The Dignity of Plants

Folks, you just can't make this stuff up.

A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.

A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

My liberal buddies constantly tell me how Europe is so much more enlightened, more civilized, more compassionate than we in these United States.  After reading about "plants rights", however, I can only wonder ... between the plants' rights and the animal rights groups, what are we supposed to eat - rocks?

Comments

[jammen]

Peggy, rarely do I ever agree with you, but this time I do whole heartedly.

[Peg]

Yay! Progress :)