Labour morality guru compares fox-hunting to rape

Kamal Ahmed, political editor
Sunday June 1, 2003
The Observer

“Hunting is morally equivalent to rape, child abuse and torture, according to one of Britain’s leading Christian experts, who is closely connected to Labour’s religious establishment.

“The incendiary claim, which brought immediate condemnation from pro-hunting groups, has been made by Andrew Linzey, professor of theology at Oxford University and a recognised authority on morality and its effects on people’s relations with animals.

“In a report to be published by the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM) in the next fortnight, Linzey will argue that there is no moral defence for hunting as sport and that it should be completely banned. ‘Causing suffering for sport is intrinsically evil,’ he says. ‘Hunting, therefore, belongs to that class of always morally impermissible acts along with rape, child abuse and torture.’…

“Supporters of Linzey said he could not be dismissed as a crank. In 2001 he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree by the Archbishop of Canterbury in recognition of his ‘unique and massive pioneering scholarly work in the area of the theology of creation, with particular reference to the rights and welfare of God’s sentient creatures’.

“The doctorate is the highest award the Archbishop can bestow on a theologian and it was the first time it has been awarded for work in animal welfare….”

View full article here: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,968084,00.html

Today’s posting bumped the “He died for your sins” controversy from this page.