No challenge in religion

Was a student of his many years ago. A great mind - very challenging. Ultimately he's very concerned with the relief of suffering.

From memory the time frame is a bit longer. Googling will probably earn you a large amount of alarmist clap-trap and quotes out of context. Better to read one of his books.

[r3vbr]

What I meant to say by "inteligence" was that the being would have a conscience.

I think it's the conscience (knowing you are alive) that gives value to a life (anything with a conscience should have same rights as humans imo).

Do you mean consciousness? This is one issue. Another is sentience. Whether animals are conscious (and to what degree if they are) is a debatable issue, but it's pretty clear that they feel pain. This is the main reason, imo, that they deserve consideration.