Ritual Slaughter as part of the Jewish religion goes back to the very ancient times of unenlightened savagery, to a time when the Jews thought that it was God ordained to slaughter men, women, and sometimes even the little male children of tribes who were defending there land against the Jewish invaders. ( READ Numbers 31:17-18 ).
The Jews were under a law (contained within the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament ) to execute adulterers of their own people by stoning, and bash their unteachable juvenile delinquents to death with bricks, ( READ Deuteronomy 21:18-21). In later periods when Islam was formed, Muslim justice required that the hands of persistent thieves should be chopped off, and both in Islam and Judaism the ancient scriptures dictated that if a follower wanted to change to another religion they were to be executed... In Britain these are actions that seem “utterly monstrous” to our civilised society today. Both Judaism and Islam have been prevented from carrying on many of their vile "traditional" legal practices here, by our own British law system, even though the Jewish and Islamic religious books clearly require it.
We acknowledge that the ancients did care somewhat about the taking of animal life back then, and an orderly form of slaughter was commendable within the framework of their beliefs for that time period, "rather than just bashing animals to death with bricks that is". Ritual slaughter was meant for guidance through through the often bitter existence in the ancient times, but this was when man sometimes had little or no choice in the matter, you killed animals and ate them with rejoicing, otherwise you and your offspring died of starvation yourselves, that was how the worshipers of Allah of Islam, and Yahweh of Judaism, acknowledge that it was made to be by the creator in the very ancient times long past. Despite the publishing of research that clearly outlines the painfulness of ritual slaughter and its being unnecessary, still some in the Jewish and Islamic community fail to understand that, "we no longer live in the ancient past!".
Nowadays the challenges that life presents are quite different, with our bellies full of good alternative food, we can now contemplate to some degree how an animal views the world around itself, and other herd members, and we should take this into consideration as we continue in our own battle to exist, while trying to live an environmentally harmonious life with other fellow creatures. Clearly within the pages of both the KORAN, sometimes written as "QURAN", and also in the BIBLE humans are meant to build on what they were initialy given and grow in knowledge understanding and fine stewardship toward the earth and its creatures, becoming better able to live with goodness and compassion.
HOW DO ANIMALS FEEL?
PARADISE
How can uncompassionate believers ever be well suited for the Paradise of Islam, the Kingdom of God of the Christians, or New World of the Jews?. Surely if such ones want to be viewed as truly sincere, should we not rightly expect them to be trying to live now, as they would do in that very paradise that they hope for?.
Contrary to some peoples thoughts, we all are evolving spiritually, and we have to keep making humane adjustments in line with our current understanding of life and existence, and what is it that we have learnt to date?, an infallible and disturbing truth, that other creatures ( the animals ) beside ourselves are sentient, feeling beings, with complex social structures, and who like us can experience terror, feel distress and pain, and "even grieve", importantly their desire is to stay alive just as ours is!. Both Islam and Judaism talk of a future paradise which we should aspire to, and it is depicted as a time and place where great peace and tranquility fills the earth, where man treats every other man as his brother, a time when such writers as Isaiah wrote about when: "Even the Lion will lie down with the lamb, and "there will be noone causing any ruin" in all my holy mountain." ( see Isaiah 11:6-9 )
We mere mortals have no control over making the lion to be at peace with the lamb, that is in Gods jurisdiction to undertake, but paridisaic conditions in other ways should rightly start with us humans first, of whatever religion we may be. If this generation fails to join hands and help make the earth into the longed for peaceful Eden we will continue just as we are, making life on earth a perpetual living hell for other creatures, and ultimately ourselves!.
Although progress toward a compassionate vegetarian human race is slow, there are glimmers of enlightenment being accepted by some religious devotees. A growing number of Jews are becoming vegetarians and now realise that there is absolutely no necessity to kill animals to feed themselves, yet they have found it possible to follow a very full, and meaningful, spiritual life. Some of the Islamic holy men, now suggest a vegetarian diet for those seeking greater spirituality, and more worshipers are embracing this noble path than ever before, these great changes in lifestyle and compassion that individuals from both religions have made are to be warmly applauded and encouraged!.
DILEMMA OF THE SPIRITUALLY MINDED.
It is pointless to debate whether ritual slaughter for the Kosher and Halal requirements is as humane a method as stunning of the animals before they are slaughtered, each way the animal suffers immense distress and terror, unnecessary slaughter can never be classified as humane toward healthy creatures of such intrinsic value. The crux of the matter is, “why do we still tolerate ruthless, homocentric brutality in religious practice by those who claim to have become truly enlightened spirituality, yet think that it is not a violation of their own higher principles to unnecessarily kill another living being, even though we today have a healthy and compassionate alternative“.
Image right: Youngbull awaits his ritual slaughter in remembrance of Abraham
RITUAL AND RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER PERPETUATES A VIOLENT WORLD.
In this time of great plenty, such Ritual Slaughter, though masked by prayers over the unfortunate beast, is sadly performed when there is absolutely no necessity to kill, and therefore it should be recognized for what it is, a cold blooded act of “Barbarity” .
Neither the Jewish or Muslim community, nor the rest of the world, can ever enjoy themselves by eating of meat, without first committing, “or paying others to commit“, an act of violence and murder against another fellow being without just cause... The ethics concerning the unnecessary taking of life by humans from even the lowest of creatures is of the greatest import for our society today, for if flouted, it leaves open the door to all sorts of religiously motivated atrocities to be justified.
REALISATION CAUSES SHAME, AND SHAME MOVES US TO MAKE CHANGES
In Britain the law system has come a long way from our own Barbaric past, and we understand that we British have a great deal to be ashamed of, for even as late as the early 19th Century, children as young as 8 years old were hung without compassion for stealing a sheep. Such heartless punishment is something that nowadays seems madness to any reasoning person, but it took a long time to acknowledge that this part of the criminal justice law was clearly wrong, and only dogged determination on the part of the compassionate brought about an enlightened change in the law, how? by changing peoples perception of the act.
Recently a statement was made by the Meat and Livestock Commission that highlited the potential for a good profit to be made by those farmers willing to diversify into rearing animals for the Halal and Kosher meat market. The demand for religiously slaughtered meat is growing and so as never before has the necessity for all who can to help such organisations and our goverment to comprehend the enormity of suffering that is perpetuated by allowing animals to be exploited and killed in this barbaric manner.
Please take the time to write a letter to your MP and show your support for a ban this inhumane process.
Do join with people who are now campaigning in the same spirit as those that worked to abolish such practices as human slavery. The growing numbers involved in the movement to ban ritual slaughter in Britain will continue to petition tirelessly so that noone will be allowed to carry on inhumane practices in our enlightened society.
CONCLUSION
RITUAL SLAUGHTER
Though Judaism and Islam claim that Ritual Slaughter is humane, in our view it is certainly not demonstrated by the facts, as by definition no slaughter, unless in the best interests of the animal e.g ( "to end excruciating pain and suffering") can ever be classified, and certainly never defended as truly "Humane".
"Our task must be to free ourselves . . . by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel Prize 1921
It is pointless to debate whether ritual slaughter for the Kosher and Halal requirements is as humane a method as stunning of the animals before they are slaughtered, each way the animal suffers immense distress and terror, unnecessary slaughter can never be classified as humane toward healthy creatures of such intrinsic value. The crux of the matter is, “why do we still tolerate ruthless, homocentric brutality in religious practice by those who claim to have become truly enlightened spirituality, yet think that it is not a violation of their own higher principles to unnecessarily kill another living being, even though we today have a healthy and compassionate alternative“.