These people put the cuckoo in the cuckoo clock.
CigarSki
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/065njdoe.asp?pg=1
The Silent Scream of the Asparagus
Get ready for 'plant rights.'
by Wesley J. Smith
05/12/2008, Volume 013, Issue 33
You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an
ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that
the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The
concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated.
A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a
provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when
handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what
it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human
Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of
Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.
A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric"
moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally
for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined
that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover,
that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may
not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in
danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not
acting arbitrarily."