Interesting perspective on Canadian Ban

... on Kosher animal slaughter.

Apparently Muslim ritual slaughter to produce Halal food (the technique is functionally identical) remains fine.

One of the first thing the Nazis did wherever they went in Europe was to ban shechita.

Talk about a complicated topic. I just did a quick look at wiki for shechita and halal and was deep into the weeds of the issues.

Ran across this interview with Tempel Grandin. It was one of the references footnoted in a wiki article.

https://medium.com/@rabbiyankl...grandin-7c124be209c3

That destroyed my favorable opinion of Canada.

I don't know how this will play out. But it's hard not to conclude that this is anti-Jewish with only a veneer of animal rights cover. Either that or it's tone-deaf and bloody-minded ignorant. I'm sure some Jews will get on OK because they're not religiously dependent on kosher foods, but others will have to leave. I hope they take all their assets out of Canada and bring them here, or to Israel.

So I looked up “shechita” and watched YouTube videos to get a sense of what that practice entails.

I watched one video from the KindlingGroup, presumably a pro-Jewish organization that is inclined to emphasize the good side of shechita, and a video from PETA, which presumably is inclined to emphasize the bad side of shechita.

Fair warning: both videos linked below show the slaughtering of animals and show blood.

The KindlingGroup video: https://youtu.be/T8p-hfLrVx4

The PETA video: https://youtu.be/WviIO1oAYM0

Then I think back to a childhood experience where I witnessed a group of Muslims performed a ceremonial slaughtering of a cow or bull — basically multiple men first dug a hole in the ground, then wrestled the fully conscious animal to the group, another man recited scripture while yet another man used a big long knife to slid the throat of the animal. The throat of the animal was positioned right above the hole in the group so the animal basically bleeds into the hole. The animal was held there as it bled until death. Then more recitation of scripture and more ceremonial stuff performed over the blood filled hole in the ground.

So I throw in here another video on the Muslim “halal” method of slaughtering a cow in an industrial setting: https://youtu.be/Bu9Gd-XEDfY

In all instances, I see no reason why the animal needs to be kept conscious while bleeding out. To be humane, short of not killing the animal in the first place, would be to minimize the pain and minimize amount of time the animal “feels” the pain when it is slaughtered. We have the science and the technology to do this better now.

Various religions have historically condoned or even codified certain practices: slavery, child marriage, certain ways of doing circumcisions, burning/burying of the wife alive along with the dead husband, chopping off the hands of thieves, stoning criminals/sinners to death, etc. Most civilized nation-states have banned many of these practices, and largely we do not call such bans anti-this-religion or anti-that-religion. In time, we will do better in this regard with respect to the slaughtering of animals, too.

quote:

Originally posted by Axtremus:
In all instances, I see no reason why the animal needs to be kept conscious while bleeding out. To be humane, short of not killing the animal in the first place, would be to minimize the pain and minimize amount of time the animal “feels” the pain when it is slaughtered. We have the science and the technology to do this better now.

Various religions have historically condoned or even codified certain practices: slavery, child marriage, certain ways of doing circumcisions, burning/burying of the wife alive along with the dead husband, chopping off the hands of thieves, stoning criminals/sinners to death, etc. Most civilized nation-states have banned many of these practices, and largely we do not call such bans anti-this-religion or anti-that-religion. In time, we will do better in this regard with respect to the slaughtering of animals, too.

Well put, Ax.

Big Al

i'm not going to watch those videos. and i don't know anything about how animals are killed for kosher meat, nor the reasons for those particular practices. every jewish practice or rule that i'm familiar with was originally done for health reasons. i'm sure that in ancient times there were health reasons for the kosher rules, so i assume that's the rationale behind these practices.

and PETA is a ridiculous, extremist group. they don't believe in animal ownership. they think pets are better off dead than owned by humans. while i do agree with them that animals have personhood, it does not necessarily follow that then we shouldn't eat meat or have pets.

in the current political climate, with anti-semitism roaring to life around the world, canada's timing is a poor choice at best. it just inflames anti-semites and frightens jews who are already feeling pretty terrified. the context for this decision is not good.

quote:

Originally posted by big al:

quote:

Originally posted by Axtremus:
In all instances, I see no reason why the animal needs to be kept conscious while bleeding out. To be humane, short of not killing the animal in the first place, would be to minimize the pain and minimize amount of time the animal “feels” the pain when it is slaughtered. We have the science and the technology to do this better now.

Various religions have historically condoned or even codified certain practices: slavery, child marriage, certain ways of doing circumcisions, burning/burying of the wife alive along with the dead husband, chopping off the hands of thieves, stoning criminals/sinners to death, etc. Most civilized nation-states have banned many of these practices, and largely we do not call such bans anti-this-religion or anti-that-religion. In time, we will do better in this regard with respect to the slaughtering of animals, too.

Well put, Ax.

Big Al

+2