TMNT/equal rights poll District 9

[Thenegativeone09]

Ok, I don't know if any of y'all have heard but there is a new movie called "District 9" coming out this August I believe and on facebook, there was a poll. The poll was "Do you think non-humans should have equal rights?" now of course being on TMNT forums, I suppose y'all would say yes to the ninja turtles. Would y'all say that about other aliens?

[Michaelangelo]

I've always been for Mutant and alien rights.  No one deserves to be treated any less than the rest of us, no matter if they're a different color, furry, scalely, ect...

[FumikoKaida]

Forgive me for being philosophical for a moment:

In order to decide what a non-human is, we must first clarify what a human is.  What is it to be human?  What makes us human? 

-Does being human mean having a heart?  If it does, this means that all the mutants from TMNT are human.  For that matter, that means many people whom we "perceive" to be human are not for the soul reason that they do not care about /respect others or that they hurt others intentionally for their own selfish reasons.  We also have hearts of some sort in the physical sense as well.

-Does human mean looking the "norm"?  Humans have all sorts of genetic mutations, however, they still have the same rights any one else does.  Remember, an alien may look human (think the humans from Professor Honeycutt's Planet or the Federation) but are they truly human?

-Is being human in our DNA?  If this is so, then why is it that we say a murderer/rapist/etc is not human?  What about the so called "mutants" in the real world society?  The ones with skin looking like scales?  What about the people with the excessive body hair that makes them look as if they were the missing link to apes?  For that matter, what about apes?  Their DNA is EXTREMELY close to that of a "human's."

-Does being human mean that you must have the ability to die? Well, we all die, the question is when.  Death, in the literal sense (not the sense where you won't live on in your books/art/history) comes to everything and everyone.  There is no exception.

-Does being human mean having emotions?  If you go by this, does this mean my dog is human?  My dog misses me when I leave.  Does this make my cat human?  She loves playing with her ball with the bell in it?  Is my friend's bird human because he is afraid of all other animals and people except for my friend?  For that matter, is Joe-Shmoe's dog human because it's mourning the loss of his kennel companion of 10 years?  We all feel pain and happiness regardless of who or what we are. 

-Does being human mean that you must be born on earth?  I know this won't happen this century but let's say a female astronaut gives birth to a child on a space station.  Does this mean that the child is not human all because of location?  Does this make sense to anyone?

Once an official definition of what is a human is or is not is determined, then one can decide whether "something" gets rights based on the definition or not. 

Now we must look at if an animal has rights (Examples: Dogs not being allowed to be fought for sport/money/entertainment/profit, not being allowed to be denied the basic necessities such as food and water, etc), then why can a "non-human" not have rights?

Now see?  I'm not as big of a heartless person as I come off as being! 

[Amicitia]

I'm going to be philosophical by proxy...

I highly recommend the work of Peter Singer. I can't believe someone actually had to lay out arguments for treating animals with a little respect, but he did it and anyone thinking seriously about non-human rights should read it.

Also, des Cartes had an argument that shows that mutant turtles should have equal rights, and I don't care that his premises turn out to be wrong.

Um, so short answer is yes, but then I get lost in trying to figure out what it would mean for non-humans to be equal, because "equal" doesn't necessarily mean "same".

Gonna go back in my hole now... 

[Thenegativeone09]

Yeah I got the results. America voted yes for equal rights with 72 percent. Overseas was different however, 24 percent of Africans and Asians said no. But frankly, I really don't care what they think. Plus, the spaceship representing District 9 landed in Africans so thats probably why. To tell you the truth though, no offense to any Africans, but Africans can kiss my shell anyways

[Nightwatchersonlygirl]

In the UK we have equal rights  too mutants can get a job under the equal rights rules in the UK

I've not voted yet

[Amicitia]

Oh, I just found the trailer. Interesting.

To tell you the truth though, no offense to any Africans, but Africans can kiss my shell anyways

Actually, I do find that kind of offensive, especially coming from a guy who implied he would support equal rights for non-humans.

[arcade joe]

I don't have a problem with non-humans having equal rights. If they obey and adhere to our laws, thats fine by me...

[Thenegativeone09]

Sry Amicitia, I really didn't mean to offend you but I've been to Afirca, and to tell you the truth, besides South Africa which I love, it kinda sucks. It is sad don't get me wrong but I did not like the people in the Northern part of South Africa because they were rude and it smelled real bad in some parts of Africa. So I'm sry again if I offended you in the first place.



Oh by the way I noticed how they change curse words to 'shell' on here. That's cool and funny. I laughed when I saw mine.

[Buslady]

If there were animal/human mutations that were capable of understanding and abiding by  "civilized society rules", capable of becoming a productive member of said society, contributing to the good of all, etcetc...blahblahblah...

why not?

if tmnt existed, and from what we know about our heroes they should have all the same rights and privileges as anyone else. theyre sentient people, no question about that

[BubblyShell22]

Yes, I agree that mutants should have equal rights as long as they're peaceful, such as the TMNT.

[Raphs_Girl]

I agree with what pretty much everyone else said; as long as the mutants in question have concious thought processes, and are able to understand and uphold our laws-there is really no reason why they shouldn't be considered citizens!