Thoughts by Charlotte

 by Charlotte Laws, Ph.D.
Founder & President of the League for Earth and Animal Protection ( LEAP )

We erroneously believe we are made in God's image—that we are analogous to "mini-gods"--with grand importance and purpose above all other creatures.

We are misled by the tenets of western philosophy and religion, by our anthropocentric culture and tradition, by the desire to maintain our gluttonous lifestyles which almost always result in animal abuse and death, and by our desire to uplift our insecure and fragile egos; it is for these reasons we believe we have dominion over the earth and that other beings have been provided for our greedy purposes.

Our emphasis remains at all times on profit, power, and consumerism rather than connectedness, justice, and appreciation for all beings.

We decry all forms of prejudice except that which is most prevalent and egregious: namely a bias called speciesism* because it overturns our illusions about our preordained power, might mean we would have to relinquish our hallowed status, and could result in luxury-related concessions. 

We look to subdue and trample nature rather than to live in balance, equality, and harmony with the vast biocommunity.

Reverence for life is a notion that vanished with the disappearance of the American Indian lifesstyle; it clashes with competition and our insatiable desire for capitalistic advancement.

The conviction that nonhuman others are of equal value to humans and worthy of equal consideration is marginalized, ridiculed, and linked with terrorist dogma; the advocates of this view are to be feared as a threat to democratic society.

Democracy is a form of government so revered and so promoted that we feel justified in conquering not only other nations in order to establish it, but also other creatures in our own nation who are given no rights, no representation, and few (to no) protections. Would not omniocracy—a government truly for ALL-- be a more reasonable alternative?

If Animal liberation is to be the next successful, liberation movement, it will require more than a shift in world view and conduct--probably nothing short of a full-scale revolution.

* speciesism – prejudice against others because they are not human.

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