As we all know, the overwhelming majority of the world believes that it’s normal, natural and necessary to eat and use animals, as we see fit. This predominant belief system (named carnism by psychologist and author Melanie Joy, in 2001) is so widespread and deeply ingrained that most people don’t even think about it, much less question it. Since it’s good to question societal ideas and traditions, let’s take a look at why most people see no problem with the current system in regard to how humanity relates to animals.

The root of our beliefs about animals

One of the roots of carnism, and one of the most common arguments against veganism, is the idea that humans are superior to animals. This brings up a number of questions. Are humans actually superior to non-human animals? And if so, does superiority in and of itself justify needless aggression? What does it really mean to be superior, and why does it matter?

The first question is, are we superior to animals? I think most non-Christians would say “Yes, we are more evolved than non-human animals, we are much more intelligent, we have greater capabilities, etc.”

I think most Christians would also say “Yes, we are superior,” but for different reasons. Most Christians would likely say, “Humans are superior to animals because we have dominion, God put us above the animals. Also, unlike the animals, we were made in the image of God, and we are much more important than the animals in God’s eyes.”

My response to those statements from non-Christian and Christian carnists would be, “Yes, humans are intellectually superior to animals. Yes, we are more advanced and we can do things that animals can’t do. And yes, from a biblical perspective, we are ranked higher than the animals because God gave us the job of managing and taking care of them. But does our superiority justify exploiting, harming and needlessly killing animals? And have we gotten it wrong all this time, as far as what it means to be superior?”

Does superiority justify aggression?

Before we take a look at what it means to be superior, let’s clear something up right now. If we were in the position of the victim… in other words, if we were the inferior ones at the mercy of the superior, we would not maintain that superiority justifies needless violence and killing. We can know that by thinking about a hypothetical scenario. If a group of highly advanced aliens came to earth and saw that they could take advantage of us because of their superior intelligence and capabilities, how would we react to their aggression against us? Would we say, “We are totally OK with you enslaving, slaughtering and eating us, because you are far superior to us! Go ahead and do whatever you want to us, you are above us!” Obviously we would have a very different reaction, it would be just the opposite. We would beg for mercy, or claim that it’s evil and unjust for them to treat us like mere resources, simply because they are far more intelligent and advanced.

Even if those superior aliens slaughtered us “humanely” (or in their case, alienely!) we would still beg for our lives, and we’d still consider their actions to be cruel and evil, regardless of their superiority.

Is our understanding of superiority correct?

Now that we got that out of the way, the next question is, what does it really mean to be superior, or great? It’s a very good question, and I think it’s an important question, because how we answer it will affect how we live our lives, and the consequences we will reap.

Who better to ask that question on superiority, than the King of kings, Lord of lords, and the name above all names? Let’s take a look at what Jesus said. (bold mine)

Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and their men of high positions exercise power over them. 

But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to all. 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:25-28

Here’s another teaching from Jesus, on what it means to be the greatest.



At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:2-4

As we can see, when asked about how to be great, Jesus gave a surprising and revolutionary answer. We are not superior by dominating those below us, or by exercising our power in a self-serving way. On the contrary, the greatest among us is the one who serves, and who demonstrates humility and a sacrificial love!

God has dominion over us, and obviously God is infinitely superior to us, but God does not use His power and position to treat us like mere objects, or to be needlessly aggressive toward us, simply because He can. (For more on the topic of dominion, please read this earlier blog post: A Closer Look At Dominion)

Instead of selfishly taking advantage of His power and position, God did the most selfless thing imaginable… He gave his life for us! God has been incredibly merciful to us, and He tells us repeatedly, throughout the scriptures, that He wants us to be merciful as well!

An important point about mercy that I think is often overlooked is that mercy is not something solely for people who are on our own level. Mercy is about showing compassion toward an offender or one who is under us, who we have power over. Mercy is also about using our power to “pardon” someone, or to allow the one who at our mercy to live, rather than die.

The reason I bring up this important aspect of mercy is because many people don’t consider mercy to be applicable to animals, only humans. But it’s usually not humans, but animals who are always at our mercy, and our hierarchical position gives us the opportunity to demonstrate love and mercy, on a daily basis.

Another overlooked truth is that when God gave us dominion over the animals, in the very same sentence He said that we were made in His image. (Genesis 1:26) I believe that those two points being next to each other in the same sentence is significant, because it connects our kingship over the animals to our role as image-bearers of God. In other words, since we have dominion as image-bearers of God, we should exercise our dominion over the animals just as God exercises His dominion over us: with love and mercy, treating them with dignity and respect, and a genuine concern for their well-being.

Why does it matter?

Why does the true meaning of superiority or greatness matter? Everything we do has consequences, both in this life, and into eternity. When we stand before God one day, each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12) As believers, we will not be judged for sin (Heb. 10:17) but we will be judged and rewarded for the things we do, our motives and our service. (Ecc. 12:14, 1 Cor. 4:5, Rev. 22:12)

As I said in my previous blog post, God has a heart for the underdog. The bible is filled with scriptures on how we should treat the weakest and least among us. We are called to treat the least among us – those at our mercy – with kindness and generosity. Even the smallest kind deed, when done with sincerity and love, will not go unnoticed by God. Some Christians might claim that being kind to the “least among us” only applies to humans. To that I say: since God Himself has love and mercy for all of creation, (Psalm 145:9) do you really think that God wants us to limit our love and mercy to humans only?

To sum it up

To recap, being truly superior means serving, and being humble, kind and merciful. True superiority means exercising one’s power in a selfless and loving way, in the same way that God exercises his power over us.

So are we superior to the animals? Well, we may be superior in some ways, like intellectually, for example. But in light of the true biblical meaning of greatness… I’d say no, we are not. When we look at the cruel and merciless animal industries, horrific and unnatural factory farms, animal testing and vivisection, things like bullfighting, poaching, our destruction of natural habitats, and our overall cruelty toward animals for selfish reasons…. we are definitely not greater than the animals. In fact, in many cases, we are much worse.

Sure, there are some predatory animals who callously kill other animals. But wild animals, like lions for example, kill to survive, they have no choice. We do have a choice. Contrary to what many people assume, humans have zero biological need to eat flesh or other animal products. In fact, in numerous studies eating flesh has been linked to a higher risk for preventable diseases like heart disease and cancer. So humans eat meat for pleasure, not necessity.

The terrible reality is that humans enslave, exploit, abuse and needlessly kill non-human animals by the hundreds of billions each year. That’s a number so big it’s truly unfathomable. When you think about that, keep in mind that all animals belong to God, (Psalm 50:10) they are precious to Him (Jonah 4:11) He knows each and every one (Psalm 50:11) and not one of them is forgotten by God. (Luke 12:6)

My prayer is that the carnist world, both non-Christian and Christian, will begin to understand the true meaning of superiority, and stop using their idea of superiority as a justification for harming animals, who are among the most innocent and vulnerable among us.