig save me from a burning building, i've yet to met the cow that invented the Internet, or the chicken that made sure i had food, shelter, water and life.

plant are alive, is killing a plant better than killing an animal?

Answer 3

You are comparing apples and rocks.

There IS a big difference between killing an unborn baby and a convicted serial killer. But I will agree with you that some innocent victims have been claimed. So let's keep more of them in jail forever. Fine with me.

BUT

A 5 month old human fetus would have to be compared to a 5 month old animal fetus for your argument to work, see? Comparing fetus to fetus.

But if you research human 5 1/2 month old fetuses, you'll see that you are wrong about them not feeling pain. And if you have ever seen an ultrasound of a fetus that age, you'd really realize how dumb your argument is.

My ultra sound showed me my little girl yawning and sucking her thumb. That was the day I picked out her name.

Animals should be treated as humanely as possible, I believe. But if my house is on fire and I have to choose who to rescue, my dog or my baby, I'm going for the baby.

And I would bet that you would go for yours first, as well, because we value HUMAN LIFE over that of animals, always.

Answer 4

Examine the reasons for why an animal or a human fetus are killed.

An animal killed for food has been killed for food--that is, someone is at least going to get some use out of the carcass. Part of it may be used to eat, providing protein to a balanced omnivorous diet. The rest of the body is used, too, usually... perhaps not in the most appetizing way (fertilizer, dog food, etc.)... But it is at least used.

A fetus, however, is not killed for food, nor is used for conversion in any other way. Most abortions are a matter of convenience vs. inconvenience--many women abort because of health risks/concerns, certainly; but many others simply don't want a baby and therefore terminate the pregnancy. They are otherwise physically capable of raising a baby, if not necessarily emotionally or mentally able to raise one (plenty of people who have kids are guilty of that, too).

Again, putting down all death regardless of the reasons is unwise. You have to examine the reasons and needs for it.

Answer 5

It is a good thought, and as a Christian and an animal lover sometimes I wonder if I should become a vegetarian.

But then - hypocrite that I am - I usually just draw the line in how the animal was killed.

For example, if PETA is protesting KFC's cruel and inhumane termination of chickens, then I will not eat at KFC.

But the truth is - I don't much like KFC anyway; so it's not really all that big a sacrifice.

Honestly, the older I get - the more I think vegetarian is the way to go - not just for moral or ethical reasons; but also for health reasons too!

Answer 6

a being has the right to life from the moment it is alive. but in nature, if something is alive, it doesn't mean the whole of nature respects that beings right to life. there's a cycle in nature, an interdependence and the general trend inclines towards the survival of the fittest.
its different in the case of human beings, so obviously you cannot compare humans to pigs. In the case of humans, theres no rule of the wild, our society wants to protect both the fit and the needy, it aims towards equality at least on the level of "the right to life". so instead of killing all the disadvantaged people, we protect them and they are able to live too because man was able to manipulate the world to his advantage. we have countries, and cities, so we are no longer the subject of nature, but nature is the subject of man.

Now when we discuss the killing of person, we must first ask what makes a person BE a person (as opposed to being a cabbage). It is the generally accepted belief that "self-awareness" is that distinctive trait. A fetus does not have self awareness, because in the first trimester his mid-brain is not yet developed (the thalamus - which we know it is the bridge between the incoming stimuli and the cerebrum.) - this bridge does not exist, the cortex is not yet developed, so obviously there is no consciousness for that fetus. from a self-awareness point of view, he is like a comatose adult man.

Man feeds on both vegetables and meat. It would be absurd to demand that no animal be killed, when we know that animal-origin protein is necessary in the diet of humans. Also, the animals we kill are bread solely for the purpose of becoming our food, and they have no place in the wild anymore. Do you see any cows running around in the savanna? :P There's a difference between killing for survival and killing out of a whim. Carnivorous animals kill for survival, from the need to feed or to increase the chances of their survival and reproduction. We breed cattle to eat.
The fact that we are exterminating wild species and wiping out acres of forest should pose more questions than the fact that we are eating cattle, which are around by the gazillions.

Answer 7

I believe the baby gets his soul at comception, animals don't

The pupose of humanity is reproduction,

Animals are for food,

and not human

When abortions first became legal there was alot that they didn't know, and most recently they thought that the first time baby's opened their eyes was when they were born, which they have since found to be untrue.

In my personal experience I recently had a miscarriage of twins, at 14 weeks, one actually died at 9 weeks

I had to deliver both of them, it was very sad

But none the less because of where it happened in the hospital room and not the labor room I was able to see them

The 14 week old was a bigger and just looked like a small baby about the size of my hand

and the 9 week old, was very tiny about the size of my thumb

she had eyes and ears and hands and fingers, and legs and feet
and little veins and a skeleton and everything even a little black heart
little ribs ,

It was baby, i looked and inspected her, even a little butt

She may have been dead but i can assure you she was no alien, or fetus, she looked just like a normal little mini baby the size of my thumb

and the placenta was like a teeny little liver

I saw she had little veins, because I am white and she was very white almost grey .

So even tho they say they don't feel pain, I am not sure that that is true,

I mean your finger is small , but it still hurts if you pinch it

and a baby's finger is even smaller but it hurts if you pinch it

and a strand of hair is actually dead skin but if you pull it out, it still hurts.

Animals are also abused and killed, and it hurts
but they are after all animals


Meg

Answer 8

it was man that thought up the idea that a fetus has no soul, not god! An I doubt that man is the expert in the knowledge of souls! God refers to human life as being a precious thing. Is a fetus not a living human? God has refered to sinners also. But he didnt say they were un-worthy of life! Nor did he infer that they were disposable! I doubt that mankind has the credentials needed to be the one to determin just when a soul is created? My personal oppenion is that life begins with the very first stage of conception, which I call life. And I truly doubt that life initially begins without a soul. And as for Cows? they are stunned befor being put down. Fetuses arent! And as for a fetus feeling no pain, then i guess if i took a gun and smoked your head and you didnt jump around yelling < ouch. then you felt no pain! right?

Answer 9

A "fetus" at 5.5 months has a beating heart and stopping that beating heart, IMHO is murder. Killing an animal for food is very different than killing an animal for the fun of it. I personally don't agree with abortion but I would never want a law to prevent it. I am neither pro-life or pro-choice. I am pro-birth control.

Answer 10

You always ask such interesting questions.

On one level, I kind of sympathize with the idea that a real and vital spirituality will eventually recognize the interbeing and interconnectedness of all life. And that the most natural expression of that spirituality is a commitment to vegetarianism.

I'm not a vegetarian myself. But I do not take for granted the animals that give their life in order to sustain my own. In some way, I think that is the natural truth underlying the ancient impulse of animal sacrifice: Here we are, taking a life which is not rightfully ours to take, and therefore we must consecrate it to the gods first so that they can give it back to us. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me, but I look at all life as ending in a form of sacrifice, even the seeds and plants whose vital essence we consume.

I don't know that any of that has anything to do with abortion; I obviously think human life is more sacred than animal life, and animal life more sacred than plant life. But only in a vague temporal sense. Ultimately we are all interconnected.

Peace to you.

Answer 11

I think it is due to the idea that animals are bred for food.....period.
As for the fetus, it could be the soul issue, but then again, it could just be that their belief is that a fetus is a child from conception on....

i dunno....

blessings
)o(