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Don and Rachel Matesz <[log in to unmask]>
Next Generation Nutrition. (419) 476-2967
On Wed, 4 Aug 1999 11:43:18 EDT, Catherine Tressider <[log in to unmask]>
wrote on
> the Spirituality of Carnivory:
>
>I'm not so sure that animals are capable
>of spirituality at all, because they lack the necessary awareness.
There is no doubt in my mind that "animals" are capable of spirituality
because humans are capable of spirituality, and HUMANS ARE ANIMALS! But of
course you meant non-human animals. And I have a problem with that.
Agri-culture teaches us that there is a huge gulf separating man and
animals, specifically that man is "spiritual" (the one made "in the image of
god") and animals are not, and that is a bunch of grits.
I must say, few people see the contradictions in the vegetarian view of
non-humans. On the one hand, they are "spiritual" enough to deserve our
compassion and empathy, but on the other hand they "lack the necessary
awareness" to be capable of spirituality. Its so convenient. If you want
to attack carnivores, you assert that "animals" have feelings (i.e. are
spiritual). However, if someone wants to erase the (imaginary) spiritual
lines between humans and non-humans, you say, "Well, I'm not so sure that
animals are capable of spirituality at all, because they lack the necessary
awareness."
Who decided what exactly is "the necessary awareness"? Humans of course. We
decided that no being can be spiritual unless it is a human being. (Nature
certainly did not decide that!) Since we draw the (imaginary) lines, we can
include or exclude all other species from our spiritual realm on our whim.
That is BS.
Non agricultural people commonly revered non-humans and had no idea that
they might not have "the necessary awareness." They prayed to non-humans
for guidance and forgiveness. To them, all species were equal.
>I feel that there is spirituality in (ethical) vegetarianism because it involves
>compassion, empathy and selflessness -- qualities that are undeniably
>spiritual.
Are you then saying that carnivores are not compassionate or empathic?
Stalking Wolf taught Tom Brown that man is by nature a predator, that
predators are important in Nature's plan, that being a predator is a huge
responsibility, and he also taught Tom to hunt deer and kill them with his
bare hands. The first time Tom did it, as he was killing the deer, he was
looking into its eyes, and in those eyes he saw the deer's spirit, and felt
the deer's sacrifice. For days Tom felt the deer's loss in his heart, yet
also knew that he did what was by nature right. Stalking Wolf told Tom that
a true man feels loss for even a blade of grass--but that doesn't mean that
he stops eating.
As for selflessness, that is a bunch of agri-cultural BS that puts
spirituality out of everyone's reach. If you analyse the agri-cultural
view of "spirituality" you find that, to be spiritual, you have to be
un-natural. You have to be desireless, passionless, non-violent, sexless,
selfless, etc. Basically, you have to be NOTHING. Of course, it is
impossible to be nothing. So the next best thing is to try to deny every
natural (animal) aspect of your self, and become a celibate monk or nun,
otherwise you are a "dirty animal" being. Not even the monks or nuns can
live up to that ass-inine standard. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH OR
UNSPIRITUAL ABOUT BEING AN ANIMAL!
There is no doubt in my mind that Chief Sattle would be appalled with the
way we raise our animals. He would never have thought of enslaving them as
we do. HE WAS A HUNTER--and if you read the quote carefully he stated that
the end of the hunt is "the end of living and the beginning of survival."
(For the record, I'm appaled with factory farming also.)
But your original claim was not that vegetarianism is "more spiritual" than
factory farming or shopping for meat at a supermarket. Your original claim
was that vegetarianism is "more spiritual" than carnivory. You seem to be
saying that people who do not eat meat are (automatically) more spiritual
than those who eat meat. And I disagree with that. It is like saying
that people who are celibate are more spiritual than people who have sex.
You are drawing the lines and excluding or including on your whims.
In my view, since man is by Nature designed to eat meat, carnivory is more
natural (i.e. in harmony with Nature), and therefore more spiritual than
vegetarianism. Two wrongs (factory farming + vegetarianism) do not make a
right.
Don
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