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Oh, I don't know... I don't agree with the practice and find santeria to be odd; but my agreement and opinions on oddity should not necessarily dictate what others can do and/or believe. I guess it depends on what, exactly, is being done to the animal. Lines must be drawn, I'd agree... no religious belief should be used as justification for the harming of people, for example (though it often is)... But that doesn't mean all cases involving the 'sacrifice' of animals are so easily seen as being a black and white issue.
Gourmet afficionados pay high prices to eat the "fat livers" ("foie gras" in French) of fowls that have been force-fed to the point where their inner organs often rupture... Lobsters are put into pots of boiling water, while still alive, to prepare them for consumption. Millions of families across the country take part in an annual ritual involving the mass-slaughter and consumption of turkeys to give thanks by reenacting a semi-legendary meal shared by members of two newly-acquainted cultures. But these aren't really religious examples...
Some devout christians believe that when they take communion, the bread and wine are transformed into the flesh and blood of Christ... and that Abraham was ordered, by God, to sacrifice his son. Muslims, believing that the son was spared at the last moment and replaced by a lamb, each year take part in a ritual that involves slaughtering a lamb and giving its meat to those who are needy. Ancient jews counted animal sacrifice among their rituals, though this fell out of common practice thousands of years ago.
Are any of these example at all analogous to what occurs in Santeria? Honestly... I don't know. And since I don't know, I guess I'm hesitant to judge anyone based on what I read in this one article. Just because you and I think people are whackos doesn't mean they don't have the right to do what they're doing... and just because they say their religion makes it ok doesn't mean it is.
I just hope that someone who knows more about this than I do is doing something to ensure that the rights and dignity of both people of different faiths and other living creatures are being respected.
cumhail
Last edited by Cumhail; 04-16-2003 at 12:42 PM.
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