It must be obvious by now that I don't mind preaching. I don't, however, care for the idea of talking down to folks, condescending. It occurs to me, though, that sometimes very odious ideas and ideals get gussied up in the emperor's new clothes and go, more or less, unchallenged by most of us for generations. I know that evolution is a slow process but I gotta tell you, I expect more out of us.
You'll be happy to know that I don't consider myself a great thinker, a learned scholar or a pillar of virtue. I do seem to recognize a naked geezer with a crown on when I see one.
I am also aware that a lot of folks that I have looked up to for guidance have had plenty to say regarding the link from animal slaughter to war. Maybe it's a coincidence. I doubt it. Among the good guys who questioned our right to kill animals for food:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Abraham Lincoln, George Bernard Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Paul McCartney, Leo Tolstoy, Vaslav Nijinsky, Albert Schweitzer, Pythagoras, Isaac Bashevis Singer and...wait for this one: Thomas Edison.
There is, of course, a much longer list that includes figures that we don't have really reliable sources for the quotes but you get the idea.
Run for public office as a vegetarian. Show love and respect for all living creatures. Be polite and sweet show compassion for the ones who disagree. Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
I think the only time we will ever see true peace on earth is when violence in any form becomes the ultimate taboo. There is so much work to be done if we expect to reach that day.
ReplyDelete