Should Great Apes have the same rights as humans?

[BeautifulLoser]

Should bonobos, gibbons, gorillas, orangutangs and chimpanzees have the same rights as us humans?

I say yes.

If our chimp of a president has a right to life, liberty and protection from torture, why not other chimpanzees?

[Toots]

1. I believe strongly in HUMAN RIGHTS

:shrug: I love animals and believe wer as a race (human race) need to protect and care for them but ..rights...come on...

[pscot]

12. Hominid rights

Swap out a few genes and they are us. Killing a fellow hominid is murder.

[angstlessk]

2. and you ask this why? are they being tortured to confess?

and what exactly is THEIR crime? being a close relative to humans?

[eallen]

3. Right to contract? Right to vote?

As closely related as we are, there are real and significant differences between the apes and us. Are you also requiring them to obey the law? And what would a criminal case against one look like?

[pscot]

13. How aboout the basics?

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

[Tanuki]

4. including the right to vote? nt

:)

[dkofos]

5. I wouldn't want one behind the wheel of a car

There are enough Bozo's on the road

[pscot]

11. More likey to see their head

on the fender of a jeep or land cruiser.

[Taxloss]

6. Should they be tried and convicted if they harm humans, or each other?

Similarly, the transfer of rights to property means that theft will have to be dealt with as well, and a range of other offences; and the juries will have to be simian, in order to be considered the defendants' peers.

The right to the vote is a little more complicated, not because they don't deserve it - obviously they do - but the trouble is getting them to express it. Naturally, they will soon be expected to participate fully in the political life of their home countries, put forward candiates, and so on. I welcome it.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. Some would say they have a right to be left alone... and that

is pretty hard to argue with, don't you think???

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128278/


A friend and I saw a sneak preview of INSTINCT last night. The film stars Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. and looked like a thriller about an anthropologist who went to Africa and wound up living with gorillas instead of just studying them. It was much more.

Hopkins' character, Dr. Ethan Powell, is accused of the murders of several Africans. Having been held in a Rwandan prison for a year, he's then extradited to the U.S. and put in a lovely prison in the insane department. Donald Sutherland (looking mighty fine!) is a noted professor of psychiatry at a nearby University, and Gooding is his pet resident, Dr. Theo Calder. When Sutherland's department is asked by the feds to do a psych evaluation, Gooding as Calder researches the case and begs to be allowed to do the work. Calder has been shown at this point to be a brilliant, ambitious resident with a sterling career ahead, and so Sutherland gives him the chance.

What develops from there is a wonderfully written, exquisitely acted story, interweaving the sessions with Powell and Calder with the life of the prison and its insane inmates. Further woven into the fabric is the story of what happened to Powell in Africa. In the African scenes, Stan Winston's work on the apes is incredibly realistic and never cartoonish. Danny Elfman's score (I don't always like Elfman, but did enjoy the Batman score) is also a beautiful accompaniment to these scenes, though a little heavy in other parts of the film.

It's hard to explain the refreshingly intelligent and moving and thoughtful script of this film. Issues such as what is really civilized behavior, the pack as family mentality, and humanity vs. inhumanity are explored with depth but never with a heavy hand. The performances of Hopkins and Gooding are exceptional. Gooding did a great job with the other film I'd seen him in, JERRY MAGUIRE, but the depths of emotion and the layered aspects of his performance in INSTINCT are incredible.

[Kelvin Mace]

8. Well, if one can pretend to be president of the United States...

then I would say yes.

[medeak]

9. humans should be able to throw poop as well n/t

[billyskank]

10. Maybe NOBODY should have rights

Maybe we should just have LIMITATIONS on our actions.

You don't have a RIGHT to live, but it's WRONG for me (or anyone) to kill you. Is that sufficient?

In fact, you have a bill of RIGHTS, but in actual fact it is a list of things the government CAN'T do - not things you CAN. This seems to me a more useful way of looking at things. It cuts through the bullshit.

[zonkers]

14. The Apes should be paid reparations.

[LeftyMom]

15. Not all the same rights

But all the rights that they're capable of enjoying, just as humans of lesser capacity are. Basicly, they are entitled to a life unfucked with by humans to as great a degree as is possible, just like every other animal in the wild. They're entitled to have thier own interests respected. I think any primate in human care should be appointed something like a GAL to protect thier interests rather than being regarded as property.

[Ravenseye]

16. No