I know I have not always felt as I do now. At times in my boyhood I can remember being quite thoughtless. Indeed, I am ashamed to say I was cruel on occasion. I then recall other incidents when the boy in question was kind and loving to fellow creatures. Perhaps I am being too hard in judging an innocent child, but what of the other little beings?
It is a sad fact, that we were never taught to consider other species as being worthy of kindness or consideration.I had a little dog called Darkie, and I loved him. I cried when he died. That seemed perfectly natural, but then he was my pet. On the other hand I saw a dog run over on the road and felt nothing, he was only a stray.
I was reared in the country, a farming community. Animals were not thought of as sentient. Far from it. They were animals, and had no feelings worth considering. Their pain was not really pain as we knew it.
Their fear was not our fear.
That last statement sums it up I reckon. Theirs was not ours. In other words it did not matter because they were animals, and their feelings were not felt by us. When it came to other people, it did matter because we were told that it mattered, and we should identify with human suffering.
I shudder when I think of the "religious" education classes. Everything was portrayed as black and white, right and wrong.Sinful,or not sinful.
The only gray areas were venial sins,petty misdemeanors. Cruelty to non-human creatures was never mentioned,so it didnt count for anything.
Which meant it was no sin,so how could it be wrong? God, being all loving and compassionate, would surely have made it clear if it was wrong. After all, animals were food. So how could food have a point of view? Seems a bit silly for food to have a point of view.
I think my boyhood ended to a big degree, when I was about eight years of age.I walked up the field with my grandfather to where the sheep were grazing. I cant even bring myself to write what happened, but he carried a dead lamb back down the hill. The mother sheep tried to follow, but was chased away. I can still hear her calling after us. I wonder if she had a point of view? The little lamb didnt, he was for Sunday dinner, food.
Things have come a long way since my boyhood years. The human race is learning to reason. Many will not see, because there is no profit in it.
Others will listen to their hearts.
Let us hope that our awareness will continue to evolve and grow.We have a duty to recognise suffering, and stand against it. Any creature in pain or distress has a right to be heard.
World peace can only be a reality, when people come to see that there is never a good reason to inflict pain in any form.
You are a child of the universe, and you have a right to be here. Just like the little bird that sings to you each morning.
Thanks Joyce, Its good to have a point of view. By the way, my grandfather was a lovely god fearing man. I think that today he might stand beside me. Love and Light, Joseph
Thank you Susan, I appreciate your comments. I was unsure about publishing that article, I know that it can be easily misread. Wishing you all the best, Joseph
Thank you for printing this article. I totally relate to the feelings you express and the teachings you mention. I remember being taught to call all nonhumans "it" even if their sex is evident, which I refuse to do. I think the Native Americans had it right. They understood the order of eating other life, but were in gratitude to the spirit of the other life and honored it.
Very nice article with an interesting point of view. I agree with the sentiment that we are children of the universe and of course we should have respect and compassion for all life.
Good article, Joseph--makes a person want to become a vegetarian. Maybe that's why most of us go out to eat, or buy our meat at the grocery store. That way we don't have to think about where it came from.
Thank you Sandra. I am glad to have found Searchwarp. Its all very well eating a a gastronomic treat, but should we be blind to the reality behind it. All the best, Joseph
Joseph, this is a very interesting article. I too, was raised on a farm and witnessed much killing of animals for food, but I never watched a single one that did not wrench my heart for the creature. It has also fallen my lot to slaughter a few myself and again, laid awake at night because of it. I have a sincere love of animals and perhaps an exagerated view of their own desire to live. A great article, continue writing
Thanks Joel. I appreciate your supportive comments. I think these things have to be talked about. Sometimes we go with the flow, but we know deep inside that something is not right. All the best, Joseph
While the author shows passion for his topic, the article could have been clearer on the main point. Should we not eat meat because it inflicts pain? I was unsure of his message. Also, this article was weak on punctuation.
Joseph, I don't think I would have handled your lamb experience well. About the only way I can identify with that is to imagine if it happened to my dogs and their pup. It does make one think twice.
I was raised on a small family dairy farm. We always treated the animals kindly and fairly and some with affection. However, the thought that the farm was a business was always in the back of our mind. An animal had to "earn its keep" and if a cow or pig became infertile, sick, or stopped producing for whatever reason, it had to go to market no matter what. We couldn't afford to feed nonproducers.
We were detached from some of the animals by necessity because we knew that we depended on them to produce our income and that they would never be the same as our dog or cats which we would have all their lives or the pony which may also be with us for years.
Again, great article. It made me look back in time and inspect my thoughts on things.
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