In early February, a federal judge in San Diego tossed out a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against SeaWorld. The suit, filed last October, cited five whales as plaintiffs, and PETA argued that the whales were being treated as slaves according to the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits slavery and “involuntary servitude.”
WeathersThe lawsuit sought to grant constitutional rights to an animal species, a first in human history. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller stopped the lawsuit from being anything more than a publicity stunt with his ruling that “?’slavery’ and ‘involuntary servitude’ are uniquely human activities, [so] there is simply no basis to construe the Thirteenth Amendment as applying to non-humans.”
Well done. But the judge’s concern was with only legal and constitutional implications, since those were the perimeters of the lawsuit, and that doesn’t go far enough. The willingness of PETA to file the suit displays a gaping hole in an already insufficient worldview. In other words, we should be alarmed that an organization tasked for upholding the rights of animals should have such an insufficient worldview, demonstrated by an inadequate and inept doctrine of creation.
When PETA filed its lawsuit, thinking it was drawing attention to the plight of the whales, it actually diminished humanity and the animal kingdom in the process. PETA reflected the unhealthy doctrine of creation that has been evolving in our culture for decades, one which considers humans as, well, less than human. It is this twisted doctrine of creation that has fostered abortions by the millions and even leads to doctors advocating euthanasia of the terminally ill people considered a burden to society.
All worldviews begin with a doctrine of creation, beliefs about human origins and purpose. How we treat other people and the created order is deeply informed by that worldview.
Animals should have animal rights, be treated fairly, kindly, and with regard for their created nature. But humans alone should have rights accorded to creatures crafted in the image of God. In our created nature, we are assigned to manage the creation (Genesis 1:26). In our sin, at times we abuse the creation. But we should strive to uphold God’s ideal, not to distort it.