What do atheism and veganism have in common? More than you might think, according to Kim Socha, author of the new book “Animal Liberation and Atheism: Dismantling the Procrustean Bed”. Often reviled for their political beliefs, Kim has noted that there is a trend for many animal advocates to subscribe to a secular ethic. She notes that both groups hold a set of values that differ from and inherently critique the norms of animal exploitation and belief in god(s). Kim wrote the book after noting that there were many religious arguments for animal liberation published, but not many from an atheist perspective.
For atheists who are willing to remove gods from their understanding of the world, they should also question the hierarchy that insists that humans are the only species that matter. Kim also calls upon atheist academics and freethinkers who care about social justice and compassion to take their philosophies forward another step by including non-human animals in the sphere of moral consideration, and take action in line with those ethics.
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