this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2026

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Does it seem like religious people are less animal friendly? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 3 weeks ago by bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I have been noting this more recently and it seems to be a trend, at least with people I converse with on the regular. The really religious types aren't animal people or downright dont like them. The more chill or agnostic types seem to be more apt to love animals.

I could go on my theory of this but I'm interested to see if anyone thinks this is a trend.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 26 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (24 children)

Oh I'd say this is definitely just anecdotal to you personally. Lots of animal shelters are owned, operated and funded by religious organizations.

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[–] PiraHxCx@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (10 children)

that also seems anecdotal... I personally never heard of a single one (oh, anecdotal too) and in all cities I've lived I knew of shelters and rescuers because I'm one (and I currently take care of 34 cats and 4 dogs), and I must agree with OP, I know a lot of rescuers that have a religion (like, that vague belief in the god their parents talked about) but none that are overtly religious (wear symbols, attend temples, etc)

edit: Homeless shelters and nursing homes though, plenty of religious institutions behind them.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 1 point 3 weeks ago (9 children)

Ton are a google search away. Dalo Acres Animal Sanctuary UT, St. Francis Animal Sanctuary MI, Keeping the Faith Animal Shelter PA. There's a ton of em.

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[–] harmbugler@piefed.social 1 point 3 weeks ago (8 children)

The question isn't whether they are not animal friendly, but whether they are less animal friendly. There may be a ton of them but if there are six tons of non-religious shelters, there's a difference.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

What metric would you want to see?

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[–] harmbugler@piefed.social 1 point 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Self-reported religiosity and affection for animals would be a start.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 1 point 3 weeks ago* (5 children)

So the shelters and sanctuaries I listed as brief examples?

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[–] harmbugler@piefed.social 1 point 3 weeks ago (4 children)

No, the logic doesn't hold. There being shelters run by religious people does not say anything about whether they are more or less caring for animals than normal.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 1 point 3 weeks ago* (3 children)

So you would need X amount of religious people to make a post like "hey I'm x religion and I love animals" what's the number you'd need? Would it need to correlate proportionally to secular animal lovers?

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[–] harmbugler@piefed.social 1 point 3 weeks ago (2 children)

You'd want to show a significant negative correlation between religiosity and friendliness toward animals. 'Secular' would just be one end of the religiosity dimension.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 1 point 3 weeks ago (1 child)

Secular just means not religious, we are comparing the religious with the not religious. How religious an individual is, is way way too subjective to hold any weight at all. Comparing different religions/sects could bring interesting results.

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[–] harmbugler@piefed.social 1 point 3 weeks ago

Yes, the religiosity dimension has secular at one end and religious at the other. You want to establish whether that dimension is aligned with friendliness to animals. How religious people are is measured all the time, but of course methods can be questioned. I agree that would be interesting; surely a religion's views on animals would have some affect on its adherents.

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[–] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

Yeah, but how do they treat them? Is it just a new way for them to make money?

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

Are you under the impression animal shelters are churning out big bucks?

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[–] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Anything connected with churches can make good money from donations and shady financials.

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[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works [S] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (3 children)

While true, lets not be those jerks who associate literally every bad thing to ever happen with churches. Believe it or not there are churches with good people feeding the homeless etc. It's probably .000000001%, but they're out there (and it sure as hell ain't megachurches or any church that preaches maga)

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I had food and home heating oil for 3 winters when I was a kid. From a church we didn't even go to. Parents were social workers, a unbelievably poorly compensated profession. Its why I became an engineer instead of following their path. Its much bigger than that percentage but I agree its never the mega churches. They are organizations run by people. Some good, some bad.

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[–] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

I agree, I have even helped my friends church with IT stuff and when I moved to a new town as a kid a church gave us food as we were the poorest family according to my school. That same church said I was going to hell a couple years later when everyone thought I was gay when a gay kid said I was cute and I thanked him.

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[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works [S] 1 point 3 weeks ago

Had me in the first half....

Damn. Thats shitty. Sorry they were assholes to you.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That is true of any charity organization, regardless of affiliation.

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[–] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 point 3 weeks ago (1 child)

Yeah but it's easier to do when you think you are righteous and have the will of your God behind you.

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago*

If you're actively scamming the system intentionally, you don't think that. You know you're being shitty and you've consciencely chosen that over being a righteous godly person.

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[–] ThunderclapSasquatch@startrek.website 3 points 3 weeks ago

This thread is basically about Dominionism vs Stewardship. A debate as old as many religions especially in the Abrahamic family

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[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works [S] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

I didn't take organizations into account,

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[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

They are run by people. I think if you have a generally negative perception of a certain type of person, you'll start attributing negative behaviors to all of them, even if its only been your limited experience.

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