According to the Bible God created the
world, manking was created to populate
it, and animals were created for the use
of mankind. But animal rights issues are
still of interest to many Christians.
"Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds
of the air and over every living creature
that moves on the ground." Genesis 1:28
One of the major issues
for Christians is
whether animals have
souls or not. Many
believe that they don't
meaning that God
created us as superiour
to them. Some people
argue that animals are
here for our use.
Christianity teaches that we
should treat animals with
kindness but that they can be
used to benefit mankind as long
as their suffering is considered.
It's also thought that excessive money should not be
spent on animals when human beings are suffering. So
humans are very much 'on top',with animals below.
The Roman Catholic Church tolerates animal
experimentation as long as it brings benefit
to to mankind such as it leading to
developments in life-saving medicines.
Some Christians think it is always wrong to
cause suffering to animals just to increase
out scientific knowledge - particularly as
medicines don't have the same effects on
animals as they do on humans.
There are some Christian
organisations that campaign for
grater compassion to be shown to
animals, such as the group
Catholic Concern for Animals.