#2-meat or mercy

After reading The Green Halo, I thought Kohak's views were very insightful and how he presents his information was creative. However, there are some things that I struggle to agree with. His view that animals are equal or should be treated equally to humans is something that I have never thought of before. Kohak does a good point explaining how our severe treatment of anilmals also affects how we treat humans who we view "beneath us", shown in the Nazi's treatment of Jews. While I believe that animals deserve to be treated with a certain amount of respect and dignity, I do not believe that they are our equals. Yes, everything around us is God's creation and it is our duty to treat all living creatures with respect, and take care of the world that God gave us. However, there are certain qualities that we are given as humans that I think set us apart, such as our ability to reason or have moral judgement; we do not just follow our instincts. Animals feel pain and strive to live as we do, but this is the same for every living thing; it is an innate response. I do not believe that they have souls or that they deserve the same treatment of humans, nor do I believe that the are mere machines. All living things deserve respect not only because God has created them, but also because they themselves are alive and feel.

As Kohak portrays, throughtout history animlas have always been used for food and supplies that humans needed to survive. He makes the point that animals deserve every right to live as humans. While I do not agree with any mistreatment towards animals, it is hard for me to agree that throughout history our treament of animals was wrong. When needed, I do not think it is wrong to use an animal for food; it becomes wrong when we allow our greed to take over and we kill or torture for the sake of our luxury.

Animals have the right to live without creulty and unnecessary pain and suffering. I do not know if it is possible to change the world's view about animals as Kohak desires, but I do think there are things that can be imporved. I do not think vegetarianism is the solution. While there is hunger in the world, people will always kill animals for food; I'm not sure if that will ever change. However, I do think animals need to be viewed as living creatures who feel pain and joy. Maybe if more people begin to realize that animals are living beings and not just "machines" they will be given more respect.
Kohak's book has been very interesting so far, and eye opening to the ecological issues around us. I am intersted to see what he presents us with next.