He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment animals.” I felt the quote by Immanuel Kant quickly summarized a strong starting point on my argument for animal rights.

To give you a quick background, I have been a vegetarian for a little over eight years now and animal rights has always been an important topic to me, I am not saying that I want everyone to not consume animals, but at the very least I would like to see all animals being treated humanely even in their slaughter. That being said I still do not believe that humans have grasped the idea of “humane” slaughter houses. To kill something humanely would be to assume that the animal is in pain and has no way out of it, it would be denying the right to live to a living animal which cannot communicate how it feels.

“On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds and stuffed into wire cages, metal crates, and other torturous devices. These animals will never raise their families, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural and important to them. Most won’t even feel the warmth of the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they’re loaded onto trucks headed for slaughterhouses.” (PETA)

All animals are a beautiful creations of God much like humans. In a Sermon by John Wesley named The General Deliverance he explains his thoughts towards all of the lords creations. The sermon is opened with Romans 8:19-22 and is dissected to give a clear understanding of John Wesley’s stance on animal rights. "He openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness. He prepareth food for cattle," as well as "herbs for the children of men." He provideth for the fowls of the air, "feeding the young ravens when they cry unto him." "He sendeth the springs into the rivers, that run among the hills, to give drink to every beast of the field," and that even "the wild asses may quench their thirst." And, suitably to this, he directs us to be tender of even the meaner creatures; to show mercy to these also. "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn:”

So what should we do to make even a small change? Well There are several ways that I make people aware of the effects of eating animal and there are simple solutions for those who want to give it a try. For beginners I would start with not eating any animal products once a week, some organizations call this Meatless Monday. It’s a simple step to ending slaughter and changing your lifestyle into treating animals as they were meant to be treated. When it comes to those who say that the Lord gave us animals in order to eat them, we must also realize that the Lord created the animals with his creative energy, God loved life so much that he created an endless variety of life. “Let everything that has breathe praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Ps. 150:6). Even though they don’t do so with words, animals still bring glory and praise to God and we should do our part to protect each and every one of them.