Life in general

585:

If animals need to be respected it’s part of a wider respect, for life in general. Surely the very life force should be respected if not marvelled at, if only because Nature is probably the most beautiful thing we know. Both animals and Nature need protecting from exploitative humans.

Because the numbers are so great I’m interested at looking at one side of ‘protection’ here, of the billions of sentient farm animals presently languishing in captivity. By protecting these animals we have a chance to restore the balance of Nature itself (perhaps by way of engaging our own repairing spirit). Slim as it might seem, there’s probably only one chance left for us, to show ourselves that we still have humanity in us. In a round-about way it’s the saving of these very animals that can show us the significance of developing a repairing attitude; we can start by looking at them differently and end by seeking their forgiveness.

The difficult patch humans are going through, transitioning into a deeper consciousness, touches on our potential for  symbiotic relationship with them (with any sentient lifeform we’ve exploited). We have the possibility now to be reciprocal partners. But there’s a way to go yet. Right now they urgently need our help just to get them out of jail.

If we want to become effective advocates for them, we need to present a picture of them to spark people’s imagination. I can’t think of a better way this is being done at present than in Jodi Ruckley’s DVD, ‘The Animals You Eat’, which is aimed at kids.

It lets the animals ‘speak’ as narrators in their own life stories. The film is available from www.ourplaceonearth.com. Since it is designed to appeal to school students, it’s watchable and doesn’t have any horrific visuals.

With images and words and even some humour, we can help to lift the leaden weight of today’s mind-set without too much emotional outburst. We need to point our empathy in the right direction but at the same time find good food as well as ‘hope-for-the-future’. It will be a revolution, of course, as abattoirs shut down but mainly it will be an emotional revolution where animal advocates will no longer be driven by sadness or self pity or anger, or feeling better than our neighbour because of what we eat or wear, or giving the omnivore a good laugh at our expense.