(September 2, 2015 at 1:58 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I am curious to know though, what is the secular argument for why beastiality acts should be illegal? I know you will all say that animals can't give consent, but if you're doing it in such a way that is not hurting them physically, mentally, or emotionally, and if they don't understand sex or what is going on, then why would we need their consent for it?

(1) With our current abilities, we largely cannot know the extent to which our actions affect an animal physically, emotionally or mentally. In the absence of such knowledge, it's better, IMO, to err on the side of caution and not go around fucking them just because we want to. It could be causing harm we don't know how to measure or detect.

(2) I'm in favor bodily autonomy. We do violate animals' bodily autonomy on a fairly regular basis but by in large that violation is in the animal's best interest: vaccinations against diseases, visits to vets or by vets in general, dental or medical procedures to which animals cannot consent, etc. Bestiality violates an animals bodily autonomy for no other reason that because the human wants to have an orgasm. In that respect, to me, it's no different than rape which is a non-consenting act that violates the victim's body.

(3) It is, fundamentally, an issue of consent, even if you cause harm. There are sexual acts that can and do result in physical harm to one or more parties participating, but if all parties are consenting participants then who am I to condemn their sexual proclivities? You don't have the right to have sex with an adult human in a comma even though it won't injury them physically, emotionally or mentally, even though they won't have any memory of the event or what's going on, because they are not in a position to give consent.

Throwing in the caveat of "what if it causes no harm?" doesn't change whether or not consent should be sought and obtained.

BTW, is your new thing to capitalize all your thread titles?

(September 2, 2015 at 1:58 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Lol, ok. So I know how this looks. 

No, you don't. I saw the thread title and thought, "Hell yeah! Beastiality FTW!""

I think, C_L, you are glossing over a very important point here.

Do you think that consent is only needed if physical, emotional, or mental damage is inherent?

So if I (don't like to even type this) were to digitally penetrate a woman when she was passed out, leaving no physical damage, and let's just say she was blacked out enough that she never knew that it happened at all, that wouldn't be an issue in this scenario?

Just because an animal doesn't have the higher cognitive function to understand what is happening doesn't mean that the animal with the higher cognitive function shouldn't be held accountable for the action.

(September 2, 2015 at 3:19 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: I think, C_L, you are glossing over a very important point here.

Do you think that consent is only needed if physical, emotional, or mental damage is inherent?

So if I (don't like to even type this) were to digitally penetrate a woman when she was passed out, leaving no physical damage, and let's just say she was blacked out enough that she never knew that it happened at all, that wouldn't be an issue in this scenario?

Just because an animal doesn't have the higher cognitive function to understand what is happening doesn't mean that the animal with the higher cognitive function shouldn't be held accountable for the action.

Makes sense, and is a good argument. Thanks for the honest response and for not being a jerk.

I have to get up early tomorrow to catch the bus. What the fuck am I doing reading a thread on bestiality ಠ_ಠ

In my opinion, beastiality is appalling, utterly depraved, an abomination against everything humanity has striven for.

The word is bestiality.

(September 2, 2015 at 3:29 pm)Neimenovic Wrote: I have to get up early tomorrow to catch the bus. What the fuck am I doing reading a thread on bestiality ಠ_ಠ

Making the cat in your avatar VERY nervous...

(September 2, 2015 at 3:34 pm)Stimbo Wrote: In my opinion, beastiality is appalling, utterly depraved, an abomination against everything humanity has striven for.

The word is bestiality.

So you're totally against beastiality, but bestiality is just fine?

I have an interesting question that has more to do with legality than morality - Since we own animals and animals are our property (Humans own every area in the world where animals live except for Antarctica), how to create a compelling case against bestiality when we use animals for much worse purposes?