Animal sacrifice was generally practiced during the ancient times involving the Pagan and the Judaism traditions. Today, this sacrifice is popularly practiced during kosher butchering by the Orthodox Jewish specialists in America. During sacrifice, nonhuman and slow slaughter which is traumatic than commercial slaughter methods are used. In times when the animal flinches, cries out or shows unwillingness, the sacrifice is declared void and null. The animal to be sacrificed is scrutinized for good health and the blood of the sacrificed animal is considered a God’s potion. Pagans examine the entrails, wrap them around bones, and cover it with layers of grain meal, fat, honey and salt. The entrails are then burned and the meat is distributed in all banquette halls. In general animal sacrifice involves mystical participations between slaughterers and the cumulative spirit of the species of animals.
Freedom of religion is highly related to animal sacrifice. The following are benefits that come hand in hand with animal sacrifice:-
- It brings glory to God since it’s a God blessed sacrifice. Giving sacrifices to God as a means of appreciation is usually practiced to sanctify wedding and religious ceremonies. Sacrifices done by splashing animal’s fresh blood on a new purchase like a car, ensures that the owner is protected against accidents.
- Animal sacrifice helps during selective breeding. Being a farmer needs a lot of skills especially when it comes to breeding since a farmer cannot just pick bunch of his or her preferred species of animals and allow them to breed willy-nilly. Weeding out undesirables ensures a strong herd and thins the herd preventing it from overrunning the farm. Animal sacrifice is usually done at the time of the year appropriate for herd culling. This ensures that the male animals are done away with during the winter avoiding competition.
- After the ceremony is over the animal’s meat is cooked and distributed to all the participants and thus the poor are able to get food and sustain their lives.
The harms resulting to acceptance of animal sacrifice during religion is as follows:-
- Children are available during the event of these sacrifices and this affects their psychology very much. Animal sacrifice involves drinking of blood and unmerciful killing of animals and through this sacrifice children will not learn good environmental conservation. It also teaches children to grow with minds of violence.
- Despite the normal forms of sacrifice involving beheading or throat slitting, extreme foams of blood methods of blood sacrifice have emerged including live tearing apart of goats by young men, skinning of live pigs, removal of hearts and burning live animals and this portrays an inhuman behavior.
Animal liberation emerges the following benefits:-
- Although animals cannot reason, they cannot talk, they can suffer. Engaging animals in resourceful activities like cultivating the farm contributes to food production. Science has proved that vegetables and grains from the farm are more nutritious and therefore using animals in this way increases body nutrition. Through this, animals will not be involved in the cruelty of slaughtering.
- Keeping animals for tourist attraction will earn a country income and more so make people appreciate Gods power and knowledge in creating these animals.
- Animals such as the horse are capable of being used in racing and also to carry soldiers during security activities. This enhances security of human beings against enemies and also it brings about entertainment especially when watching them during competitive sports.
Harms emerging by accepting animal liberation are:-
- Animals happen to be non human in nature and can be destructive at times and thus in cases where these animals happen to be destructive, slaughtering or isolation is considered.
- It may happen that animals face a lot of suffering due to fatal illness which keeps them in extreme pain. During such conditions slaughtering may be a good alternative.
References
Linda Merz-Perez, K. M. (2004). Animal Cruelty. UK: Rowman Altamira.
O'Brien, D. M. (2004). Animal sacrifice and religious freedom. USA: University Press of Kansas.
Regan, T. (2003). Animal Rights, Human Wrongs: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Smith, K. K. (2012). Governing Animals: Animal Welfare and the Liberal State. New York: Oxford University Press.
