Belief that humans have dominion over animals

• Traditionally, many Christians have believed and some Christians still do believe that they have virtually unlimited power over animals and the environment- this can be seen in the environmental damage caused by the pursuit of wealth at any cost from the time of the Industrial Revolution and on into modern times
• The pursuit of profit at the cost of terrible suffering to animals can be seen in the practices of intensive farming
• Many Christians had and still have an anthropocentric view of the universe
• Aquinas thought that animals were irrational, had no souls and existed solely for the purpose of humanity
• Aquinas opposed being cruel to them, but only because that would encourage humans to be cruel to one another
• In Aquinas' view, animals were simply a form of property
• Quote to support this:

  In Psalm 8, humans are described as little less than the angels (or possibly, God), with control over all living things.

  'You made them rulers over the works of your hands'- Psalm 8:6
• Quote to support this:

  After the Flood, when God made a new covenant with Noah, he said that he gave all animals, fish and plants to Noah for his use.

  'The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beats of the earth'- Genesis 9:2
• For those who take the Noah story as historical fact and literally the word of God, it gives humanity absolute rights over the rest of the created world
• Referring to humans as created in God's image gives some the anthropomorphic idea that God is actually like humans