some time ago, i was driving on i-287, going a cruising 75mph.
as i was driving along, i saw a pigeon standing on the ground right ahead of me in my lane, with my car fast approaching it. keep in mind that i saw it for all of one second before i .. well, hit it with my right tire. poomf.
a wave of guilt and sadness hit me immediately, as abrupt as the pigeon's death.
yes, i felt sad. and guilty. and that feeling stayed with me for a little bit.
but, it got me thinking. i feel bad about accidentally killing this pigeon. why? because this pigeon was alive. and now its life is no longer in existence. but how many other animals have i killed and not even given a thought to?
is all animal life created equal?
puppies. penguins. jellyfish. spiders. giraffes. ants. hamsters. goldfish.
i'm sure that as you read over that list, you and i both naturally see the lives of certain animals as more valuable than others. is this right?
is it okay to treat spiders as the spawn of the devil while we love on bunnies because they're so adorable?
do people (who care at all about animal life) eat chicken instead of beef because cow lives are more valuable than chicken lives?
does the animal being bigger mean its life is worth more than the smaller animal?
also, i believe that while animals are alive and feel pain and have emotions, only humans have souls.
what do you guys think?
