Animals and religious traditions

Olav Hammer and Karen Swartz-Hammer

Chapter 19 in Research Handbook on Animal Law and Animal Rights, 2025, pp 370-390 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Animals are viewed by humans in terms of culturally specific systems of classification that result in different norms regarding the treatment of various species: as pets, livestock, pests, or as sacrosanct creatures worthy of veneration. Religions are part of the wider culture and significantly influence such systems of classification. In some traditions, religious specialists define and debate these norms, for example, within the framework of a particular method of jurisprudence with premodern roots. When such norms and traditional forms of jurisprudence with older historical roots become part of the modern, globalised world, changes take place, albeit within vaguely definable borders. Spokespersons for traditions that in older times had little to say about animal welfare can claim that such issues are in fact an integral part of their religion but can also insist that animal sacrifice and methods of slaughter banned by modern legislation are vital to their religious life. The symbolic associations of various animals can entail that such discussions are made to serve ideological and political aims that go well beyond the concern for the welfare and rights of non-human species.

Keywords: Animals in religious traditions; Cultural classification of animals; Ritual slaughter; Animal sacrifice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035324873
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035324880.00028 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22949_19

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().