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Friday, October 31, 2014

The Big Three...

excuses for animal exploitation (use of someone or something in an unjust or cruel manner, or generally as a means to one's ends) are:
  1.  Might makes right.
  2.  We have abilities they don't have.
  3.  God said to do it.

Those pretty much cover the gamut, especially if you press someone who's trying to justify it. They will usually end up at one of the three...or maybe more than one.

What's interesting is that the "big three" excuses are pretty much the same for the oppression (the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner) of any group of living beings, be they Indigenous peoples, women, a particular race, the elderly...and on and on. All the entanglements, the social issues, the confusion, the upset, the harm...all of it generally comes down to one or more of the "big three". It's actually not that complicated at all...pretty simple actually. Such simplicity driving such misery...it makes me shake my head.

The first excuse is the stance of a dweeb, the second excuse is the stance of a narcissist and the third is the stance of someone unwilling to be responsible for their own behavior...so they fob it off on an invisible power. Ascribing credence to one or more of the "big three" doesn't say much for the ascriber, eh? Also, notice how well any one of the big three fit into the logic of domination to justify moral superiority. These three are the music for that dance of destruction we are so caught up in.

I ran across mention of the "big three" in a piece written by Pattrice Jones. It contains a wealth of information...much more than I can do justice to in this entry.  I was just was struck by the "big three" and how...like some evil spell...so much horror and suffering and misery has been created and maintained by those three trivial notions. Jeez...we are a piece of work.

I love this vegan stuff, I spent decades trying to sort through and understand human behavior and social ills and thought I had figured some things out...and I had...but nothing like the clarifications that I've stumbled onto while trying to wrap my mind around why I ignored and harmed the innocent Earthlings for so long...and why others keep doing it. It's not rocket science...it's actually fairly simple stuff. But...we do a tremendous job of blinding ourselves to that simplicity.

Simplify your life, opt out of hiding behind the "big three", become an Earthling that our sister/brother Earthlings don't mind having around. Go vegan, you'll be very glad you did...and so will they.

7 comments:

Christine said...

I agree one of the big three excuses for animal exploitation, particularly the last two. Though I rather think indifference and ignorance play a huge role. Concerning meat I think people have a false notion that man is naturally a carnivore or an omnivore - which of course if he were he would not need to cook his food and like a natural carnivore would not need any artificial means to kill and eat meat. Also a lot of people unless challenged don’t question their behaviour towards other animals. I didn’t make the connection for many years though there was always some disquiet about eating meat. Why I can’t say, maybe the exploitation is so embedded in our culture that few really question it. Though I think in the last couple of decades more people are aware and thankfully more people have become vegetarian and eventually vegan, which is really the last logical step though it took me eighteen years after becoming vegetarian to finally go vegan

joan.kyler said...

The big three really are crap. I can't say much about the first. Physically, humans are not the mightiest of creatures. In fact, we're pretty puny. Our brains may be mighty, but we often use them to destroy rather than to create.

Animals have far greater and more amazing abilities than humans: some can fly, many can out run us, some can swim and dive to great depths in the seas. Sure, we can do those things, but we need mechanical means to do them.

I'm not a Biblical scholar, but I have a more than is currently typical grounding in Christianity. I don't believe that the Bible is all the sacred word of God. It's been manipulated over the centuries, and I distrust anything in it that requires less of humans.

In Genesis 1:29, in God's perfect world, God tells Adam and Eve what he's given them for food: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." This verse is conveniently and almost universally ignored.

And there's the commandment not to kill, which, as far as I know doesn't specify what not to kill or provide exclusions to the commandment.

After man proves he's a real screw up and a moral midget, God decides to cut us some slack. But shouldn't we aspire to the best we can be? Not the dumbed down version?

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Christine. Your mentioning the long journey from vegetarian to vegan brought to mind Donald Watson mentioning in an interview that the natural path to veganism seemed to go through vegetarianism. Certainly that was mine and the same for most vegans I know. Everyone goes at their own pace on that journey. :-)

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Joan. I concur with you totally. :-)

Bea Elliott said...

Yes these most certainly are excuses. Bad ones for sure. The bully. The bigot. And the liar. A liar because as Joan points out there are all sorts of reasons to believe in a deity that instructed a kinder model. I find it impossible to think that anyone would respect or "worship" a creator who deliberately made a world of suffering. Frankly a "belief" in such a god is ruled by fear. Dangerous and destructive fear.

I forget who said it but it confirms that we choose which god is true according to what works in our own version of good and bad. The only one making the rules with "God" is us. I agree we can do much better in our interpretation of what "god" wants or not.

And I wonder if "God said ok" isn't #1 as well? Who's mightier (righter) than "god"? Maybe the narcissist? Or the megalomaniac who also is "entitled" to harm. Yep, it all comes down to god. Whether it's a god of might, a god of "privilege" or a god of evolution. It's all "I said so" (ego) in the end. We as our own authority choose how we will treat others. It is that simple.

Have Gone Vegan said...

Thanks for linking to the piece by pattrice -- I find it much easier to absorb (and retain) information taken in through the eyes than ears.

As for the big three, sadly, at times they could even be reduced to one: because we can.

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting HGV. Sadly, your last sentence contains way too much truth.