Charles Camosy is an assistant professor of Christian ethics at Fordham University and convenes the bioethics section for the Catholic Theology Society of America. At the outset, this philosopher responds to accusations that Christianity has been responsible for teaching the unique status of human beings who alone are made in the image of God and called to rule and dominate the earth. He defends the Bible's support for the moral status of "nonhuman animals."
Camosy points to the pro-animal actions or St. Francis of Assisi and William Wilberforce. Christian activists can follow in their path by organizing nonviolent protests against modern-day factory farms where chickens, pigs and other nonhuman animals spend a lifetime suffering in confined spaces. Camosy suggests that believers should refuse to serve factory-farmed meat in their homes.
