Yesterday afternoon I was unfortunate to stumble across a
rather horrendous image on Facebook; one showing the whale grind in the Faroe
Islands. I shan’t share that picture with you. If you feel compelled to see,
Google it.
By the way, and I’m just dropping this in as food for
thought, and really not suggesting for one moment this makes this hunt right…have
you ever watched whales kill? There’s even videos of that online “whales
playing with food” comes up as a search. That’s really not friendly!!
The post sparked an awful lot of comments. Some were
defending the action as people need the meat for food. Whilst others were
condemning it outright, often suggesting the people should move to where there
is food. Mmm…try telling that to the millions in Africa!? And the
anti-immigrant brigade in the UK would accept them with open arms, would they?
Is it really their fault they were born there?
Anyway, it got me thinking. Is it OK to kill animals for
food? Well, yes. I know, a whole load of you will be cursing me right now,
fingers poised to throw horrible comments on how “we don’t need to eat meat”.
But please hold it for a minute. Let’s please remain calm. We are omnivores,
and have been since our creation, and we have thus far needed meat to survive.
Sorry, that is fact.
However, we are evolving, and perhaps this argument is now
slightly less true than once it was.
But OK, I accept many of us aren’t mentally ready to accept
that just yet. So, the way in which we treat our food is
important. The most objectionable thing about the whale grind seemed to be how
it looked inhumane. A whole pod was destroyed (although you could argue this
means no animal was left to grieve; flimsy at best). From the brief glimpse I
allowed myself it did seem savage, but then these animals are massive and powerful.
I began to wonder what people think happens in a slaughter
house. We have become so far removed from our animal sources, we simply try to
put that out of mind, so our conscience allows us to east the yummy meat our
bodies crave. Some don’t even know where their meat comes from. When asked they
reply “the supermarket”!! Standards have improved in slaughter houses, but it’s
still not exactly a pretty sight. There is still panic, fear and blood.
So, if we can’t imagine ourselves directly killing, or even
bear thinking of others killing animals for our plates do we have a right to
eat meat? Are we being a tad hypocritical?
“So become vegetarian”, I hear you cry! Yes, that would stop
a lot of animal slaughter, granted. But as a vegetarian do you still eat eggs?
There are few things less humane than eggs. When I was a little girl I went
into a battery hen house; it is my very own ‘Silence of the Lambs’. The scene
was horrific; it was dark, it was smelly, it was noisy, and the hens were
crammed into tiny cages. As an empath, the feelings of fear and distress were
too much and I ran straight back out before I was suffocated. To this day I get
this image if I reach for anything other than free range eggs.
So eating free range eggs is OK? Well no actually. The
animals have happier lives. But did you realise hens aren’t supposed to lay
that many eggs? They are fed specific feed and kept under certain conditions
and have been specifically bred to lay more and more eggs. And what happens to
the male chicks? Only hens (the girls) lay. Uh oh, ever seen the images of
that? Huge carriers filled with male chicks (well, mainly male – it’s
incredibly difficult to sex chicks). They’re not being taken for a happy ride.
Nope, they’re heading to their doom, and none too gently.
Turning vegan is the answer! We then can avoid killing
animals for leather, clothes, cosmetics etc. Great! But we really do start
putting a lot of strain on our bodies. We can do it, but it is difficult. Apart
from the effects on our body, the practicality is a nightmare. What’s in your
soap, your sweets etc.? And are you telling me that plants don’t feel? If you
cut them, do they not bleed (sap)? They absorb the elements as we do. They
process the sunlight, and absorb the rain and they grow and breathe. Trees
actually breathe out the oxygen we can breathe in. So, is it really OK to eat plants/vegetables/fruit?
Ever heard a lettuce heart scream as you cut it?
OK, I’m taking this all a bit too far now.
Now, hopefully, you’ve not hit that button to send me hate
mail just yet, as the real point I was going to make is this…
The post on whales was merely ironic. There were clearly two
opposing sides with really strong views. The views tended to be either “killing
any animal is bad, if you disagree you’re a fuckwit” vs “I love eating meat and
am defending it by attacking you”.
You see, when our incredibly strong opinions are challenged
we will defend it. Of course we will. But the defence on both sides ended up as
vicious attacks on the other party. One guy kept dropping in anti-vegetarian
images, taunting them with meat! Each
side was so quick to condemn the other it ended up being filled with hatred.
Really vile things were said. The very people chanting they wanted to save the
whales out of love ended up being cruel to other humans.
The problem is there are arguments for and against (for
practically anything in life).
The bigger problem is how we react to those arguments.
So many seem incapable of saying, “You think that way. I
think this way. I respect that there are differences between us.” People are
entitled to their own opinion; we have free will. We don’t have to agree with
them. We don’t even have to like them. But we should all respect that they have
their own opinion. I have unfriended many on Facebook whose opinions varied
from my own too much. I cannot change their opinion, as much as I would want to
try. And in some cases I have indeed offered more information so perhaps they
can have a more informed opinion. But there comes a point when you have to
realise this person just doesn’t fit with your ideals and you need to release
them with love and light.
Even typing this is hard; I want to fill it with my opinions
of right and wrong. I accept there are certain subjects I want to say, “No, you’re
wrong! You should…” I’m human! And therefore imperfect.
I guess what I’m trying to say is; be kind to one another!
Disagree, fine. But don’t be cruel about it. Otherwise we
perpetuate the hatred we were trying to avoid in the first place.
