Religious Studies

Christians worship God who created the world and everything in it. We are stewards with dominion over God's creation where everything is independent.

In what ways are humans like god? Act the same and God and the Bible describing us and blessed us.

What power did God give humans? Power over fish, birds and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.

What responsibilities should come with this power? So we have control over our children and the Earth and bring it over control.

Christians believe humans are the most important because they are the only one's made in God's image.

1) Animals in sport. Acceptable: Fishing. Unacceptable: Bull fighting.

2) Use as food. Acceptable: Pig. Unacceptable: Dogs, Horses.

3) Pets. Acceptable: Dogs, cats. Unacceptable: Lizards, Snakes.

4) Medical experiments. Acceptable: Rats. Unacceptable: Monkeys.

5) Use in clothing. Acceptable: Sheep wool. Unacceptable: Tiger fur.

6) Working animals. Acceptable: Dogs (guide dogs). Unacceptable: Bears, Tigers.

7) Use as an ornament. Acceptable: Fish. Unacceptable: Tigers, Leopards, Owls.

8) Animals in captivity. Acceptable: Polar bears. Unacceptable: Elephants.

9) Mehod of Pest control. Acceptable: Ants. Unacceptable: Rats, Mice.

Ploughing farms for animals are ok for both depending on the animal. It's not ok for animals to be experimented on unless they may help like cancer. Drugs, make up. Acceptable is rats and unacceptable is dogs and monkeys. Entertainment-circus, dancing bears, snake charmers. Not right.

Keeping pets: There are 22 million pets owned in the UK. Almost half of all households in UK have a pet. Dog 22%, Cat 18%, Indoor fish 9%, Outdoor fish 6%, Rabbits 3%, Guinea pigs 2%, Hamsters 1% and Horses 0.2%.

Keeping exotic pets is wrong. Pets being blessed in church is wrong. Keeping a dog encourages people to exercise-part of a healthy lifestyle.

Not everyone knows how to look after pets...these have too much food...abuse?-Not right. Under and over fed. Pets give us friendship and fun, they help teach children responsibility, stroking pets is good for their owners. Pets get neglected when people get bored of them. Animal welfare act 2006. It is against the law to be cruel to an animal. You can't keep wild birds or trade them as it is against the law.

Should we eat meat?

Vegetarians: Exclude all meat and fish from their diet.

Vegans: Eat no animal or dairy products at all.

Genesis 1:29: 'I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat'. This shows God did not want humans to eat animals. Interpretation= vegetarian.

Deuteronomy 22:6: 'Young birds may be taken for food'. Sustainable animal use-we cannot use the eggs from the nest. But we CAN eat the young birds.

R.C & C.O.E: Are NOT vegetarians-There are NO food laws in Christianity. However many quakers are vegetarian because of the sanctity of life.

Meat gives us protein to have a balanced diet. Omnivores with meat eating teeth. I like the taste of meat and enjoy eating it. Animals are part of the food chain.

Humans have dominion.

There are no laws in this country forbidding people to eat meat.

Its cruel, treatment to the animals, I'm not prepared to kill a cow or chicken so why should I eat one. Growing animals for food uses up more of the Earth's resources than growing vegetables. Stewardship.

Factory farming for food is immoral. It's cheaper.

Factory farming: Factory farming is intensive farming involving large numbers of animals kept in a small confined area. Factory farming has been introduced to grow MORE food. Meat= boilers (factory) or free range. Eggs= battery (factory) or free range.

Boilers:

• 800 million
• They are bred to gain weight FAST.
• The chickens aee usually slaughtered after 6 or 7 weeks.
• Artificial bright lighting keeps them hungry so they eat more, to grow more and so they can't take their weight so they fall over and can't stand on their own two feet.
• The sheds house between 20,000 and 50,000 birds. The chicks grow rapidly and so are ready to eat at 6 weeks.
• Around 6 million chcikens die on their way to the slaughter house each year.
• Sentient= feeling pain.

Free range farming is an alternative to boilers. It is a compassionate way of farming. Free range is more expensive.

Religious Teachings:

• Sanctity of life.
• Dominion.
• Stewardship.
• Proverbs 12:10 "A righteous man is kind to his animals".

All Christians believe in God and want to do God's will, but they interpret the Bible differently. Most Quakers would be against this.

Genetically modified foods: This is taking the DNA of an animal or plant, changing it and creating new forms of species. Technology allows more food to grow. Selective breeding has produced both the Super Cow and the Boiler Chicken. With the example above the animals are bred for a particular trait...here it is for their size...so more food is produced.

Genetic engineering: E.g. Featherless chicken. Cheaper and can survive in hot climates and saves energy. This is being done by altering the DNA.

Cloning: When a near perfect pedigree animal has been produced the farmer wants to make sure that the DNA from that animal is not lost when it dies. The first clone was Dolly the sheep. She died not long after but it is unknown if it was to do with the cloning. 1997 first animal clonned Dolly. (Died in 2003). Prematurely. Dolly was a copy of another sheep.

Transgenic animals or plants are those that have genes from other organisms added to their DNA. Take out the gene that allows the Arctic Flounder fish to survive the freezing Arctic ocean and place it into the strawberry and then it will be able to grow in colder climates. Another scientist has taken the DNA from a Jellyfish and placing it in a bunny rabbit and so the bunny rabbit glows up in the dark.

Good idea:-Dominion.

1) Cheap food.

2) Growing population.

3) People are more important than animals.

Bad idea:-Stewardship.

1) We are playing God, 2) We dont know the possible harmful affects, interference with evolution.

Gen 1:27:

"God made man in his image"

Gen 1:28:

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Deuteronomy 22:6:

“If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young."

Genesis 1:29:

"I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat."

Proverbs 12:10:

"Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel".