i hear the "sacredness" argument, but again, i think we must be very careful
of this for two reasons ...
1. Those of us who are first-world peoples have an imperial mindstate where it
has become second-nature for every living thing on the planet to be
subordinated to us, and therefore I think we need to initiate a counter-
practice.
2. Even "third-world" peoples are to a large extent survivors of the Neolithic
Revolution which to a large degree represented an alienation on a massive
scale from natural systems and other animals.
If we're going to kill, I think we need to imagine OURSELVES in the position
of the slaughtered, us, as we are, on our knees, beneath the knife, hearing
someone in some foreign language recite some prayer ... either a stranger, or
someone we've come to trust ... let's make it more personal, more down to
earth ...
... i distrust arguments which talk about the "value" of animals as if they
were some sort of economic commodity ... that's part of the very logic which
has gotten us to where we are ...
also, even if people say they "love" the animals they kill, let's think about
-- this is not intended to start a flame war, i'm just suggesting we think
about -- the differences between this and communities where wifebeating is
prevalent and yet men say they "love" their wives ... [ i'm not saying the two
are equivalent ...]
this is not to say that those who say they love their animals are lying or
that those who eat animals are intentional murderers or anything of the sort,
but rather to encourage really, really tough thinking ... if we are going to
kill, or participate in killing in any way, as conscious beings, it behooves
us to be really tough on ourselves...
