For fans of Perk at Work, you’ll recognize ol’ Charlie. I don’t like cats, but I love Charlie!
I believe there’s something deep inside of us that makes us love animals. As a Christian, I believe that something was embedded by a great and awesome Creator, of whom I cannot explain nor define.
Perhaps animal husbandry is genetic; our human ancestors who took care of animals fully realized the benefit – be it financial, emotional, or otherwise – of animals. After all, for spans of time, livestock was (and to some extent, still now) considered an indicator of wealth.
All that said, if we love animals, we must show it; virtue signaling does nothing. And what does it mean to love all animals? From what I can ascertain, it usually means having a heart for beings that may be hunted by the most efficient and intelligent predator in all of nature – human. That aligns with the Care-Harm Moral Foundation. And, if we’re operating on only two of the five (or six?) moral foundations, such a focus would be naturally amplified.
For those unfamiliar with the Moral Foundations, I recommend a deep dive rather than a mere Google search. Check out Jonathan Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind.”
Jason Salas 