Animals and Religion: In The End.

My journey is now at an end. I have been researching the relationship between Animals and Religion since October and I have discovered some truly amazing things. So, for my last post, I present to you my own views on the subject:

In The End:

No matter hard we try, we simply cannot ignore the fact that animals exist.

We have dog shows and horse races and we watch clips of animals doing funny and comical things over and over again. We are amazed when we hear unbelievable stories about animals and we are horrified when we hear cases of animal cruelty.

Those of us who have pets are comforted by the loyalty and love we are shown from our furry friends; sometimes, it feels as if our pets care for us more than our family and friends do.

With all this in mind, we may conclude that no religion on the face of the earth can afford to ignore these, our fellow creatures.

And as can be seen from my posts, no religion actually does ignore animals.

Every religion studied contains a scriptural quotation, an  anecdote and a saying from authoritative figures about how human beings should treat animals with the utmost respect.

In Hinduism, this is manifested by having deities portrayed as animals. In Buddhism, there is the inescapable belief that all beings are our own flesh and blood. In Christianity, believers yearn for the Kingdom of God to arrive, so that all creatures may live in peace. And in Islam, animals are regarded as fellow Muslims; who submit to God entirely.

However, for animal rights activists, this is only one side of the coin and is simply not enough. Hindus and Buddhists assert that animals can only achieve liberation once they become human. Christians traditionally saw humans as having dominion over all other species and the Islamic method of slaughtering animals is seen as barbaric and completely outdated.

It is not just individuals outside these traditions who are critical. There is evidence that the religious themselves are changing, particularly with regards to vegetarianism in Christianity and Islam. For these Christians and Muslims, there is the belief that God is not just the God of humanity, but the God of all Creation. All creatures thus have the divine right to lead a happy, healthy life. As is to be expected, there is much opposition from the "Orthodox" quarter.

Inevitably, these issues and debates will continue to take place, not only in the discussion forum or blog or website, but also in the house, street, market-place, Temple, Mosque, Church and on the farm.

In short, they will continue anywhere and everywhere, simply because of the fact that humans are not alone, and religiously, were never meant to be alone.