We usually don’t concern ourselves with the activities of the parliament of Spain, but they are about to pass a resolution that may get them some news in the U.S.  They’re about to pass what amounts to a Bill of Rights for monkeys.  Now, I can respect monkeys.  They’re animals, and I like animals.  I even owned some and gave them names once.  But the passage of this resolution has implications far beyond simply respecting animals.

The resolution, approved last week by a parliamentary committee with broad support, urges the government to implement the agenda of the Great Ape Project, an organization whose founding declaration says apes “may not be killed” or “arbitrarily deprived of their liberty.”

I am not sure apes have liberty, unless they mean it in the strict sense of “freedom to move about the forest,” which is an ability, not a metaphysical right endowed by any kind of supreme moral being.  The journalist here explains how evolutionary theory may be the culprit that leads to such ridiculous resolutions.

If the idea of treating chimps like people freaks you out, join the club. Creationists have been fighting this battle for a long time. They realized long ago that evolution threatened humanity’s special status. Maybe you thought all this evolution stuff was just about the past. Surprise! Once you’ve admitted chimps are your relatives, you have to think about treating them that way. That’s why, when the Spanish proposal won approval last week, GAP’s leader in Spain called it a victory for “our evolutionary comrades.”

I suppose they’ll be letting them vote soon.