Greece sets a new platform for the debate of “Animal Rights vs Religious Freedom”.
The Apex court (highest court) in Greece has banned the slaughter of animals in a certain way. The Hellenic Council of state, the top court of Greece termed the religious slaughter practices of “Halal”, and “Kosher” as inhumane and banned them. The ban subsequently led to a new debate on whether imposing restrictions on Animal Slaughter, which improves the humane conditions for animals and increases animal rights encroaches on "freedom of Religion". Learn more:
For some context, here is what Halal and Kosher are:
Halal is Arabic for permissible. Halal food is that which adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran.
The Islamic form of slaughtering animals or poultry, dhabiha, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe.
Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood is drained from the carcass. During the process, a Muslim will recite a dedication, know as tasmiya or shahada.
Source: BBC
The process involves the animal being alive, being able to feel the pain. This is torture as the animal is subject to being alive while getting slaughtered. There are however conflicting views which I came through that you should know about. Go through the piece after going through this article.
Next, what is Kosher?
According to Healthline: “Kosher” is a term used to describe foods that comply with dietary guidelines set by traditional Jewish law. These laws determine which foods may be consumed and how they must be produced, processed, and prepared.
According to PETA, the Kosher method of slaughtering animals seems appropriate and painless on the face of it. However, deeper investigations conducted by PETA revealed that it is not the case. Here are a few findings from 2007:
(in the explicit cases of cows)
Cows remained conscious for as long as two minutes after their throats were cut open.
A worker ripped into conscious cows’ throats with a metal node hook in order to make the bleeding process go faster.
Cows were handled improperly, resulting in fear and stress just prior to slaughter.
Workers removed identification tags by mutilating live cows’ ears
All information quoted above is from the following post on PETA's website. I encourage you to visit it. https://www.peta.org/features/agriprocessors/
Animal rights activists believe that when livestock is not injected with anesthesia prior to cruel slaughter, the animals can feel all the pain and die a slow death. They believe that slaughter without Anesthesia is cruel and inhumane.
However, so called "religious activists" outline as to how this new law could threaten their way of life. Some go as far as to argue that these new laws throughout Europe are encroaching on "Religious Freedom".
#Myopinion,
Halal and Kosher are no longer ethical practices to slaughter animals when there are better ways available. Slaughtering them in the name of "humane execution" can not also be the new standard. We need to work hard to ensure that an animal lives a better and more "humane life".
The new way to go must be plant-based. It is both good for the environment, and less cruel to animals. In my opinion, adopting more "humane" techniques to slaughtering animals is a short-term solution that should be phased out to include widespread adoption of sustainable techniques. The next article I would be writing will be regarding this:- "Can we sacrifice our traditions (across all religions) swapping them with more ethical and sustainable practices".
Plant based is sustainable for a wide range of reasons such as:
1. According to an article published in the Guardian, the average British non-vegetarian individual eats at least 11,000 animals on average throughout their entire lifestyle. The entire cycle of getting that animal onto your plate is time-consuming, resource-consuming, and harmful for the environment.
2. Land: The breeding of livestock is expensive with regard to land. Reportedly 30% of all usable land; described as land with no ice – is used to breed livestock
3. Guzzling down litres of water: When one consumes an animal on their plate – they are also accountable for consuming the amount of water consumed by animals. To produce the same amount of food with regard to weight – animals tend to take more than 5* the amount in contrast to plants.
4. Encouraging the next pandemic. It is a debate as to how Covid-19 started however, as history shows us, animals are the main cause for pandemics. Most slaughterhouses today exists as mass slaughter facilities which crowd animals together. Diseases will spread easily.
For further reading, I would recommend the following sources in order to explore the two sides of the story. These in my opinion, are the most well rounded arguments out there (even though I scoured the internet for many).
Delve deep into halal, haram, and Kosher:
PETA Reveals Extreme Cruelty at Kosher Slaughterhouses | PETA
Good Question: What is Halal Meat?
In order to explore two well-rounded opinions, take a look at the following:
This post is slightly radical. However, it does give you a small look into one side of the story: https://www.facebook.com/anonymousforthevoiceless/photos/the-ultimate-test-of-non-vegan-consistency-would-be-to-ask-them-if-it-would-be-m/3210052205683654/
This post is published in a newspaper The Jerusalem Post:
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/greek-court-annuls-permit-for-kosher-halal-slaughter-683274
P.S: I hope you like this more informal way of writing. I am constantly reflecting on the quality of these articles and I hope for you to send me your valuable feedback here:
neilsudhalkar@thedailydosage.in
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What do you think? Can we encroach on the rights of living things in order to satisfy religious freedoms?
Feel free to comment on this post or send-in your opinion via tumblr.
Thanks,
Neil
Mumbai, EN, India.
Temporary website:
https://neilsudhalkar.wixsite.com/thedailydose
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