A TV program showed how some ‘special cows’ were reared with good food and even music – to make them feel relaxed. They are even periodically massaged! Brings another new meaning to ‘creature comforts’? There are also stringent procedures for ensuring tip-top hygiene to keep the cows disease-free…
But ultimately, for whose benefit? To create more tender beef for humans. Hypocrisy at work really. Who wants a ‘heavenly’ life followed by hellish suffering? The interviewed farmer express regret that the cows have to be killed. But if the regret is genuine, why farm them on, only to continually kill them?
As expected, the program showed the cows while they are healthy and alive and how their meat was processed. Yes, the crucial part of how they are murdered is skipped. This is TV after all, sanitised for general consumption and entertainment, for concealing the harsh truths of how animals become meat. Murder is hardly easy to consume or be entertaining. This alone gives me a good reason to not give mainstream media too much credibility when it comes to presenting the whole truth. What is the program supposed to do? Inculcate compassion? Tempt audience to go for the beef? Sigh!
Yeah, sad thing is that the majority of the people are led by the media, going round and round in circles, not knowing where they are heading for.
Yes, that’s why we need to share the Dharma!
Amituofo
(I)
Well I rather enjoy eating beef, a lot, but I can see that we need to change the way we go about killing them. I especially agree with your take on media half-truths. Happy cows, anarchist riot at g20 in PA, milk health, etc. The cows brutally murdered sort of like a serial killer would do with animals before he transfers his obsession to people. There were only a few segregated anarchists who rioted, and everyone else were peacefully getting stomped by military and riot squads. The necessary enzymes for our bodies to absorb the nutrients in milk are boiled out during the pasteurizing process, so we never actually keep those nutrients.
But the cows would rather not be killed, a lot. Milk is problematic too. See http://www.milksucks.com
The issue of meat is no less a political issue other than a diet issue. I still recall some time back when Taiwan refused to import beef from US. The western counterparts made a fuss out of it. It was in the news. Vegetarianism is really good. Given the current state of things from food security issues to health issues and even outbreaks of illnesses, mankind should really reconsider the very humaneness that we have lost along the way. The world is a hotpot of beliefs and mankind are shaped by beliefs. Along the way, there are some that put mankind above all which not only stroked the human ego so much that we are really living a life that conceals and deny our conscience at times by riding roughshod over the weak. There is no animals who would pray willingly to be killed and in joy. If humanity is really the epitome of intelligence. The mind we are given is an asset to help others and not hurt others. Surely we can use our intelligence to live a life wo hurting others. Unless we are still using only 3% of our brain. Maybe that’s why.