Hmm . . . very, very interesting discussion. You’ve made some good points, James, which I’ll have to cogitate on. That said, let me clarify a little bit, since it seems I didn’t express myself all that well earlier (not so very unusual! 
) I question whether flies (just for example) will be resurrected. I do NOT question whether there will be flies and all sorts of interesting life forms very strange to us in the renewed creation. I kind of think the idea of evolution was for creatures to become refined and yes intelligent enough to sustain consciousness. Again, this is just me hypothesizing and I honestly haven’t got anything but my own thoughts to go on, so I’m not being dogmatic – just honest, best I know how.
It seems to me that a creature (not a species, mind – an individual creature) that has anything approaching consciousness, or that would have had consciousness if it had lived longer, however sleepy a consciousness that might be, would have to be resurrected and lovingly tended and mentored into the fulness of its potential (which in God, would likely be a great deal more than we could dream possible). A species that hasn’t reached the level of development which would allow it to achieve any kind of consciousness would I think more likely be preserved AS a species rather than as individual persons (because if the individuals WERE persons (and maybe they are), they would have to be preserved individually as above). The species would then be lovingly tended by Adam’s sons and daughters to begin to reach its full potential (I say begin – because how could there be a finish-line on development?) without the suffering and agonies necessary to evolution as we know it.
So, as we tend to our pets and teach them to live in peace with one another and with strangers as well, the best we can, we would also be responsible for the least of these. Anyway, as I said, that’s just me daydreaming. What do you-all think?
REGARDING SOULS: Just a note. It’s my understanding that the Jewish perception of the soul is that it is the life. If a creature has life, then that creature IS a soul. That’s the way animals are referred to in the OT if you look. The same word for animals and humans:
Killing for food is a result of the Fall, right? It reflects our debased nature, so surely it is not the “highest end” of an animal’s condition? Couldn’t we humans at least take one step closer toward the kingdom of Isaiah by returning to pre-Fall conditions? (Now, this little rant is completely hypocritical on my part, because I eat meat–and for goodness sakes, I work at a McDonald’s!) Nonetheless, my omnivorousness is something I’ve always really hated about myself, and I want to stop it like an alcoholic wishes to stop drinking, really.
Wings and feet and heads flopping out all over the place, and this was BEFORE slaughtering. We are buying from the Hutterites now. And passing by the pig farms has definitely made me rethink eating pork – the poor things living in those conditions – and the poor people working there, too! Pigs don’t smell like that if they’re not packed together like Jenga cubes. The industrialization of farm animals is not something we ought to be okay with, imo. It’s not taking care of the garden, so to speak.