Animals and World ReligionsDespite increasing public attention to animal suffering, little seems to have changed: human beings continue to exploit billions of animals in factory farms, medical laboratories, and elsewhere. In this wide-ranging and perceptive study, Lisa Kemmerer shows how spiritual writings and teachings in seven major religious traditions can help people to consider their ethical obligations towards other creatures. Kemmerer examines the role of animals in scripture and myth, the lives of religious exemplars, and foundational philosophical and moral teachings. Beginning with a study of indigenous traditions around the world, Kemmerer then focuses on the religions of India - Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain - as well as on Daoism and Confucianism in China, and, finally, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Middle East. At the end of each chapter, Kemmerer discusses the lives and work of contemporary animal advocates, showing what they do on behalf of nonhuman animals and how their activism is motivated by personal religious commitments. Animals in the World's Religions demonstrates that rightful relations between human beings and animals are essential for the resolution of some of the most pressing moral problems facing industrial societies. |
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ahimsa Allah animal exploitation Animal Rights anymal liberation anymal products anymals atman beasts birds bodhisattva Buddha Buddhist cattle chickens Chinese Christian traditions compassion compassionate Confucian consume contemporary core cows created creation creatures cruel cruelty dairy Daoist death deer deity divine earth Ecology eggs Ethics example factory farming farmed anymals fish flesh Foltz forest Gandhi God's Guanyin halal Hanh Hanuman harm hens Hindu human hunter hunting Indian indigenous individual industries Islamic Jataka Jesus Jewish karma kill king Koyukon Linzey living Mahabharata mals Masri meat mercy milk monkey moral Muslims myths natural world Neo-Confucian notes peace pigs plant-based diet Precepts protect Qur'an Rabbi religions religious teachings religious traditions reminds requires respect Rumi sacred saints Schochet Scriptures shared slaughter slaughterhouses snake species speciesism spiritual story suffering Sufi Tanakh things turkeys understanding universe vegan diet vegetarian Waddell Waldau Warao Wuwei Xiaogan York Yudhishthira Zhuangzi