Earthlings

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Just after publishing downward dog post, I watched a documentary, Earthlings, on youtube. Wow. Talk about graphic footage. And the narrator justifies its graphic nature by saying that if one insists on having meat in their diet, they should not shy away from seeing how that meat gets to their table. 

 

I’ve watched the Peta videos on their website in an attempt to kick the flesh habit. It worked for a while, but I was back to nyama choma shortly thereafter. Earthlings is a whole other ball game. Only watch it if you would change the world and make it a better place. And if you have a heart that’s soft enough to be touched by cruelty to animals.

 

What we do to animals in the name of God giving us authority over all animals on earth, is JUST UNSPEAKABLE!  I’ve tried to justify it by saying that that goat, sheep, and ingokho over christmas cannot possibly fall into the realm of commercial farming, but that’s a moot point. We all were never habitual meat eaters traditionally. An animal was only sacrificed during important occasions (doubt the veracity of my argument? Go read ‘Things fall apart’ for the umpteenth time, and see the fixation on kola nuts and yams, vs. nyam chom or egusi soup). And we knew what occasions were important enough to permit blood-letting. And surely, the animal was asked for mercy before its throat was slit (basis of kosher- and halal-ism (essentially, mesma coisa), though I’d put my money on halal meat in Somalia being the ‘halal-est‘ ’cause those folk do.not.play! or compromise). Today, what exactly is the special occasion that justifies that nyama choma on a frequent basis?

 

The truest thing said in that documentary was that, “if slaughterhouses had glass walls, or if we had to personally kill the meat we consume, we’d all be vegetarian”. Not quite sure about that though, because the (clearly) hidden camera footage from those slaughter houses & hunts shows people who enjoy hurting defenseless animals. It’s not enough that the animals live in those conditions, they have to kick, throw, hit, prod and insult them! Ohhh and don’t even let me get started on the dolphins! So it begs the question, in the unlikely event that commercial animal farming stopped, where would these bloodthirsty chaps end up? And more than that, do they have families? Children, wives? How do they behave towards them, if they’re that cruel to defenseless animals? 

 

Quick overview of the video, animal exploitation by humans around 5 themes: 1. Pets (shows how, by not spaying your pets or by discarding them, you’re ensuring they are ‘put to sleep’ in INCREDIBLY inhumane ways, and disposed of in landfills – something which CSI, when they delve into landfills to find dead bodies, never show us), 2. Food (beef, pork, poultry (ducks for foie gras - which I regrettably, once enjoyed in a francophone country), seafood: fish, dolphins, whales), 3. Clothing (leather – I’m giving away my leather jacket ’cause I SO KNOW it’s Made in India!… shoes are made in China, which is no better… what to do, when leather shoes and belts are marks of qualidade?????? , fur – I was never going to buy anything fur-lined, since the WalMart scandal around dog fur-lining winter jackets in the ’90s), 4. Medical experiments (one word, UNSPEAKABLE!). I cannot tell you how many times I called “HEYZEUS” (translate from spanish, and doesn’t it kinda link modern christianity to Zeus, that Greek Almighty?) in the course of this particular segment, 5. Entertainment (Circuses, Zoos – thank the heavens I never made it round to the Jozi Zoo, Pony rides, Bullfighting, Rodeos, Hunting, Fishing).

 

The point of the documentary was that in our interactions with other ‘earthlings’ (sentient beings inhabiting this earth) we should ensure we are not exploitative. It needs to be a symbiotic relationship, not a parasitic (by us) one. And right there, I saw how my partying and disregarding DD’s needs is part of this exploitative relationship. Though I must admit that after that 1st night (returning at midnight), I would rush home, regardless of the scintillating company, to get DD out the apartment before he got desperate. And did I mention that if you leave the bedroom doors open when he’s home alone, DD will make a point of pissing on your bed to seek retribution for you leaving him alone? Perchance, in his “best breed of therapy dog” way, he prepared me to receive the Earthlings video in a positive manner? 

 

There were parts that had me looking away, fast forwarding ‘cause I could not stand to see the suffering of the animals. There were parts where I gazed in horror, convinced my eyes were not seeing what they were seeing. 

 

I finally get why the guys at the ashram have vegetarianism as a pre-requisite for taking their yoga-instructor courses. I’d previously thought they were being a bit forceful, the usual religious oppressiveness of getting everyone to do it your way or not at all (ok, so maybe they are just a tad). I thought this even after reading their pamphlet on why vegetarianism was the moral choice. It is one thing to read about vivisection (experimenting on live animals) and quite another to actually see what vivisection looks like to millions of animals. 

 

So does one viewing of Earthlings mean I’m cured from the flesh habit? For the time being, yes. But like taking a bath/shower, it needs to be done repeatedly. No, I don’t plan to traumatize myself further by watching it on a monthly basis. I just plan to be more mindful of power relations, that might does not make right (whether you’re a despot or a person about to step on an insect), and that I should empathize with the suffering of all other sentient beings instead of rolling up my window and speeding away ‘cause I am overwhelmed by the number of people who want small change from me.