Biblical Speciesism

It is one thing to say that men, women, whites, blacks, the elderly, and so on (this is by no means an all-inclusive list) should never be treated better or worse because the inherent factor of their existence in question.  It is another thing to assert that humans should never be treated with a higher regard than non-human animals.  Alongside the logically and Biblically legitimate pushback against sexism and racism has come pushback against speciesism, the idea that some species are more significant than others.

Discrimination alone is not a moral problem; discrimination on illicit or unsound grounds is a moral problem, meaning that treating two species differently is not an offense if one has a higher degree of importance than the other.  One's conscience is irrelevant to the matter of animal treatment, as is consensus, no matter how large that consensus may be.  Speciesism is simply not a moral offense if two species truly do have vast metaphysical differences in significance.

The first chapter of Genesis makes it clear that some of the core doctrines of Christianity are deeply rooted in speciesism, with only humans bearing the image of God (hence why discriminating against other humans on grounds of something like gender or race is Biblically heinous).  Thus, anyone who appeals to the Bible in an effort to abolish all societal differences between the treatment of humans and the treatment of animals is engaged in a pursuit that is asinine at best.

However, the Biblical doctrine of speciesism is far from a theological toleration of animal abuse or neglect.  The Bible is very open about its affirmation of animal rights [1], as animals, like humans, are sentient beings made by God (that is, they appear to be sentient, though not even other humans can truly be known to be conscious apart from telepathy).  To abuse an animal is still an offense against a living thing and the deity who is said in the Genesis creation account to have created animals prior to creating humans.

One can certainly prioritize humans over animals without mistreating animals in the process.  Indeed, Proverbs 12:10 teaches that a righteous person is not cruel towards animals, the exact opposite of what a book that condones the abusive treatment of animals would say.  The moral legitimacy or wrongness of speciesism ultimately stands on what metaphysical truths exist and what the ethical ramifications of those truths are.  The evidence for animal consciousness alone does not establish that humans and animals have equal value, especially when there is evidence for the Biblical worldview, and thus for its ethical stances on speciesism by extension.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2019/09/human-exceptionalism-and-biblical.html