>Gretchen, and others, I firmly believe that loving the trees who are
>still upright, and grieving for the ones who have fallen, is as important
>as the letters we write, the words we say, and any other step we take as
>activists. THIS CONNECTION, which I believe some refer to as spiritual,
>is what gives me the energy and drive to be an activist. Grief and rage
>are tools of the Mother and the Crone, and they are tools and vehicles for
>all women who work for change, whatever our persuasion.
>
>My comment, BTW, was initially aimed at the vegan/vegetarian discussion
>(i.e. plants can't feel pain), but now that you've responded, Gretchen, I
>also experience it as relating to the spiritual/scientific debate, and
>perhaps other areas where we ecofeminists are working to find common ground.
>
>Faith
Faith, I think I can see what you mean about plants feeling pain but I
think it is different to how we conceptualise individual pain. I have felt
the agony of a rainforest dying - its great sadness and impotence in the
face of bulldozers... But I think that plants are more wholistic in the
sense that the level of sadness is related to the enormity of damaging a
whole system. I think its ok to pick a cabbage to eat and I have not
sensed any outrage on the part of the cabbage or the neighbouring plants
but that the system as a whole is what is important. I would be interested
to be present when a plantation is harvested - one minute a paddock full of
happy plants and the next a barren waste. I think this would feel
different to the individual vegetable being picked.
What do others think on this?
Respectfully
Kylie
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Interesting: Your people glorified organised violence for 40 centuries,
but you imprison those who employ it privately."
Mr Spock. Star Trek 'Dagger of the Mind'
