| 
|
Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
| Total Views: 4,940,622
|
Article: 21012
[Civil]
Date Posted:
8/10/2009
10:10:23 am EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 9,501
RSS: 23,580
Comments: 13
|
Euless To Ask Court To Rehear Santeria Animal Sacrifice Case
Author: Diane Jennings Source: The Dallas Morning News (TX)
Title: EULESS TO ASK COURT TO REHEAR SANTERIA ANIMAL SACRIFICE CASE
Euless plans to ask the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the appeal of a man who the court said could sacrifice animals at his home.
The court's decision last week allowing animal sacrifice in Euless as part of a religious practice under the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act could adversely affect cities across the state, associate city attorney William McKamie warned.
But attorneys defending religious freedom decried McKamie's reaction to the decision as "fear mongering."
| Options: [Read Full Story] [Comments Locked]
[Email to a Friend]
|
|
Community Thoughts: There are 13 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Christian Nation | Aug 11th. at 11:39:35 am EDT
|
Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me
When some people call the United States (and Western Europe) a Christian Nation, this is in part what they are talking about. Basic Cultural Anthropology courses will teach you that you can never fully escape your culture. Christianity pervades the western world and hence it pervades the beliefs of many people who call themselves Wiccan and/or Pagan. Even I, who was never a Christian, am influenced by the cultural perspectives around me. It is important to understand the context of that bias.
Either you support religious freedom or you don't. The issue is black and white. If you decry perceived discrimination and persecution against your own beliefs while applying it to that of others at the same time... you are a hypocrit. There is a difference between saying, "I don't approve of animal sacrifice" and saying "animal sacrifice should be outlawed and those that do it aren't real pagans." It is humerous to listen to people refer to themselves as more evolved. I didn't realize hypocrasy was a step up on the evolutionary scale.
|
| On Sacrifice, Animal Or Otherwise | Aug 11th. at 7:44:56 am EDT
|
Eran Rathan (Old Town, Maine) - Email Me
In regards to human sacrifice, I have absolutely no problem with it, as long as the participant is either willing or guilty of a heinous crime.
After all, capital punishment is sacrifice to the Goddess Justice, isn't it? She is the one standing in front or inside so many of our Temples of Justice (or courthouses, if you prefer) ...
And as to willing sacrifice, there are many times that the kings of the Scandinavian coutries would give themselves up to die as Óđinn had, hung from ash trees and pierced with spears, to save their coutry from drought, or plague, or what have you. If one has the courage to lay down their life for another or for their country, who are you to tell them how it should be done? Is this any different than standing over your buddies laying down suppressing fire in a Baghdad slum, making yourself a target so that they could get to safety?
How about police officers or firefighters who sacrifice themselves to save people? How is that form of human sacrifice any different than the king who goes to the ash tree for his people?
Eran Rathan
|
| ... | Aug 11th. at 5:29:30 am EDT
|
Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
As they would say on various image boards, "ITT: Clueless Fluffbunnies."
Explain why we have teeth meant to tear flesh, boys and girls. It's not so we can eat veggies 24/7 like some paranoid herbivore. Homo sapiens is an omnivorous species. To claim that meat-eaters are "savage barbarians" is like claiming that vegans are "clueless idiots who just ask to get arrested for harassment" or the straight-edger who assaults barhoppers taking public transit and/or cabs because they are simply drinking.
If you cry out against Santeria because of their animal sacrifices, you may as well start donating to Pat Robertson's cult. And while you're at it, GTFO this page. It's for Pagans.
|
| What's The Problem Here? | Aug 11th. at 1:37:32 am EDT
|
Heather Lynn Fairfield (Canton, Massachusetts) - Email Me
Better to have ritually slaughtered and eaten an animal with the RESPECT and HONOR that such a sacrifice is due, than to send it to a slaughterhouse, where the poor creature's life will meet a disrespectful and degrading end.
To flip the scenario ... if YOU were destined to die in order to provide food for another being, would you rather that being killed you with NO regard whatsoever for the sacrifice you made, or would you prefer that there was an understanding and a level of utmost respect given to the fact that such an undertaking on your part was not without sacrifice or consequence? Would you rather be thanked and respected for what you provided, or would you prefer that your death be seen as no different than merely picking fruit off a tree?
Seriously folks ... in a "perfect world", we'd all be vegetarians, and no harm done ... unless, of course, you believe in the concept of "plant perception" [which I, personally, have been aware of since I was 13 or so ... [Web LINK] _ (paranormal) ]. But THAT us fodder for a whole 'nother discussion.
