Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I being a vegetarian, feel strongly against killing animals for consumption. Numerous arguments have been put forth by many non-vegetarians to convince me, most common of them being,
"khake tho dekho..you wont leave."
"without eating you cannot comment."
and of course, how can I forget the worst excuse I have ever heard of,
"what do you think your ancestors ate?"
"I love non-veg food", comes last most of the times, curiously.

So, today, on Eid-ul-Azha(the day of sacrifice), when religious groups debate on "what is the most 'humane' way of animal slaughter", I don't know where to hide. There are videos on YouTube showing animal sacrifice in the famed Kamakhya Devi temple in Assam.

Here's the difference between animal slaughter and animal sacrifice.

Animal Slaughter Or Halal :
A deep swift cut done instantaneously and quickly to the blood vessels of the neck (the two carotid arteries which carry blood to the brain and head, the two jugular veins which bring blood from the brain back to the heart), the trachea (windpipe) and the esophagus (gullet), but the central nervous system (the spinal cord) should be kept safe and intact (not cut).This deep, large cut through all the blood vessels of the neck causes acute blood loss and hemorrhagic shock.

Animal Sacrifice Or Jhatka:
There are Hindu temples in India as well as Nepal where goats and chickens are sacrificed. These sacrifices are mainly done at mandirs following the Shakti school of Hinduism where the female nature of Brahman is worshiped in the form of Kali Ma and Durga. There are lots of village temples in Tamilnadu where this kind of sacrifice takes place.Hindu way of animal sacrifice is called Jhatka where head of the animal is severed completely by a single blow of heavier sword. This is considered as the most merciful and painless death for the animal as the spinal chord and blood supply to brain are severed immediately.

Two completely different ways of killing animals in the name of religion, to reach heaven, to attain moksha.
On top of it debating which one is more "humane", to legitimize the act.I totally sympathize with the debating parties over the confusion in selecting the winner.

Gross. "Ethics" goes right into the gutter. Oh, did I forget, that never is an issue anyways, Naa?

5 comments:

  1. It is not just you but even the greatest of teachers of Hindu philosophy have condemned the act of sacrificing animals. Fools can never be taught lalita...

    But there is one thing in your post which I find a bit misleading. People who follow the shakthi school do not actually sacrifice animals. It is only people who follow Tantric school sacrifice animals. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a Shakthi follower. You cannot see a more pious being than him anywhere and he always said that sacrifices would only anger the divine mother rather than pleasing her. But most people confuse Tantra with the Sakthi school. There is a very fine difference though...

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  3. well i dont know much about shakti or tantric way of worshipping.. i find it more interesting to know how many various sizes of tyre i can fit into the swing arm of my bike.. nevermind, i, being a staunch non veg, am not supposed to write here, but cudnt resist.. well the way ppl behave bout this all halal n jhatka thing mkes me puke at times.. ok, m a non veg n i dont keep asking bout the way it was killed.. i AM SURE, i wud be considered as a non secular ass after this, but i dont care.. i m sick and tired of this muslim beleif that WE EAT ONLY HALAL as our MAJHAB says so.. either eat it or dont.. u eat it and the reason being given is, in HALAL more blood is left in the body so it makes it more tasty.. (my logic can be wrong also.. m not too sure of it, but i think i heard it somewhere)..

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  4. I really dont agree with you.You cannot say that all non-vegetarians are doing something very inhumane.What about you vegeterains you eat plats,just because they dont bleed doesnt mean that they dont feel pain.Its scientifically proved that plants are living beings.and the clothes you wear silk and cotton what about the insects that are being killed in the process.what about food you eat like honey..bees are being killed in the process and milk ....who gave you the right to milk a cow as far as i know it hurts the cow when you do that.So if you want stop hurting animals you should stop doing lot of things before you comment somebody else.its a nature balancing process if people stop eating non-veg all the roads will be filled by animals.according to doctors people who dont eat meat have kidney problems too...my uncle had kidney transplat he is a vegetarian so dotor asked him to eat meat just cooked with out anything else to boost his immune system.

    its natural...
    ex:
    deer eats plants
    lion eats deer

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  5. well Lalita, there is a popular argument from non vegetarians that using plants/plant products would result in pain to plants. This is the only justification they give to eat non vegetarian food. probably plants feel the pain but they regenerate themselves very fast. Plants do not have families and r immovable. Plants do not release harmful chemicals when you kill them. They do not have fear of death. Animals r pretty much like us.They release harmful chemicals when they sense "death".They have families, weep in pain and bleed very much like us.Lets say there is an xyz species on earth intended to keep our population in check.We humans have grown like virus on this planet.Would we ever justify this xyz species killing us? why these double standards? Vegetarianism is about minimal violence. Its about sensitivity to beings very much similar to us.

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