SEPTEMBER 2015
Working towards a more compassionate world through education and advocacy
Increasing our Compassionate Footprint
September 2015
Cover Page | Table of Contents | Editorial | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
Will Theology rescue non-human animals
from Human Oppression?
In a ground-breaking colloquium on 9 July 2015, academics, theologians and religious studies students from around the globe, took their seats in the Board Room of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Stellenbosch.
“The Faculty of Theology at the University of Stellenbosch chose human dignity
as a key focus; but in concentrating on human dignity, have we neglected the dignity of non-human creation?”
- Professor Elna Mouton
Professor Elna Mouton, Professor of the New Testament and former Dean of Theology at the University of Stellenbosch, called the colloquium together in order that one of South Africa’s leading proponents of animal rights, Professor Kai Horsthemke, Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, could present his work to the faculty before leaving South Africa to take up a position in Germany. Professor Horsthemke is world renowned for his work on the moral rights of animals. His book, The Moral Rights and Status of Animals, is available from LootOnline at R349.00 with free delivery. See next page for info on his new book Animals and African Ethics.
"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than
black people were made for whites or women for men."
- Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple.
The University of Stellenbosch helps shine a light on the way forward …
They were there to begin
the discussion
on the rights of animals
and the challenge
this presents to
Christian Theology
and the Church in Africa.
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