(01-22-2011, 11:08 PM)jeremy6d Wrote: Monica, are you familiar with any of the work of Temple Grandin? She's an animal behaviorist who pioneered many improvements in cattle ranches and slaughterhouses to help make them more humane. Her view is that it's ok to eat meat but we owe the animals respect in exchange. This is similar to the native american view of thanking the animal once it has been killed.
Improving slaughterhouse conditions is certainly a step in the right direction. But I also think it creates a false sense of complacency; by thinking that one's meat was 'humanely' slaughtered makes it easier to justify it.
The Native Americans had to kill animals in order to survive. They did it in a way that honored and appreciated the animals. They took only the weakest in the herd, and they communicated with the soul of the animals as it left its body.
That is simply not possible in a slaughterhouse. By the time people eat the animal, its soul is long gone.
And, most importantly, it's simply no longer necessary to kill animals for food. I struggle to understand why people go to such great lengths to justify the slaughter of animals, when all they need to do is simply quit eating them and the entire issue is eliminated. It's something that we can control; it's a choice that we have the power to make, that has huge, just huge benefits for the whole planet.
This boggles my mind.
(01-22-2011, 11:08 PM)jeremy6d Wrote: To me, it's less about particular actions such as eating meat and more about having a better awareness and appreciation for how you fit in with your surroundings and your world.
This same idea has been expressed by many others, and I still struggle to understand it. I honestly, sincerely, genuinely do not understand how knowingly contributing to the suffering of our younger brethren can be reconciled with the STO path.
I'm not judging anyone. I am simply expressing something that troubles and confuses me.
(01-22-2011, 11:08 PM)jeremy6d Wrote: I bet if more people knew the details, they'd be more willing to go back to simpler, more sustainable, more local ways of satisfying their needs. Willing ignorance is quite a difficult nut to crack!
Yes. And I'd bet that if meat-eaters visited a slaughterhouse, many of them would no longer eat animals.
I have a friend whose husband was a vegetarian. They decided to give their children the option of eating meat or not. But they took the kids to a slaughterhouse, so the kids could make an informed decision.
I have a great deal of respect for their action.