Political (mis)uses of the Holocaust

Unfortunately, Holocaust deniers are not the only ones who abuse the memory of the murdered for their own political ends. They're not even the most famous ones. Radical animal rights activists have appropriated the term "Holocaust" to push their agenda. Such misguided comparisons to the Holocaust include PETA's "Holocaust on a Plate" campaign, as well as the claims of one Karen Davis, Ph.D., who has written a long and meandering articles equating the deaths of animals with the Holocaust entitled "A Tale of Two Holocausts." Brian O'Connor has taken on the unenviable task of refuting her "logic," such as it is, in great detail.

It is hard to argue that too much of what we do to animals is cruel and that animals should be treated as humanely as possible. However, it is a huge leap to draw a moral equivalence between the use of animals for food and medical research and the enslavement and slaughter of many millions of our fellow human beings.