Hypothetical Hype

Those of you familiar with my regular essays and podcasts know that one of my favorite pastimes is to respond to the myths about animals rights and vegetarianism. We create so many justifications to continue eating animals that we don't even notice that most of them don't even reflect reality; they're just hypothetical scenarios that enable us to hold fast to a particular perception of ourselves. I remember creating one or two myself before I thought long and hard about what I was contributing to. When I got really honest with myself about how lame my excuses were, I stopped - eating animals and making excuses. That decision was the best one I ever made, and it has filled my life with meaning and purpose.

So here is one of my favorites. I'll feature more in the coming weeks.

-"I don't have a problem with animals being killed for food, but I don't want to support the torture and abuse that take place on factory farms. In fact, I think I could even humanely kill my own animals to cause the least amount of suffering." I realize there are people who feel this way, and though I disagree with the premise (because I, personally, do have a problem with animals being killed for human consumption), that's not my issue with this statement. My problem has to do with the fact that it rests on hypotheticals:

1. This person isn't raising and killing her own animals, and by virtue of that, she is, unfortunately, contributing to the abuse and torture of animals.

2. What people don't realize is that even on the most idealized farms, animals are not lovingly and "humanely euthanized" when they're fat enough for the dinner table. They are sent to the same dirty slaughterhouses as "conventionally raised" animals. It's not legal for ranchers to kill their own animals (unless they're going to eat them themselves) and sell them to the public. The transportation alone is incredibly stressful (and often fatal) for the animals, and the slaughterhouse itself is a place of fear, pain, blood, and death.

3. I have seen what would be considered "humane slaughter," all I saw was an animal struggling to fight for her life. She did not want to die. She did not want her head removed. She did not want the blade to touch her body. As the blood drained from her, all I could remember was that line in Tim Robbins' film Dead Man Walking, when Sister Prejean lamented at how "calculated" the killing [of the deathrow inmate] was. The systematic execution of human beings is no different than that of animals - even in the most "idealized" situation, it is still messy, bloody, deliberate, painful, and unnecessary.

When we rely on hypotheticals to justify real-life situations, it is only because we want to hold onto a perception of ourselves that may or may not be true. I don't believe any of us want to consciously and willingly contribute to abuse or torture. But, there just isn't any way of getting around it when we eat meat. If we can't tell ourselves the truth about what we're supporting, then we need to ask ourselves what we're avoiding. Until then, we're not living in Truth - neither our own or that of the real world.

Those of us who have stopped eating animals aren't off the hook, either. Every time we hear someone justifying eating animals, we have an opportunity to reflect the truth. There are gentle, respectful ways of doing this, but there is no question that we must do it. The animals need us as their voice. If not you, then who?