Only man has the power, guided by a code of morality, to deal with other members of his own species by voluntary means: rational persuasion.
Not all men. What about the mentally handicapped? The senile? Infants? Comatose? Because they cannot reason is it permissible to kill and eat them? It doesn not make sense to treat creatures based on their ability to reason. To quote bentham: " The question is not can they reason? nor, can they talk? but, can they suffer?"
[Animals] cannot reason
This is directly contrary to the existing scientific research on cognition and animal behavior
Closely related to tool use is the study of reasoning and problem solving. It has been observed that the manner in which chimpanzees solve problems, such as that of retrieving bananas positioned out of reach, is not through trial-and-error.** Instead, they were observed to proceed in a manner that was "unwaveringly purposeful."[75].It is clear that animals of quite a range of species are capable of solving a range of problems that are argued to involve abstract reasoning;[76] modern research has tended to show that the performances of Wolfgang Köhler's chimpanzees, who could achieve spontaneous solutions to problems without training, were by no means unique to that species, and that apparently similar behavior can be found in animals usually thought of as much less intelligent, if appropriate training is given.[77] **Causal reasoning has also been observed in rooks and New Caledonian crows
It is to elevate amoral animals to a moral level higher than ourselves--a flagrant contradiction
No one is claiming we should give animals the right to property, voting, driving, marriage etc. just the right not to be brutally tortured and killed.
Of course, it is proper not to cause animals gratuitous suffering
Agreed. This is why, as a vegan and animals rights advocate, I believe we should put an end to intensive factory farming which necessitates the gratuitous suffering of animals.
Then article just quotes some individual people who've said some shitty things. I don't care for PETA or the ALF. What some individual asshole from PETA says has no bearing on the philosophical arguments concerning animal ethics. If someone decided to commit a terrorist attack in the name of the LGBT movement does that now invalidate all the arguments in favour of gay marriage?
They do not want to uplift mankind, to help him progress from the swamp to the stars. They want mankind's destruction; they want him not just to stay in the swamp but to disappear into its muck.There is only one proper answer to such people: to declare proudly and defiantly, in the name of morality, a man's right to his life, his liberty, and the pursuit of his own happiness.
This is some nice poetry, but it's devoid of any substance.