Britain’s Home Office forbids research experiments on chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, and the Spanish Parliament in 2008 gave great apes the rights to life and freedom (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/humanrights.animalwelfare).  Switzerland has begun to consider the dignity of plants (http://www.ekah.admin.ch/en/documentation/publications/index.html), and took a vote in March 2010 on whether or not certain animals should have lawyers appointed to represent them in particular circumstances.  What is going on?  Our American founding documents (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm) proclaim “all men (people) are created equal”.   In stark contrast, some people think that all beings are created equal; such murky thinking leads to some very muddy waters.  What happens when the rights ...read more