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The Yulin Dog Meat Festival

Discussion in 'Watford' started by colognehornet, May 8, 2017.

  1. colognehornet

    colognehornet Well-Known Member

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    Whilst many of us Druids on here will be preparing to celebrate the summer solstice on June 21st, the Chinese will be preparing for a very different type of festival in Yulin. Around 10,000 dogs (and some cats) come to a gruesome end, often involving torture (makes the meat taste better) for a variety of reasons, including the idea that eating dog meat improves male virility. The Chinese have finally relented from having St. Bernards ending up on dinner plates - the threat of a war with Switzerland may have achieved that ! A lot of the rest are either strays, or pets which have mysteriously disappeared - or other dogs which have, at some time, been exported from other countries (like the St. Bernards which were originally exported to help with mountain rescue) and come, via dubious ways, to China. You have probably guessed that I consider this sufficient reason for going to war with China ! However - can I really criticize when I myself eat meat ? Think of what we do to pigs, and how they often end their days here in the west. And the pig is arguably just as intelligent as a dog - he/she can a) recognize his reflection in a mirror (whereas most dogs just bark at it) and b) be taught to play computer games (if you happen to be into such things). Or indeed the same case could be made for a number of animals - the Chinese find it revolting that we eat liver and kidneys. Is it not time to take a stand against this habit whereby the human race exists by consuming his fellow living species (and torturing them in the most unimaginable ways for other reasons) ? Perhaps for environmental reasons if not for moral ones ?
     
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  2. Bolton's Boots

    Bolton's Boots Well-Known Member

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    Or religious ones? I'm not in any way religious, but I do have to teach the subject - more often than not wondering about the truth of what I'm required to say.

    In Judaism, the Creation story apparently says that, after making man and woman, God said to them "See the green plants and trees filled with fruit - they will be your food, and food for all living things that move and breathe."

    Perhaps we should all become Jewish?
     
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  3. colognehornet

    colognehornet Well-Known Member

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    Although most modern day Jews are not vegetarian BB. Although the Torah does encourage vegetarianism as do many modern Rabbis. Nearly all religions would have something against gluttony ie. eating more than you actually need - and this is what is encouraged in our society. There was a time, not a hundred years ago, when the costs of food were around 40-50% of income - now they have been pressed down to around 6-7% in order to create spending power in other areas. There was also a time when people in the west ate meat maybe once per week and cooked for several days in advance. Unfortunately the role of agriculture within capitalism is to keep the price of food down so as not to interfere with spending power - all the factory farming, and monoculture, is just a part of that.
     
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  4. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    Yes.... all so out of balance with our planet and its creatures.....
     
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