TRADITIONS ARE PEER PRESSURE FROM DEAD PEOPLE TO JUSTIFY VIOLENCE
We all are born into a culture with common traditions that are supposed to keep communities together and form stronger bonds. Traditions can be something very beautiful if not used at the expense of others, specifically focusing on non-human animals in this blog post and their oppression, use, abuse, exploitation, and murder.
Before we head into this blog post, please note that this blog post is not intended to disrespect and incite against specific cultures, groups and religions. Read more about the purpose of it in the section down below.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONS AND CULTURE
Without going too deep into the definitions of both terms, let me sum it up for you quickly. Tradition is used to describe beliefs and behaviors that are passed on from generation to generation, while culture is used to describe the characteristics of a certain society at a particular point in time.
Unfortunately, both, cultures and traditions, are strongly based on the belief of human superiority over non-human animals but also interspecies, coming from a time of survival. Why? Because we don’t know it any better and never started questioning them. This is about to change in this blog post.
ALL CONCEIVABLE TRADITIONS INCLUDE ANIMAL EXPLOITATION
Unfortunately, growing up in the western European catholic influenced culture, all traditions I used to participate in exploited and killed non-human animals. Looking at any other cultures, which as well cultivate old, outmoded behaviors (those that correspond to those of the more developed, empathetic, compassionate human being), and habits still heavily influenced by religious beliefs of old, outmoded behavioral patterns, suddenly visualizes an even bigger fundamental problem of attitude to life, which has to be solved. And holy shit, are we in deep.
♥ Watch my YouTube video on “Why You Should Go Vegan This Easter” HERE
THE IMPACT OF TRADITIONS ON OTHERS
Nowadays most people in western society do not kill non-human animals themselves anymore but let others kill for them. The result is to be found in every supermarket and supported by humans’ (mostly unconscious) conditioned daily unquestioned actions due to habits and traditions. Do you realize the vicious cycle here?
WHY KILL ANIMALS FOR TRADITIONS AND RITUALS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Rituals, especially the blood sacrifice of non-human animals goes back to when humans started to domesticate non-human animals. Those rituals were and still are ranging from offering a gift, having communion, reconciliation, purification, the averting of evil or failure, to the provision of food to one or more gods and the making of good with them and practice exchange and appeasement.
IMAGINE TRADITIONS
Objectively speaking, too much value is attached to traditions. The vast majority of time humans don’t even know why they follow and practice certain traditions hurting and killing animals. They do it because it has always been this way, which is a terrible notion when you think of what else you could use that excuse for. “After all, our parents and grandparents did/do it, our friends and everyone around us, also because it is legal”. Just because it is legal, doesn’t mean it is right. And the thing is, we are not even to blame until we find out about the atrocities done to others for those traditions.
Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people.
If traditions of the law were to not change throughout history this world would be a total mess or let’s better say: an even bigger mess than it already is due to humans. Imagine nothing would ever change for the better (love, peace, and justice for all), in what world would we be living in today? I don’t want to even imagine that.
If you look at traditions philosophically, they have an imaginary value, because why should we carry on something that has nothing to do with the times in which we live in today and that does not touch or concern us in any way anymore, and above all causes suffering to others?
Traditions NEED TO evolve with time too. So I’m asking you:
Why hurt others to carry on ideas, beliefs, and habits of dead people whose social construct and beliefs weren’t as evolved and could not differ more from ours in the present time?
WHY DOES WATCHING ANIMAL SLAUGHTER OR SLAUGHTER RITUALS MAKE US UNCOMFORTABLE?
We live in a society where the oppression and slaughter of animals are part of traditions and normalized and most of us find animals’ lifeless bodies nicely wrapped in foil at supermarket shelves labeled with euphemisms like “ham, bacon, Schnitzel, steak, etc.” (just to name a few), and advertised with a romanticized image of ‘happy animals’ to manipulate people into believing that there is nothing wrong with killing others for a taste pleasure to keep them paying for this injustice. Or we get exposed to the murder of others at a young age to view it as normal, necessary, and natural.
♥ Watch my YouTube video “How Vegans See Advertising” HERE (german version also available)
We know that they are getting killed, but most of us aren’t aware of it and can’t and don’t want to watch the murder of those individuals and don’t want to realize and carry the heaviness of reality, that it is happening because of them. Ignorance, they think, is easier.
In modern western society, we also see blood rituals as inhumane and cruel, yet we applaud and insist on a “good treatment” and “humane/quick/painless” slaughter, best be done by ourselves? Just to throw it in there, but this is highly hypocritical. We wouldn’t wish those “humane slaughter practices” on anyone, but why do we find it ok being done to some?
HOW I WISH TRADITIONS TO EVOLVE
All sorts of traditions could be beautiful events, but if traditions never evolve into peaceful and harmonious events for human and non-human animals, then we should not be surprised that all of us still do not live in a just world.
Sitting at a table celebrating joy, love, the togetherness of the family, enjoying the presence of each other, WHY do we think it is ok to do so over the massacre of non-human animals’ families?
Why do we arrange a funeral feast for the relatives of a deceased person we cried over and never question why we destroy other families, non-human animals’ families, over it?
We live with a double standard and it is time that we realized this and did something different from now on, don’t you think?
If we are not willing to wake up and fight for a better world, why would others? And if we don’t start to evolve and create change towards a kind and compassionate way of living right now and destroy our speciesist and oppressive attitude to life, this will be the end of even more innocent animal victims, and sooner than later it will be the end of our species too.
Are you ready to be the change you want to see for this world?
♥ Check out “The Vegan Starter Kit (aka the Vegan Kick In The Arse)” HERE
♥ Sign up for a free vegan kick-start program
♥ Watch this video by Earthling Ed and you’ll never look at life the same way again
~~~~~
PLEASE NOTE
As mentioned above, this blog post is not intended to disrespect and incite against specific cultures, groups and religions.
Its sole purpose is to reflect on facts, to look at them philosophically, logically and from an animal point of view, to question traditions and to become aware of one's own views and actions and the consequences they have inflicted on others.
This post was written to shed light on the darkness of abusive, exploitative and violent traditions, no matter what culture we are talking about.
It is intended to address the need for a benevolent, compassionate and just culture in which all earthlings can live in peace and harmony and are not oppressed by the human species.———
* When the term "human" is used, then human animals are meant by it, and the same applies to the term "animal", who are non-human animals.
SOURCES
Legit - What is the difference between culture and tradition?
