Desmond Tutu is a South African icon who has won a Nobel Prize and spoken out against many injustices including racism, poverty, sexism, AIDS, and homophobia. Tutu is not only speaking out about human injustices, but also animal. In The Global Guide to Animal Protection, Tutu speaks out on the exploitation of animals.
Here is his letter published in the guide:
“I have spent my life fighting discrimination and injustice, whether the victims are blacks, women, or gays and lesbians. No human being should be the target of prejudice or the object of vilification or be denied his or her basic rights.
But there are other issues of justice–not only for human beings but also for the world’s other sentient creatures. The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems an already overfull moral agenda. It is vital, however, that these instances of injustice not be overlooked.
It is a kind of theological folly to suppose that God has made the entire world just for human beings, or to suppose that God is interested in only one of the millions of species that inhabit God’s good earth.
Our dominion over animals is not supposed to be despotism. We are made in the image of God, yes, but God – in whose image we are made – is holy, loving, and just. We do not honour God by abusing other sentient creatures.”
The Global Guide to Animal Protection aims to draw attention to the conservation and protection of animals, from elephants to mice. Legendary people such as Jane Goodall and Roger Fouts have also contributed to the book.
