November 1, 2011

Only religion can teach us about morality

Kosher slaughtering.
So a zillion rabbis have descended on Poland to deal with pressing religious matters.
This year's Conference of European Rabbis will focus on a range of issues affecting European and global Jewry, including attempts in Europe to ban the Jewish method of religious slaughter of animals
Ah, yes, the religious slaughter of animals. How could we forget that? Seemingly one of the rabbis' most pressing concerns involves the fact that Poland has a law requiring that animals be stunned before they are slaughtered.

Nuh-uh, say the rabbis. That's not the religious way to slaughter poor innocent creatures! They must be conscious, you see, for the slaughter to be in accordance with god's loving principles.

I guess it's true -- religion does teach us about morality. In this instance, decent moral people can look at the religious folks and say, "Ugh!" Thus we learn something about morality.

Here's the story, if you enjoy wallowing in blood tales. And yes, the article posits the idea that these bans were originally deemed anti-Semitic. I don't care about the history of the practice or how it's viewed by religious folks. I care about how the animals view it. This is a sickening practice that causes needless pain for animals. Call that religious if you wish; I call it callous, immoral and disgusting. But that's pretty much how I see religion anyway.

1 comment:

Anna Guess Pick said...

I think I will just stick with my Buddhist spirituality.... makes sense to me.