In all honesty ... it is largely irrelevant as to whether or not you personally agree with the concept of animal sacrifice ... the important thing to remember is that those who *truly* practice this do not go about it casually or irreverently. And if for some reason, we feel compelled to drag human sacrifice into this (as so many seem wont to do here) , I may also add that while I personally would hope to never see such a thing happen, it does not mean than I do not respect the mindset of those ancestors who engaged in the practice, and see what they hope to have accomplished by it. Surely, it was not undertaken lightly by any of them, and was viewed (in most every scenario I have encountered) as the ultimate sacrifice that could be made in an attempt to appease and do right by one's gods. Regardless of whether or not we NOW consider such attempts to be misguided, it does not diminish the magnitude of the sacrifices that were made, or even imply that they were made lightly.
I know that it would take an *awful lot* for me to feel that a sacrifice of a life (ANY life) was necessary to repair things between myself and my Gods. For me to feel that what was wrong required a human sacrifice to accomplish said repair ... well ... that (in my mind) sounds fairly desperate. I have read too much ancient philosophy to feel that human nature has changed all THAT much over the last several millennia. To that end, I'm sure that the same level of desperation would have tortured my ancestors too. I can't imagine how scared they would have been to even consider putting such a sacrifice into motion (never mind actually carrying it out) , unless they *truly* believed it was the best course of action for them to take under the circumstances. Personally, I cannot imagine being so frightened, and must give them credit there.
That being said ... we're a long way off the subject of *other* ANIMAL sacrifice. (Though I'll be the first to admit humans are not necessarily the most important species on the planet, no matter how much we insist on acting like it.) Again ... I would urge folks to consider that the ones *truly* engaging in the practice (as opposed to the "trendy" hangers-on, of which we Pagans are ALL familiar ... *rolls eyes*) are not taking the matter lightly, and should not be treated - especially by US -- as though they are.
Peace,
Heather
|
| Freedom Of Which Religion? | Aug 10th. at 10:40:37 pm EDT
|
nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me
Once again, there are many PAGANS and WICCANS who are doing exactly as the Fundamentalist Christian whack-jobs who so vocally -- and physically, on many occasions -- push to have ALL non-Christian religions OUTLAWED in the U.S.A.:
They are pushing to have "unsavory religious practices" outlawed, and ONLY because THEY find those "unsavory religious practices" to be personally repulsive.
Congratulations, folks. You are now EXACTLY like the Fundamentalist Christian whack-jobs who want YOUR religions to be outlawed. Hope y'all are proud of yourselves.
--nasionnaich ...I don't like it when people stir the sacramental beverage with the filthy knife that has been sitting on the altar for gods-know-how-long. That practice needs to be outlawed, because it's just barbaric and unsanitary -- use a sterile plastic picnic knife, fresh out of its cellophane wrapper, instead!
|
| Thought This Was Already Done In Florida | Aug 10th. at 10:14:33 pm EDT
|
Gina (Sacramento, California) - Email Me
Anyway, when the animals are killed for sacrifice, they are then cooked and eaten reverently...anathema to allow any part of said animal to spoil. It's a sacrifice, it's like the cakes and ale ritual done in deep reverence and prayer by the participants. No animal is wasted. Now, that's the sin...the animals who died to feed us who go from fridge to trash, not benefitting anyone.
What ARE the chrstians gonna do after the second coming,when sacrifice is reinstated in the 3rd temple?
Hey, I just report beliefs, don't blame ME.
|
| Govt. Needs To Stay Out Of It | Aug 10th. at 9:59:45 pm EDT
|
Hadriana (Rome, Georgia) - Email Me
Some people don't like it - fine. Some people want to eat animals thinking plants are not alive and feeling -f ine.
All life is sacrifice of some sort, but I'm tired of sacrificing civil rights to the govt.
If it is legal to kill an animal for food, it should be legal to kill them for religious reasons. ONE is NO MORE sacred or scary than the next.
Furthermore, people better be careful letting the govt. to say NO ONE can kill an edible animal at their homes- there is too much external control of the food supply already. People maybe SHOULD know where their food comes from.
I don't understand the vitriol that some vegans have against humans. I really don't.
|
| This Is Getting Hilarious | Aug 10th. at 9:03:05 pm EDT
|
R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
So funny, these secret alliances with the Christians! On the one hand are persons like me that look down our noses at the primitive savagery of the likes of you--as do the Christians. Then there are those that assume or are otherwise reasserting their dominion over the animal kingdom--as do the Christians, at least in theory. Well, as long as you never find yourself adrift on the open sea, or lost in an endless forest, you very well might pass through this life with impunity. But I will always be against you, and the likes of you, on every possible level. The thing is, you can drape an animal in satin and feed it all the 'cake' it wants (or you want, right?) , but if you cut its throat, it is no party.
|
| Ugh... | Aug 10th. at 7:18:19 pm EDT
|
Joseph (Byram, New Jersey) - Email Me - Web
"Why should we treat the animals differently?"
