Religions that at some point
Sacrificed animals.
It was a predominant trend in the three major religions (Judaism, Muslim, Christianity) practiced today at some point in their history.
Why is it so unacceptable today? Is this animal rights or religious intolerance?
~MissApril
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IMO, just because in more barbaric historic times, humans and animals were tortured, and suffered and died in some deity's name, does not make it excusable now. I would hope we are more civilized than that, or are evolving to be so, as a species. Animals are living beings and should not be abused and harmed and tortured in the name of some cruel religion.
I consider it animal abuse and should not be tolerated. Religious freedom should not trump cruelty and torture and death.
Gypsy
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
Is a religion's past excusable?
If such barbarity stays in the long ago past and such practices are no longer condoned or practiced. In this day and age, with all be it much too weak, animal protection laws, such things should be prosecuted and the penalties a lot more severe than they are in most places.
Religious Jihad terrorism and atrocities committed actively today against people should not excusable. It is unlawful, which animal abuse and torture is, also, in most civilized places. How we treat all living beings directly reflects on our own worthiness as a species. Sometimes I think we deserve extinction when such cruelty and cheapening of life, is condoned or PC'd away.
Gypsy
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
>PC'd away<
Pro-Choice?
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
Great topic!
Your post reminded me...
Instead of blood sacrifice to bribe/pay/honor the gods, I light candles, put flowes on my altar. Pour water to bless the earth outside. Burn incense. Give to charity. Do an anonymous good turn. Help preserve wildlands and wildlife and abused animals. Plant something. Hang necklaces from a tree. Bury tokens in the earth. There are many ways to pay or thank a deity that are benign and loving, and gentle with the earth and all its abundant life.
I think this kind of thing has replaced the old ways as we have evolved to value all Life as a species. We have a long way to go, but I think the more benign changes in most religions show that evolution. :)
Gypsy
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
evolution.
In all things, for if one isn't growing/changing one is dying
Actually I think that to some extend animal sacrifice is STILL practiceed today, correct me if I'm wrong but Muslim still have a festival sometimes in January where a Goat or a sheep is slaughtered to be then eaten by the familly.
In fact the ritual slaughtering of animal in Islam and Judaism has been the object of a HUGE debate in Switzerland a few years ago as animal activism where protesing against it.
While I agree that cutting the throat of an animal and watch it die is barbaric they at least don't play with the animal as they do in Bull fighting in Spain and Southern France...I assisted once to a bull fight against my will and I swore...NEVER again. This was a disgusting act of cowardice how a numan being must have to prove himself stronger by doing this kind of thing is Beyond me.
But I find it disgusting mainly because I didn't grow in this culture, I'm pretty sure an insider wold think totally differently. And in a way, there are barbaric acts of a larger scales happening to animals everyday in the meat industry, I don't think that jam-packing pigs in a truck to relase them paniqued into a slaughter house to be electrocuted and killed on the spot is exactly civilized either. But we have to eat in a way or another, right? Or we condemn all animal butchery and don't eat meat. Or we continue eating meat without minding about the killing practices.
Those religious sacrifices were done to ask a deity for rain, or a good harvest or free them from a plague of a kind of another, it was about survival and I think it was just logic they would sacrifice something that was precious to them such as a lamb or a cow...after all they were willing to give food that would have fed the entire village to be freed of famine, or a natural disater. We can call it primitive, but I don't think religion has envolved that much, the notion of sacrifice is still there and will always be there, it's just the nature of the sacrifieced object that changed. Now you offer rice, fruits or any food to a deity, or you burn insence, light a candle. But every religions preach the detachment from material goods and the sacrifice of material confort to be closer to the divine.
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