Hey guys! Boy you two, Ken and Todd were really carrying on! Very entertaining!

I'd like to throw my own little bit of weirdness into the mix.....

My perspective as an evangelical Christian is not quite so esoteric. Rather, I see the whole thing as a simple hierarchy. As the most spiritually significant corporeal species on the planet, man holds supremacy with both responsibility and privilege. Animals exist to provide us with food and in some cases clothing and shelter (primitive skin dwellings and the like). I actually believe that God made them for these express purposes. The responsibility we hold towards them as "Lords of all we survey" is one of Biblical orientation. The Bible states that a righteous man cares for his (domestic) animals. And while the Bible does not address the issue of species extinction, I do not believe that God made all of these wonderful creatures only to have us decimate them. 

I have a very hard time with the modern livestock production techniques. But I do not have a problem with slaughtering an animal I have raised for feeding my family. I would never wear a fur because they are ridiculously expensive, not because I feel sorry for the cute little minx.....and yet my dog is a treasured member of the family and he is both cute and expensive. I suppose humans are complex and sometimes contradictory. I for one am grateful for guidance from an entity of greater wisdom than myself.

For whatever it is worth, you both sounded terribly clever! And although the undiluted vegetarian philosophy at core may be rational I have met too many vegans who eschewed eating "flesh" and yet did not find it at all incongruous to indulge their addictions for chemicals of varied kinds, from sugar to heroin (thereby hurting themselves). 

Just my two cents,

Beth