On a Saturday evening I had nothing better to do in this God-forsaken place other than go out with my colleague Dany (who is from the US) to all the temples and popular tourist spots in Tanjore. The places per se did not really hold my interest, but I got to see a lot of other things - for instance, elephants which are trained to accept coins and "bless" you with their trunk..oh yes, they will not "bless" you if you give them anything other than coins..Amusing no doubt, but so many of us don't eat meat supposedly cos we think killing animals is wrong, but we have no problems with things like this; this particular elephant is kept captive for its entire life (noble as its cause may be)..is it worse than killing it to eat it? I have no answer...
Dany asked me over dinner about how many people (who think killing animals to eat is wrong) would think twice before killing a cockroach? I admit cockroaches scare me like nothing else, and I would really love it if none of them existed...Does my fear of them justify me taking their life any more than me wanting to eat it, esp since my fear is not valid since it can do nothing whatsoever to me??
People keep telling me that we were all originally from the jungle and therefore, its only fair that the mightier animal kill others and we were originally cavemen who hunted for food...well, this is the most ridiculous argument I ever heard...if we had to behave like animals in a jungle, why then do we value human life if we were was prey to such basic instincts??? Why is it that I can kill a cow or a dog, but if I kill another fellow-human I am punished by law? Why not be animals all the way? And moreover, cavemen didn't have an option since it was a question of survival, but we do right? Isnt it funny that only in this case we should choose not to see beyond our noses?
We then took the cycle rickshaw ride because Dany wanted to have the experience. It was interesting to note that he was concerned he weighed a 100 kilos and said that he felt like a colonizer for that 10 mins of the ride, even though we paid the guy much more than what he asked...
Yes yes, it is natural that we have more sympathy towards humans than anything else...thats what is kinship I guess :)
Dany asked me over dinner about how many people (who think killing animals to eat is wrong) would think twice before killing a cockroach? I admit cockroaches scare me like nothing else, and I would really love it if none of them existed...Does my fear of them justify me taking their life any more than me wanting to eat it, esp since my fear is not valid since it can do nothing whatsoever to me??
People keep telling me that we were all originally from the jungle and therefore, its only fair that the mightier animal kill others and we were originally cavemen who hunted for food...well, this is the most ridiculous argument I ever heard...if we had to behave like animals in a jungle, why then do we value human life if we were was prey to such basic instincts??? Why is it that I can kill a cow or a dog, but if I kill another fellow-human I am punished by law? Why not be animals all the way? And moreover, cavemen didn't have an option since it was a question of survival, but we do right? Isnt it funny that only in this case we should choose not to see beyond our noses?
We then took the cycle rickshaw ride because Dany wanted to have the experience. It was interesting to note that he was concerned he weighed a 100 kilos and said that he felt like a colonizer for that 10 mins of the ride, even though we paid the guy much more than what he asked...
Yes yes, it is natural that we have more sympathy towards humans than anything else...thats what is kinship I guess :)
Posts
1 comment:
Your question is definitely something all veg(etari)ans have to think about. I think a safe and internally consistent rule of thumb is this - don't harm not an animal unless it has the potential (and intention!) to harm you. So when possible, let the cockroach out into the open (so that it may infest someone else's home) and open the window for the bee. Problem: Man has urbanised and mechanised so much of this earth that there doesn't really remain a natural habitat for many creatures in the cities. So it's quite difficult to release animals "into their habitat".
Nevertheless, its important for us humans to check for internal consistency in our moral high-horses :) So that brahmin auntie who won't eat from a "non-veg" serving restaurant - maybe it's time to take a closer look at the new leather purse your daughter sent from the US! :)
Shruthi
Post a Comment