Last night I finally got around to sitting down and watching a documentary that a friend recommended. She's a newly found friend from the Pagan group that I joined. She makes a mean chocolate cake and is Vegan.
We've been chatting online for a few weeks now and she mentioned to me that she saw a very powerful film called "Earthlings". I found the program on Top Documentary Films.com. A note about this website. They have some really good content here. The majority of it is free to watch online. There are many powerful films available and I highly recommend it.
Now, Back to Earthlings. For the last three years, I've been a vegetarian. I've changed my purchases to buying organic when ever I can and I try my best to stay away from animal products. However, I know that I am not Vegan. I do have a passion for leather and riding a motorcycle with hubby, we use the leathers to protect us from harm when we ride. I look around my house and generally it's pretty animal friendly. Meaning, the little fur babies that live here, live very well and the objects in my home are for the most part, not made from animals.
For a long time I didn't understand why PETA stance on keeping animals as pets was so strong. I felt that it was basically ludricis to think that we should not have pets. I am a good person and I take care of my pets. Watching this program last night however they showed the actual bodies piled up from the gas chambers where unwanted "Pets" are literally dumped out of the little box cages and piled onto the concrete. It was heart wrenching. I get it now. Because a few people are not responsible enough to correctly care for their animals, their stance is that no one should have them.
The prospective of this film is that Earthlings, are everyone and everything that live on Earth. It shows how racism, sexism and speciesism are actually all very similar in the Human race. When you think about it, White Supremacy for example, is a belief that they their particular race is superior and other races, "lower races" are not worthy of the same respect as their own. Their race is the master, and all others the slaves. Now looking at sexism we can see the same type of belief structure. One group, in this case "gender" looks at it's own gender as being the master and all others the slave. We can see that Feminism was brought about just to empower females and combat misogyny. The new word that I was introduced to in this film was Specisism. The belief, that the Human Species has a greater right or is superior to any other species on the planet. I never really considered this. I mean I look around at the animals here and I think that they need to be protected. They really only need to be protected by us, FROM US.
We, as humans are the ones that are destroying them. We, as humans are the ones who are removing their habitats, poisoning the oceans and streams and polluting the air. If we didn't do this, they would not need us to save them.
I could not watch the entire show. The images were extremely graphic and I was in tears nearly immediately watching it. I switched it off and took on a new film called "Westboro Baptist Church: A Family in Crisis". I watched as the Fred Phelps' family proceeded to explain why they are superior and why everyone else was worthy of only hate and death. I watched as this group removed members of their own family and shunned them for not being "godly". I couldn't help but compare the venom they spewed as being on the same level as those that seek out to harm others based on race, gender, sexual orientation and yes, species.
I cannot say that this film has made me Vegan. I can however say that I will never look at our fellow Earthlings the same way. We are no important than the beetle bug or the butterfly. We are just a neighbor, living here on this planet and sharing this Earth with every other living being here.
Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(
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8 comments
I always try to see animals as equal to us in every way. That's partially why I have no problem with eating a few types of animal products (I love cheese, and if I could, I'd own my own cows!!!) Animals like lions or other predatory cats have no problem attacking and even eating humans. It's their nature. I know that some animals do need protection from us, and I fully support efforts to save endangered species, but I also know that many species die out without human interference of any kind *cause or protection*.
And it's funny that you'd bring up the WBC, because I firmly believe that religion, specifically Abrahamaic religions, is one big reason that humans have such a disdain for the environment. I really do - because when I went to Sunday School as a child, I was taught that it didn't matter what happened to the Earth, or what we did to it because we weren't staying here...that our "real" world was transitory and that we'd be moving on to a better place and our current place was ours to rape and pillage and destroy if we wanted. Perhaps if the major religions would start saying, "Yeah, we still believe that we'll be moving on to a better place, but that's no excuse to not take care of our current home for our children."
I, myself, prefer to eat vegetarian these days, but I can't always do that in my household unfortunately. We don't wear leather (mainly because it's expensive and we don't need the protection that leather affords, so why get it, ya know?) My eldest son needs a GFCF diet, which means that my house will be giving up dairy soon - so I'll have to give up my cheese eventually. But at least I can still have rice milk :) That stuff is awesome.
I don't like factory farming of any sort. I don't like puppy mills or pet stores. The pets that we get are strays that we adopt. Every cat I've gotten was either homeless and left to die on the side of the road, or given to us because their owners couldn't keep them. The way I look at it - if I had not adopted those cats, they would have starved to death or worse. So PeTA can suck my big toe. *lol*
Excellent post, wonderful link *yay! More documentaries!* and interesting things to think on for the day. Love it!
Wow! Thanks for this wonderful comment. I tend to agree with you on how some organized religions treat the earth. I remember Sunday school as well, down here here we were taught that Humans were removed from the garden and are separate from nature and of course the all powerful quote, Man given dominion over the animals of the world. I can completely see that.
