Upside Down Morality and the Slide Into Absurdity

The passing of the bill to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales (Australia), which effectively legalised the murder of unborn babies, has coincided with the passing of another parliamentary bill this week in the Australian Capital Territory. The “Animal Sentient Act” was passed by the A.C.T. Legislative Assembly last Thursday. This new Act establishes that animals are sentient beings and asserts their right to be treated fairly and humanely.  The key points of the bill are:

– Animals are sentient beings with intrinsic values and rights

– It is a criminal offense to fail to provide food, water and shelter for pets

– It is a criminal offense to fail to groom and care for pets, including clipping toenails

– Punishment for failure to groom and care for a pet includes 12 months’ imprisonment

As an animal lover myself, I am in favour of legislature that will punish those who treat animals cruelly. But can you see the absurdity, the upside-down morality that this week’s legislature has produced? In the same week when we have asserted that animals are sentient beings with intrinsic values and rights, we have passed a law that effectively asserts that human babies in the womb are not sentient beings and have no value or rights. In the same week in which we have prescribed that failure to groom and water your pet could send you to prison, we have affirmed the right of mothers to kill their unborn children with impunity.

This simply continues the downward slide into absurd upside-down morality that has been in process for several years in western society. Increasingly we are treating animals like people, while treating people like animals. We have cafes where people can take their pampered pooch for a doggychino or puppachino, while the streets of our CBDs are full of homeless people in desperate need. People rise up in protest at the poor treatment of animals, while failing to be moved by the slaughter of thousands of unborn babies every year.

The vegan protests in Australia several months ago shocked me by their senselessness and belligerence. Melbourne CBD was shut down for hours, because of vegan protestors blockading the streets. Many farms around Australia were vandalised. I heard of one farm where 800 chickens were “set free” by vegan vandals. The farmer later reported that 300 of his “freed” chickens were killed by foxes over the next few days. I heard of another farm where the cattle were “set free” by vegan marauders. The cattle then wandered onto roads, causing several accidents, with one steer being killed in the process.

Apart from the utter stupidity and counter-productive nature of these protests (which is another topic), these kinds of protests are indicative of a generalised trend within western society to elevate the rights of animals while ignoring or diminishing the rights and values of humans. I have spoken with many animal activists who decry the killing of a chicken and yet support the murder of unborn children.

I find this kind of upside-down morality absurd in the extreme and deeply disturbing.

On a lighter note, I had a good chuckle several months ago when I read this comment in a newspaper by a Melbourne office worker who was one of thousands who were late to work on the day when vegan protestors effectively shut down the Melbourne CBD for several hours:

“When I was stuck stationary on a tram for an hour and heard that the bottom half of the city was blocked off by protesters, the thought of a tofu burger did seem more appealing. There’s nothing like having your whole morning ruined to get you on board with a new way of thinking. After missing a morning meeting and then having to walk for an hour to get to work, I was very much craving a lettuce salad.”

KEVIN SIMINGTON