Persecution Through Anthropomorphism

Polymer clay, acrylics, gouache, wood 12x12x8 inches Anthropomorphism—the attribution of human characteristics or intentions to non-human entities—has ancient roots in storytelling, art, and philosophy. From Aesop’s fables to Disney’s 1973 Robin Hood, animals have long been used to demonstrate moral lessons. These narratives spread widely and shaped cultural perceptions of the natural world. For instance the current French word for fox, renard, replaced the older term goupil in the 13th and 14th centuries following the immense popularity of the medieval tales collected in Le Roman de Renart. Medieval bestiaries reinforced these ideas, treating animals as spiritual archetypes and assigning them moral allegories. Over time, these constructed narratives began to masquerade as natural, “scientific” truth, forcing animals into roles that justify our fears and hierarchies. Sheep and goats provide a clear example of this phenomenon. Both are domesticated ruminants belonging to the Bovidae family and Caprinae subfamily. Despite many biological similarities (cloven hooves, hollow horns, and comparable physiology) sheep (Ovis) and goats (Capra) are often framed in very different ways. In the Bible, sheep are often associated with righteousness, while goats symbolize the condemned. In the Gospel of Matthew 25:32, it is written that “He will separate them from one another as a shepherd divides his sheep from goats.” In addition, the term “scapegoat,” originates from the ritual described in the Book of Leviticus, where two goats are chosen. One is slaughtered and sacrificed while one is symbolically burdened with the community’s sins and transgressions. Upon being imbued with these sins, the second goat is cast into the wilderness. As a result of the banished goat bearing the consequences of the community’s actions away, people felt that they had been purified. Similar symbolism persists in visual culture. During the Knights Templar Trials, accusations emerged of an idol named Baphomet. The now-familiar goat-headed image was later popularized by occultist Éliphas Lévi in “The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic,” drawing on older imagery of satyrs and the pagan god Pan. Over time, goat features became visually linked with depictions of the devil in Abrahamic religions. Modern media continues to reinforce these archetypes; in Robert Eggers’ The Witch, the goat Black Phillip serves as a direct representation of Satan. Sheep and goats are different. They diverge in the genus level and depict different survival methods: sheep are docile, herd-oriented grazers while goats tend to be independent and adventurous browsers. With that being said, animals exist entirely outside human moral frameworks. When religious, cultural, and media narratives blur into our understanding of the natural world, fiction blurs with convenient truth. In his novel “Watership Down,” Richard Adams writes: “Animals don't behave like men… If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality.’” We often consider ourselves the most evolved species, yet we have mapped our own morality, identity, and hierarchies upon animals that exist entirely outside our cultural collective. Despite advancements in thought, understanding, and technology, can we as a species claim the same level of dignity?