The following would indicate that the Bible teaches that humans are to have moral consideration for animals:
Under Jewish law, animals have some of the same rights as humans do. Animals rest on Shabbat, as humans do (Ex. 20:10). We are forbidden to muzzle an ox to prevent it from eating while it is working in the field (Deut. 25:4), just as we must allow human workers to eat from the produce they are harvesting (Deut. 23:25-26). Animals can partake of the produce from fields lying fallow during the sabbatical year (Ex. 23:11).
Several commandments demonstrate concern for the physical or psychological suffering of animals. We may not plow a field using animals of different species (Deut. 22:10), because this would be a hardship to the animals. We are required to relieve an animal of its burden, even if we do not like its owner, do not know its owner, or even if it is ownerless (Ex. 23:5; Deut. 22:4). We are not permitted to kill an animal in the same day as its young (Lev. 22:28), and are specifically commanded to send away a mother bird when taking the eggs (Deut 22:6-7), because of the psychological distress this would cause the animal. In fact, the Torah specifically says that a person who sends away the mother bird will be rewarded with long life, precisely the same reward that is given for honoring mother and father (Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16), and indeed for observing the whole Torah (Deut. 4:40). This should give some indication of the importance of this law.
According to the Bible, killing animals for their flesh/hides is fine, but you still have to have moral consideration for them. So, you will not find passages in the Bible about how rocks, dirt or plants are to be treated, but humans and animals are a different story.
In the modern factory farm, animals are kept in pretty horrible conditions. Take for example breeding sows, who are unable to even turn around in their gestation crates. I kayak and after sitting in one for a couple hours, it feels very good to get out of it and walk around. Spending my life in that position would be torture. That is pretty much the predicament these pigs are in. Would you keep a dog or cat confined in something like this its whole life?
In the verses above, I don’t see any caveats such as “as long as it doesn’t hurt your bottom line or drive up your prices too much….then treat animals in the following manner…” There are just some guidelines stipulating how animals are to be treated and the spirit of these guidelines is not being followed in our modern industrial system. There is no consideration for the animals' psychological wellbeing, and no consideration for their physical wellbeing beyond what is required to bring the flesh to market. The only consideration for how the animals are raised and housed is financial. There is no moral consideration for the animals at all, they are treated as mere commodities, no different than rocks, dirt or plants.
So, if you financially support this mistreatment by purchasing factory farmed animal products, how are you not in violation of the Bible’s commandments? Just because you are not the one mistreating the animals personally does not matter, just as a person who hires another to commit a crime is still guilty of that crime.
Under Jewish law, animals have some of the same rights as humans do. Animals rest on Shabbat, as humans do (Ex. 20:10). We are forbidden to muzzle an ox to prevent it from eating while it is working in the field (Deut. 25:4), just as we must allow human workers to eat from the produce they are harvesting (Deut. 23:25-26). Animals can partake of the produce from fields lying fallow during the sabbatical year (Ex. 23:11).
Several commandments demonstrate concern for the physical or psychological suffering of animals. We may not plow a field using animals of different species (Deut. 22:10), because this would be a hardship to the animals. We are required to relieve an animal of its burden, even if we do not like its owner, do not know its owner, or even if it is ownerless (Ex. 23:5; Deut. 22:4). We are not permitted to kill an animal in the same day as its young (Lev. 22:28), and are specifically commanded to send away a mother bird when taking the eggs (Deut 22:6-7), because of the psychological distress this would cause the animal. In fact, the Torah specifically says that a person who sends away the mother bird will be rewarded with long life, precisely the same reward that is given for honoring mother and father (Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16), and indeed for observing the whole Torah (Deut. 4:40). This should give some indication of the importance of this law.
According to the Bible, killing animals for their flesh/hides is fine, but you still have to have moral consideration for them. So, you will not find passages in the Bible about how rocks, dirt or plants are to be treated, but humans and animals are a different story.
In the modern factory farm, animals are kept in pretty horrible conditions. Take for example breeding sows, who are unable to even turn around in their gestation crates. I kayak and after sitting in one for a couple hours, it feels very good to get out of it and walk around. Spending my life in that position would be torture. That is pretty much the predicament these pigs are in. Would you keep a dog or cat confined in something like this its whole life?
In the verses above, I don’t see any caveats such as “as long as it doesn’t hurt your bottom line or drive up your prices too much….then treat animals in the following manner…” There are just some guidelines stipulating how animals are to be treated and the spirit of these guidelines is not being followed in our modern industrial system. There is no consideration for the animals' psychological wellbeing, and no consideration for their physical wellbeing beyond what is required to bring the flesh to market. The only consideration for how the animals are raised and housed is financial. There is no moral consideration for the animals at all, they are treated as mere commodities, no different than rocks, dirt or plants.
So, if you financially support this mistreatment by purchasing factory farmed animal products, how are you not in violation of the Bible’s commandments? Just because you are not the one mistreating the animals personally does not matter, just as a person who hires another to commit a crime is still guilty of that crime.
