Should a Chimpanzee Be Considered a Person?

[skjl47]

Hello; The distinction is not about if the apes resemble us. It is not about if both we and they are primates.
The distinction is about giving a non-human animal, even one that is a primate and has some similar physical features, the same rights as a human "person".

Trace the development of our species back far enough and the apes and us likely had a common ancestor. The point being we diverged and became human while they diverged and became apes, monkeys, lemurs, chimps and so on.

The distinction also is not about which is the more cruel or kind or anything of the sort.

It may have been in the film I referenced earlier or in some other media, but the goal of the folks is to get "person rights" for more animals and not just the apes. Apes are the first step because of the closer resemblance to us. It is my understanding they believe it will be easier to sway public opinion by first getting "people rights" for the apes. In particular those apes raised in captivity that have developed a few skills that resemble us such as sign language.
I think the plan is to get "people rights" for several other animals.

 

[pops]

apes are a whole dif ancestry, we are derived from monkies(sp). not apes. think lemurs. to your point SK, I agree. its what they are looking to do but its ridiculous.

 

[MaddMaxx]

So... what would you lose by giving chimps rights?

 

[skjl47]

So... what would you lose by giving chimps rights?

Hello; First we need to be on the same page. Chimps and other animals may already some protections under the laws for animal cruelty and property right laws. Bear in mind I am not a lawyer if I get some of this wrong.

Animals and pets fall under property rights of the human owner. If you were to kill an animal in an accident and were found liable then you would only face monetary damage costs. If a chimp were to be given "person rights" like a human has then it could possibly be considered manslaughter depending on how a judge applied the law.

Another might be that some standards that now only apply to humans would apply to chimps. This might be a bit far fetched but might a community be required to offer some form of education like sign language school.

Also bear in mind that apes and chimps are just the "nose under the tent" as rights for many other animals will be pushed once that threshold is breached. Right now there are various animal cruelity laws for our pets and livestock. Imagine if these animals were given human equivalent "people rights".
While it might not be too bad if animal rights activists were reasonable about things, that has not been my observation. Perhaps picture having to provide for an animal pretty much like a human child.

Last in this post is the "pets as slaves" issue. If memory serves form the film I referenced earlier there was some talk about having pets is the same as having a slave. If nothing else this part is and example, to me at least, of how unhinged some of these animal rights movements are.

 

[philipraposo1982]

the real heart breaker is we value the lives of some animals more than humans. We will never give animals the respect they deserve because we are simply not capable. As humans continue to murder/ rape / enslave etc on our own species how can we expect to get everyone on board with respecting any other life form when we don't even value human lives.

Pretty disappointing to think how much resources we have and that we only use it for personal gain while we could do so much more good for our planet as a whole.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

the real heart breaker is we value the lives of some animals more than humans. We will never give animals the respect they deserve because we are simply not capable. As humans continue to murder/ rape / enslave etc on our own species how can we expect to get everyone on board with respecting any other life form when we don't even value human lives.

Pretty disappointing to think how much resources we have and that we only use it for personal gain while we could do so much more good for our planet as a whole.

Hell yes, lets fire this debate up again!

I'd totally save a dog before a person if both were in trouble.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

i don't know about you guys, but when i see this.......

i think the homie can be called a man

How'd you get my pictures?

 

[skjl47]

the real heart breaker is we value the lives of some animals more than humans. We will never give animals the respect they deserve because we are simply not capable. As humans continue to murder/ rape / enslave etc on our own species how can we expect to get everyone on board with respecting any other life form when we don't even value human lives.

Pretty disappointing to think how much resources we have and that we only use it for personal gain while we could do so much more good for our planet as a whole.

Hello; I am not sure I get what you are driving at here. Can I ask what you mean?

 

[skjl47]

I'd totally save a dog before a person if both were in trouble.

Hello; I often agree with the stuff you post, but not so much on this one. I will admit that I generally like most dogs more than the vast majority of the people I have known. After all dogs are pretty reliable and never seem out to mess me over like people have.

There are some people I know for sure who are not worth saving and a bunch more who will be no loss to the world. So for those people, yeah I would grab the dog.

If I came on a scene where there is a stranger child and a stranger dog in trouble and I can only get one, I guess I will grab the child.

Here is a question. In the first Rooster Cogdburn film (John Wayne), Rooster is riding a horse with the snake bit girl. He rides the horse to death. First anyone recall the name of the horse? Next how does that fit in, let the girl die of use up the horse?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Hello; I often agree with the stuff you post, but not so much on this one. I will admit that I generally like most dogs more than the vast majority of the people I have known. After all dogs are pretty reliable and never seem out to mess me over like people have.

There are some people I know for sure who are not worth saving and a bunch more who will be no loss to the world. So for those people, yeah I would grab the dog.

If I came on a scene where there is a stranger child and a stranger dog in trouble and I can only get one, I guess I will grab the child.

Here is a question. In the first Rooster Cogdburn film (John Wayne), Rooster is riding a horse with the snake bit girl. He rides the horse to death. First anyone recall the name of the horse? Next how does that fit in, let the girl die of use up the horse?

lol you must have missed the wild thread with that topic in it haha, sooooo many butthurts handed out lol.