Why Animal Rights?

‘Animal rights refers to the belief that animals deserve certain considerations and should not be used by humans for food, clothing, entertainment, or experimentation.’

A ‘right’ is essentially an entitlement not to be treated a certain way by humans. The Christian Animal Rights Association bases its beliefs on the Bible. Although the Bible does not use the specific term ‘animal rights,’ it does accord them ‘rights’ in the sense that we understand them today. For instance, even in our current cursed and fallen world (Gen 3:1–24), the Bible accords animals the right not to be harmed for entertainment and the right not to be treated with cruelty. Accordingly, our ministry stands against industries and activities that harm animals for amusement and/or are cruel to animals. Additionally, the Bible accords animals the right not to be subjected to bestiality (Exod 22:19; Lev 18:23, 20:15–16; Deut 27:21).

In our current cursed and fallen world (Gen 3:1–24), the Bible does tolerate exploiting animals for food (Prov 27:23), clothing (Matt 3:4), and work (Deut 22:10, 25:4), so long as their well-being is prioritized. However, meat-eating requires many biblical restrictions (which indicate that it is bad). Of note, the Bible is silent on the issue of animal experimentation. However, exploiting animals for work, clothing, and food is not optimal in the eyes of the Lord. Through a variety of principles derived from the Bible, such as The Back to Eden Principle, The New Earth Now Principle, The New Covenant, The Pro-Peace Principle, The Anti-Death Principle, The Anti-Violence Principle, and Biblical Principles of Justice, our ministry advocates for animals to have the right not to be subjected to exploitation by humans for work, food, clothing, entertainment, or experimentation, as God optimally desires.