Because animals aren't humans!!! It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. The attempt to link animal sacrifice with human sacrifice is a desperate act of intellectual paucity; there is no link between the two.
People who won't condone the death of an animal for any reason should not enter into the debate about animal sacrifice. As long as killing animals is legal, killing them humanely, with compassion, and for a higher purpose is actually more moral than killing them in an industrial slaughterhouse through means that are truly painful.
Meat is legal. Like it or not. Sacred meat should be no less legal. Don't like it? Don't do it. But don't presume to tell me I cannot.
|
| I Am Glad | Aug 10th. at 6:06:33 pm EDT
|
Abaxion (Pomona, California) - Email Me
Hopefully this time the court will outlaw animal sacrifice. I have heard arguments on both sides and cannot support such a practice. (See my post on the other article about this) . I will agree on a few points though. First, in general, yes, animals that are used for sacrifice are treated "more humanely" than animals butchered for food. Also true is that in most cases the animal is eaten after the ritual. However, most people here would not defend human sacrifice in the name of religion. Why should we treat the animals differently? The Loas, Orishas, and other dieties can be offered many other items that do not require death and suffering (and I do not care how "humane" a sacrifice is, there is still suffering) . A line has to be drawn somewhere and I draw that line when the suffering or death of another sentient being is involved. (And for those that argue, "well plants......". Plants are not sentient and they have nothing that resembles a central nervous system. They are living things, absolutely. However, that is not the issue.
|
| This Is Great!! | Aug 10th. at 5:58:03 pm EDT
|
Lady-hearted Mojo (Irving, Texas) - Email Me
"The court's decision last week allowing animal sacrifice in Euless as part of a religious practice under the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act could adversely affect cities across the state, associate city attorney William McKamie warned."
Ha, this is great. For those living outside the State of Texas the "Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act" was created as a way to teach and allow elements of Christianity in school without interference from those who feel that Christianity belongs in church, not school. Now it has backfired on them, at least, from their point of view.
As for the ethics of animal sacrifice, I agree with the poster below. Sacrificial animals in African Traditional Religions are treated with a great deal of respect and the person who performs the sacrifice has been trained to do it in a manner that is quick and humane. These animals receive far, far better treatment during their lives, and prior to the sacrifice, than most receive at the hands of a farms, ranches, and slaughterhouses.
It also needs to be mentioned that after the sacrifice is made the animal is prepared, cooked, and eaten by the congregants. In places like Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, the communal ritual meal made from the sacrifices is sometimes the first real meal that a person has had in days. Personally, I'd much prefer to eat the meat of a cared for and ritually blessed animal than one that came from a slaugherhouse.
|
| You Know Not Whereof You Speak | Aug 10th. at 3:18:38 pm EDT
|
Joseph (Byram, New Jersey) - Email Me - Web
One might wish to actually attend an animal sacrifice before mouthing off about the practice. Those of us who have actually been present when an animal was given to the Gods can tell you that it is indeed done with the utmost respect and compassion. The animal is pampered and given lavish attention before it is given to the Gods, and even then the animal is dispatched as humanely and as possible. It's not at all about some sadistic desire to see blood flowing, or to inflict terror and death on other creatures.
|
| How Lovely | Aug 10th. at 1:40:59 pm EDT
|
R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
Not just well-mannered goats, but lambs and turtles too! Wow, these are some high class people. I'm sure they look into the eyes of these animals (who give themselves freely, of course) with nothing but compassion before they gut them with knives and watch the blood flow. Well, I don't believe in the Wiccan Rede, but what goes around does have a tendency to come around. Forget about court cases, we will let natural law take its effect upon these sick and depraved people. It's not hypcocrisy for me, because I'm vegan. But long before I turned vegan I realized that any given animal is worth more than its weight in human scum.
|
Disclaimer: The Witches' Voice inc does not verify the accuracy of the details stated in this listing, nor do we vouch for the value of the goods or services presented here... As with all contacts and financial dealings in cyberspace, we encourage you to use caution and wisdom in your dealings with strangers.
Political Statements: Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren's Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches' Voice, Inc. TWV is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization.
|
State/Country flags created by 3dflags.com and are used with permission
Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2009 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.
Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.
Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.
Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you
can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.
Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.
| |
