-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Donaghe <tdonaghe@yahoo.com>
>---Samael <Samael@dial.pipex.com> wrote:
>> So you would be allowed to torture cows if you owned them?
>> (Not that I'm saying that _you_ would want to, but in principle).
>Sure, why not? If we OWN property then we can do anything with it
>that we wish. Either the cow is my property and I can do as I wish,
>or you (government, mob rule, whatever) give me a list of what I can
>and can't do with the cow - then it's no longer my property.
The problem being that lots of people feel that people torturing animals is in some way the same as torturing people. In fact, unless you in some way see people as not being animals, then it is the same. Admittedly, a society that sets itself up as either owners or owned must be definition see huamns as 'just plain better', but I have to admit that I'd rather not live in a society where people could torture animals in their own home if they felt like it.
Samael