Tom Regan's Animal Rights vs. Christian Ethics Compared

Experiencing Subjects of a Life

To be an experiencing subject of a life means to be something that is here, now, alive, in this world — part of the grand mystery that is life. In this sense, anything that exists has life: from people to birds to trees to grass to even water and rocks. There is a grace, a power, a beauty, and a soul woven through all of it. To disregard something as unworthy of concern, or to treat it as something that can simply be annihilated or abused, is to be disconnected from this grand harmony.

Human Dignity and Christian Teaching

However, I do not think that being the subject of a life means that one has equal inherent value. As a human being, I feel that we can derive a sense of our value from religious teachings — particularly the traditional Christian teaching that holds we are created in the image and likeness of God. This teaching points to a special relationship that human beings have with the Creator and signifies that our value is inherently greater than the rest of creation.

Stewardship, Respect, and Creation

At the same time, I do not believe that this elevated value gives us license to disregard or abuse the rest of God's creation. Since it is God's creation and we are tasked with living in it, we should be respectful of every living thing — not because it is equal to us in terms of value, but because it is a creature or creation of God. To disrespect, violate, or abuse it would be like walking into a friend's home and casually disrupting the furniture, throwing things out of windows, knocking over vases, and upsetting countertops. It is rude and a sign of a lack of integrity and concern for the things that belong to someone you care about.

If we look at all of creation as belonging to God, we can be more mindful of why we should respect it. You do not seek to offend your mother or father or throw away any of their things. If you have children and they have created works of art, you do not consign those works to the dustbin but rather hold on to them and cherish them, because you love your children and you love what they create.

Christian teaching also holds that creation was given to the first man and woman to oversee. It is therefore not a matter of placing animals and humans on the same level, but rather of humans exercising prudent discretion and respect toward God's creation — neither abusing it nor elevating it to a position of dignity that should be reserved for those described as being made in God's image and likeness, that is, human beings. This concept of theological stewardship frames human responsibility toward creation as a moral obligation rooted in faith rather than in equality of rights.

Conclusion: Reconciling Ethics and Belief

Regan's argument is internally consistent: if one grants his foundational premise that all experiencing subjects of a life share equal inherent value, then his conclusions about animal rights follow necessarily. The disagreement, then, is not with his logic but with his premise. A Christian ethical framework leads to a different but equally coherent conclusion — one in which all creation deserves respect and care, yet human beings occupy a unique moral and spiritual position that animals, however worthy of protection, do not share.

References

Feister, J. (2017). Saint Francis of Assisi and the animals. Retrieved from http://blog.franciscanmedia.org/saint-francis-of-assisi-and-the-animals

Regan, T. (1985). Case for animal rights. In Peter Singer (Ed.), In Defense of Animals (pp. 13–26). New York: Basil Blackwell.