As far as your beloved cheese, try getting organic cheese for yourself. They've found that sometimes the families are actually having allergies to the additives in the product and not the actual product. I too love me some cheese. I've switched over to organic cheese or I use goat's milk cheese.
I tried the rice milk but it was a little sweet for my taste. Generally I don't drink milk at all.
Yeah I agree with you on the PETA stance. I have my pets (a horde of them) and I take care of them all. Too bad we can't make people take a test before they get pets!
Again thanks for your post. I love it when I get good feedback! Enjoy the link, there are some really good docs there.
Blessed Be!
We're getting a farmer's market here in 2012 (FINALLY!!!!) so I'm hoping to see some good choices there :) I go to Charleston once every 2 weeks (if I can) to get a few things that we can't get anywhere else. I get a few GFCF things for Rowan (he's doing well on the enzymes, but I hope to get him transitioned to GFCF so we can stop the enzymes eventually). I will definitely look into the organic cheese :) Rowan still couldn't have it, though. I'd rather him be totally casein free, or if he really wants the cheese, give him his enzymes with it. So far, Xander's not shown any kind of issues, but you never know. We also haven't gotten him his 12 month shots (and he's 18 months now). We may take him in a month or two to get his 12 month ones taken care of. I'd rather avoid those particulars. I don't want him to get the MMR or the chickenpox shot. He's old enough now that his immune system would easily fight them off. I'm more apt to get him the DTaP because of tetanus or whooping cough. I don't like the rotavirus vaccine (Rowan had rotavirus when he was 3 and is just fine). I really think that giving so many shots at one time is the problem with a lot of kids - they tested one vaccine by itself (the MMR) and then said they were all safe. They never checked the shots against each other or saw how they reacted in a child when given together. But that's a whole other story :)
And I'm already there on the link! *lol*
Great post. I don't agree with the logic that since some people can't handle it no one should. Then what do they think will happen to all those dogs and cats? They are NOT wild animals, what do they think they would do? Aren't they equally sickened by feral cats and dogs?
Very wonderful post! You had me in tears. I became a vegan for health reasons. My family has a vast history in heart disease, heart attacks, high cholesterol, and colon cancer. I decided to eat dairy again a few years ago and realized quickly that it caused me great joint pain so I stopped again. I watched the movie as inspiration because I heard Ellen speak about it and how it helped her and her partner stick to their vegan lifestyle and quite frankly I needed inspiration! So I watched it. In all honesty I have no problem with people eating meat, dairy, eggs, whatever. It is a personal choice. However I do feel we need to have more compassions for the animals we do consume. Make sure the cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs, etc. have lived happy lives, eating their proper food (NOT CORN), not being ripped away from their babies, not being slaughtered right in front of each other (because they can then see their own demise) and making sure the killing blow is fatal so that no more pain is felt. The way we treat animals is horrible. I think as a society we eat too much. It is horrible for the environment and we could grow more real food instead of livestock feed if we cut back. Save the rainforests instead of using them for pasture and factory farms. As far as pets go I have two dogs who were mutts no one wanted. I think if we want pets its fine but we should try and get them from shelters and places where animals need homes. As a one time dog groomer/trainer I saw many owners of puppy mills who only brought the mommy and daddy dogs to be groomed when they had puppies to show. These poor dogs had nails that curled and were mostly yellow from living in their own waste. They would normally need to be shaved down to almost bald because of the mats. I will never have a dog or cat from a place like this. If you do want pure bred animals (granted most of the time they have no papers) go to a breed specific rescue. I have a friend who found the most obedient rotty through the rescue near Wilson NC. He is a hair dresser and takes him to work with him and he lays in the corner behind him at a really nice salon. As consumers we just need to make better choices, if we don't contribute to the ones who are being cruel they will eventually disappear. We can change the world it only takes one person to start a movement. Sorry I went on a severe ramble there! LOL!! <3 Love ya!
Blog award on my crafty blog for you dear :)
@Angie Yeah I agree, I'm not really sure what they think we should do with the animals that are our there starving. I mean think about it. How dangerous would it be for dogs, who would form packs naturally, to be wild and running about in a city for example. People wouldn't be safe, they wouldn't be safe. It's a mess I think all around. Personally I have a pack of feral cats in my back yard. We didn't take them to the shelter because they have a policy of putting down feral immediately. No way could I do that.
Now we'll take them catch them in traps and have them fixed then put them back in the yard. I don't mind feeding them, and they're great to keep the mice away. They have a barn to live in and a safe place to play and grow old.
:)
@Misty I agree 100% I have no issue with folks that want to eat meat. I say just know where your meat comes from. What's going into it? What are they feeding it? How about hormones. One thing I noticed right away. After I stopped eating meat my monthly cramps vanished.... I have them very rarely now and usually ONLY when I eat chocolate before I start. I also used to have to shave my legs every day. Now I can go almost a week w/o doing it. That tells me there was something in that meat!
Thanks so much for the recommendation of this film and for your comments :)
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