Humanity should respect animals.

[Monica]

If it is wrong for humans to exalt ourselves over other lifeforms, then isn't it just as wrong to exalt the animal kingdom over the others? Who are we to say that the animals are more important than the bacteria, or the algae, or the fungi, or the plants?

I don't think it has anything to do with exalting one species over another, but with understanding the natural lifecycles of the different species.

Bacteria, for example, live inside all other living creatures. Our bodies have more bacteria than human cells. So the idea of 'saving' a bacterium is moot. It is part of bacteria's normal lifecycle to be breathed in and out of a greater organism, to live inside its body, to be pooped out, etc. To try to 'save' individual bacteria would be absurd, in light of its normal life process. Not to mention impossible!

Likewise, plants, at least the smaller ones commonly used for food, have similar lifecycles. Tear off a leaf of lettuce and it immediately replaces that leaf and in fact multiples even faster. Harvest a potato or carrot and it doesn't die but preserves its lifeforce for whichever animal eats it. Sure sounds like a merging of consciousness to me!

As previously discussed, it would be impossible to ascertain whether 1 single blade of grass has individuated consciousness. All evidence points to it not. The peaceful, vegetarian animals graze on grass and other plants. Humans can live without meat but we can't live without plants. So even if it could be proven that an individual plant doesn't want to be eaten, it's moot because we simply cannot survive without plants. At least not for long, with good health.

If we observe the cycle of plants feeding animals, there is an inherent beauty in the reciprocation. Birds eat fruit and scatter the seeds, humans are healthier if they eat more fruits and veggies, humans and animals cannot live without bacteria, etc.

Now, contrast that with the lifecycle of carnivorous animals. They cannot survive without violently killing other 2D entities...and they typically don't eat other carnivorous animals; they eat only the peaceful vegetarians. The exception to this is the scavengers, like buzzards, who will eat anything dead. (Take a look at their appearance; could there be some significance there?)

Here's something to ponder: Is it a coincidence that acts of violence against other humans, which humans consider 'bad' /STS actions, bear somewhat of a resemblance to carnivorous animals in the wild?

Is it a coincidence that domesticated dogs and cats, pampered indoors with packaged kibble, often lose their 'taste for blood' and forget how to hunt a mouse? Or if they do manage to kill a mouse, usually just play with it and don't even eat it? I've often gotten the gift of a dead mouse or bird on my doorstep, an offering from one of my cats, but rarely do they ever actually eat what they kill. They are losing their natural, instinctual taste for freshly killed animals. Is there any significance to this?

Is there any significance to the fact that a cow bellowing in pain when her calf is taken away sounds a lot like a human woman wailing the loss of her child?

Is there any significance to the fact that a pig's shriek of pain sounds not so very much unlike the squeal of a human in pain?

Is it a coincidence, or is it design, that when humans eat more fruits and vegetables, they tend to get healthier?

It is a coincidence, or is it design, that fruits, veggies, and edible flowers all have delightful colors, textures, tastes and fragrances, which appeal to the higher senses of aesthetics and beauty, and nearly all can be eaten with little or no preparation? Whereas, a slaughtered animal, with blood and entrails oozing out of its body, triggers disgust and repulsion in most humans, and in order for its meat to be appetizing it must first be cooked, seasoned and disguised?

Is it a coincidence, or is it design, and the fragrance of a fruit or flower elicits joy in humans, whereas the sight and smell of a slaughterhouse will make many people vomit?

It could be argued that a tiger killing a deer and ripping open her throat is beautiful. It could also be argued that buzzards circling a dead cat is beautiful, and maggots eating a rotting carcass is beautiful.

It just all depends on one's perception of beauty.