The Islam festival of EID is approaching in which in some areas many
hundreds of cows and bulls are slaughtered, making the streets flow with blood.
I've received requests from people asking how to help make this stop, or at
least reduce the number of poor cows that have the necks sliced open a then
left to die in the streets. Even in some areas of India where there are
laws against cow slaughter, the police and politicians do nothing about it.
One idea for everyone where this kind of thing goes on is that there should
be a campaign to get as much of this slaughter on video and film as
possible in order to document it, and then post it in as many places as possible,
such as on youtube, vimeo, and dailymotion. There needs to be a way to get
this out to as many people as possible so that the world sees what a
so-called sophisticated or religion of peace does in honor of such festivals.
The only way to get them to stop is to make them an embarrassment of world
criticism.
You will not be able to stop this slaughter by talking philosophy with
these people. But many people in the West are now becoming highly adverse to
animal cruelty, and to show this kind of "celebration" with film of the
slaughter of so many animals is a way to create awareness of what goes on,
create an impression that people will react to, and hope that such a reaction
will become an uproar to a degree in which this slaughter can be reduced by
the criticism focused on this kind of harsh activity.
I have seen some of the videos out there, and they are most difficult to
watch for anyone of any sensitivity, and also making such videos of the
slaughter of so many animals will not be easy. But, other than trying to stop
this yourself, videos and film can create the awareness wherein larger
numbers of people may be able to participate in a campaign of asking why this has
to happen, and demanding that it stop, and embarrassing the Muslim
community in general that they begin to rethink the reasons for slaughtering so
many animals. At least it is worth a try, and can certainly expose a most
harsh aspect of this tradition.
Hari OM,
Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana dasa)
