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its kind of amazing what a blindspot otherwise scrupulously moral people have for the rights of any non-companion animal and I think that might be part of christianity's unfortunate legacy at least in the west.
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@georgia check out asia, and they even have a religion that explicitly says to respect animals
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@georgia I'm kind of in this post and I don't like it
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@sun you talking about Jainism perhaps? all dharmic religions value animal rights although some like theravada buddhism and many hindu strains dont constrict diet. or are you talking about east asia which is worse than south asia regarding animal rights?
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@georgia except it's not really a blind spot but more of a "yeah this sucks and I know it and I need to significantly change my consumption habits (but it feels daunting/insert other excuses here)"
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@georgia yeah east asia and buddhism
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@sun by animal rights here I just mean regarding animal suffering as something to be avoided at all
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@georgia I don't have the verse on hand but it does have a single throwaway verse that the material world is meant for your use, but fairly consistently the theology has also said that gifts are there for your use but not your abuse
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@georgia yeah :/ something from one of the posts i was going to make in what's unfortunately become "the slavery thread" now was something along the lines of "we don't really need to imagine a hell when it's already here on earth for pigs living in pen in a factory farm / slaughterhouse"

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@patchuun I was thinking of my stepdad. tbh as a pescatarian I'm not remotely immune from critique. I just ate lobster the other day which is terribly cruel. I wouldnt call myself scrupulously moral though even though I hopefully will be one day.
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@georgia there is a common occurance that people will follow the strict law but ignore the purpose. as an example the Mormon Words of Wisdom are meant to keep you frugal and healthy, has rules against drugs and various substances. But in practice a lot of Mormons are big and fat because they eat a ton of food even though they scrupulously avoid drugs, thereby missing the point. If you are a thoughtful Christian you shouldn't mistreat animals.
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@georgia I figured it wasn't directed at me but, hit dogs holler lol

>I wouldnt call myself scrupulously moral though even though I hopefully will be one day.
You and me both sister
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@sun at least one church father used the story of the legion and the fig tree to argue christians have no responsibility towards animals or plants and I wonder how influential he truly was.
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@georgia May I ask in which context? While I consider myself someone who hates animal abuse(I don't eat lobster, crabs and other animals that needs to be alive during cooking), I'm someone who don't see a problem into killing animals like cows, chickens and more for meat if is done in a way that the animal don't suffer, which is what the law here requires slaughterhouses to do.

But at the same time I don't consider myself as a moral person.
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@georgia there is a huge gap in knowledge between lay christians and people that 1. pick up the fucking Book and 2. have read any theological treatise or declaration of values of their own denomination, at all.
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@georgia there is soooo much good Christian writing, but Christians just plain don't read it.
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@sun @georgia this is why i dont glaze the amish. they are unkind to their animals.
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@georgia one time I was in church during bible study and we were having a discussion and this super old lady and her husband were there, they had been in the church their entire lives, and there was a discussion on pride and she said "I don't think God doesn't want you to be proud" and I nearly headdesked
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@sun

The quirks of the English language have done a real number on western Christianity

@georgia
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@kumicota I dont know of any locality that actually requires what's needed for the welfare of farmed animals.
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@sun oh gosh that sounds exasperating
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@georgia
Brazil requires a bit, for example the law requires that the animal doesn't feel pain, so they have to be stunned before death.

Besides that almost all cattle here are raised on pastures. While I don't think that's as humane, I don't see that as abuse too
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true. Most regulations for food animals are about keeping things clean and sanitary, not about keeping them out of battery cages (unless you want that "organic" branding, which means they need a slightly larger cage with an attached field they're afraid to go out in).
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I hope this isn't too far a tangent, but from the religious perspective, I've had this theory about animal sacrifice.

I wonder if human beings, as their villages and civilizations developed, saw these animals they were hunting, and later farming (the development of animal husbandry; breeding animals for use or slaughter) as too similar to themselves. The sheep you are eating had human qualities with emotions, fear, affection, etc.

What if the animal sacrifice was a way to deal with the horrors of something that seemed to have emotions, that you had to eat. You spill their life on the ground, give it to your gods, in a ceremony/ritual, as a recognition of how its life must be spilled so your people can live.
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@kumicota its not humane if any dairy cattle are separated from their calves, if unnecessary surgeries are performed on them, or if bulls or male calves or older female cows are killed
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@georgia

I was trying to think in a way to explain my POV but I because my grandfather was a farmer, I guess I kinda got used to it but idk, while I see that as inhumane I don't see it as an abuse.

I know it's contradictory but yeah
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@kumicota if it were done to a dog or cat its abuse so its abuse imo
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@georgia this in unpopular but I don't think it is on dogs and cats too, a lot of cities spent a lot of money with stray cats and dogs, that could easily be solved with sterelizarion
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@kumicota I dont consider sterilization to be unethical because it saves lives that would be otherwise killed
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@georgia The only types of animals that I'd likely have to kill are the unusually invasive kind, like those disease-carrying wild boars, hybrids, and other pests that are overwhelming to where I live. It's hard to tell if an animal is just warning you to get off their land or just plain angry at you for existing.
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