Introduction
Earthlings was a film produced to expose the harsh truths of the practices of one of the largest industries in the world. Using hidden cameras—hidden for obvious reasons—the film tells us what animals go through in order for us to be able to enjoy the products that mankind utilizes daily.
There are several central arguments covered in the film, all of which run along the main theme of equality amongst the different species on Earth. The film puts forth the idea that humans and animals inhabit the same space in the universe, we rely on similar eco-systems, and we are able to certain degree, we are able to experience the same type of pain and emotions, hence we should be equal. The basis of our treatment towards them, therefore, shouldn’t be the comparison of our intelligence; rather, we should understand that to living creatures, pain is pain. That alone should be enough to drive mankind to treat these animals humanely.
The film further suggests that all the suffering the animals go through is for the sake of facilitating efficiency in the
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Some religions do not have a streamlined perspective towards animals. Hinduism, for example, consists of multiple related religious ideas. (BBC, 2009)
However, one religion that aligns more towards Human Exceptionalist Paradigm (Park, 2007) is Christianity. This is largely because Christian religious text teaches Christians that they have dominion over animals for three main reasons: a) animals were created for the use of human beings, b) they are inferior as, unlike human beings, they did not possess a “soul”, and c) Christian thought is largely human-centric. Christians are therefore taught that human beings had little, if any, moral obligations towards animals. (BBC, 2009) As a result of this, there is an imbalance in the value of different species, with humans being the most