Animals and Religion

On Human Animal Being: An Opening

Linda Hogan

Introduction to Animals and Religion

Aaron S. Gross, Dave Aftandilian, and Barbara R. Ambros

Part I: Religion and Identity

1. L’nuwey Views of Animal Personhood and Their Implications

Margaret Robinson

2. Animal Consciousness and Cognition

Robert W. Mitchell and Mark A. Krause

3. Emotion

Donovan O. Schaefer

4. Gender and Sexuality

Katharine Mershon

5. Race, Animals, and a New Vision of the Beloved Community

Christopher Carter

6. From Inspirational Beings to “Mad” Veg/ans: Tensions and Possibilities between Animal Studies and Disability Studies

Alan Santinele Martino and Sarah May Lindsay

7. Human Beings and Animals: Same, Other, Indistinct?

Matthew Calarco

Part II: Religious Practices and Presences

8. Learning to Walk Softly: Intersecting Insect Lifeworlds in Everyday Buddhist Monastic Life

Lina Verchery

9. An Islamic Case for Insect Ethics

Sarra Tlili

10. Animal Theology

Allison Covey

11. Blue Theology and Water Torah: People of Faith Caring for Marine Wildlife

Dave Aftandilian

12. Animal Families in the Biblical Tradition

Beth A. Berkowitz

13. The Cat Mitzvah: Jewish Literary Animals

Andrea Dara Cooper

14. Blessings of Pets in Jewish and Christian Traditions

Laura Hobgood

15. Becoming-Priceless through Sacrifice: A Goat for San Lázaro-Babalú Ayé

Todd Ramón Ochoa

16. Refraining from Killing and Releasing Life? The Ethical Dilemmas of Animal Release Rituals in East Asia

Barbara R. Ambros

17. Vegetarianism, Prohibited Meats, and Caring for Animals in Chinese Religious History

Vincent Goossaert

18. The Difficult Virtue of Vegetarianism in Tibetan Buddhism

Geoffrey Barstow

19. Veganism as Spiritual Practice

Adrienne Krone

20. The Spiritual Practice of Providing Sanctuary for Animals

Barbara Darling

21. Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics

Kenneth R. Valpey

22. The Council of All Beings: A Deep Ecology Ritual Connecting People with Animals and the Natural World

Eric D. Mortensen

23. Commemorating Animals in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.: Celebrating Kinship or Manifesting Difference?

Barbara R. Ambros

Part III: Religious Responses to Animal Lives

24. Contemplative Practices for Connecting to Animals (and Ourselves)

Dave Aftandilian

25. Companion Animals

Laura Hobgood

26. Domestication and Religion

Nerissa Russell

27. The Ethics of Eating Animals: Jewish Responses

Aaron S. Gross

28. Meditations on Living with Ghosts: The Settlement Legacy of Buffalo Extinction

James Hatley

29. Urban Wildlife: Threats, Opportunities, and Religious Responses

Seth B. Magle and Dave Aftandilian

30. The Connection We Share: Animal Spirituality and the Science of Sacred Encounters

Barbara Smuts, Becca Franks, Monica Gagliano, and Christine Webb.

About the Contributors

Index

Biography

Dave Aftandilian is Associate Professor of Anthropology, member of the leadership team for the Compassionate Awareness and Living Mindfully (CALM) Program, and founding Director of the Human-Animal Relationships (HARE) Program at Texas Christian University.

Barbara R. Ambros is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Aaron S. Gross is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, a past president of the Society for Jewish Ethics, and the founder of the nonprofit organization Farm Forward.

"[This] edited volume is an important achievement offering both detailed information and pedagogical insights. In addition, many of the volume's essays reflect that younger scholars are today contributing insights and suggestions...I commend this volume to not only every educator, but also every adult and parent, for these essays offer much that is relevant to daily life and our human communities’ inevitable connections with the rest of the Earth community. Through an engagement with this volume’s themes, each reader can increase greatly their ability to recognize the present state of affairs and also anticipate possible futures."

- Paul Waldau, D. Phil., J.D. in Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Mar. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.32962.