"Mere" animal? What do you have against animals? Anyway, animal is just a word meaning, essentially, "animated" as in "something alive, that moves." So yes, I think we are animals in that we are animate, mammals in that we are warm blooded, primates in that we have fingernails, fingerprints, dry noses, are bipedal, etc, and Homo sapiens. Definitely the smartest of the mammals, very clever, tricky little monkeys we are, in fact... but its only intellect that sets us apart.
I was only giving an example that there have been plenty of men that one can point to for piety.
Natually. And I am only making the point that to clear a path for faith, you must first degrade intellect and decree that there are some things it cannot do. I am also making a point that Western society has had its priorities straight for some time now if it was delegating faith to women and then telling them they can't vote.
Nothing! I have nothing against animals! However, I am not about to be reduced down to one. There is no comparison between me and rover in terms of my value! I can't imagine you think that your girlfriend and your cat are equal in value and only set apart by intelligence!