By Stephanie Bell
September 2013
"In the outer world the signs are all around us. Daily we see the
physical signs of our ecological crisis: the glaciers melting, the floods
and droughts. We may also sense the deep anxiety of a civilization that has
lost its way, forgotten its primal connections to the sacred that alone can
give real meaning...The first step is to recognize what is happening. We
can no longer afford to be blinkered by the surface values of our
materialistic culture...We need to relearn the wisdom of listening to life,
feeling its heartbeat, sensing its soul...All of life is sacred, every
breath and every stone. This is one of the great secrets--everything is
included."
~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
I read Vaughan-Lee's essay "The Call of the Earth" over the weekend in
Parabola and was so moved. I continue to marvel at how simple the root of
our world's complex and myriad problems really seems to be: in short, that
we've forgotten all life is interdependent. Humans are part of, not
separate from, the web of life, but living as if we are superior/separate
allows us to justify and perpetuate countless horrors against "other" (in
whatever way we've defined the word over the centuries).
Which brings me to PETA's latest expose [Please urge Linda Bean to stop tearing apart live, conscious animals] (please
read/watch/share--it's compelling and I know how hard the investigative
team that broke this case worked to bring these horrors to light), a
perfect case in point. What gives us the right to inflict such needless
pain and terror? Because animals taste good? Because it's profitable?
Because we can? Because they are "other"? Because we delude ourselves that
they cannot suffer, contrary to clear science? Or that their suffering,
palpable though it may be, is worth our pleasure for one meal?
As I always think in the depths of my despair: "It's a vegan world if we
want it."
For animals everywhere, including the beautiful creatures who inhabit the
sea, thank you for listening and watching, for taking action, and for
asking the difficult questions that must be asked. In doing so lies hope.
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