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Not Killing Animals “Thou shalt not kill” proclaims the fifth commandment. After the final destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 a.d., when Rabbinic Judaism replaced Temple sacrifice as the religious center, casuistic interpreters produced countless applications: under certain circumstances it is permissible to kill, under other circumstances not. In the Christian tradition, similar reflection took place, and certain forms of killing which had become customary were considered permissible. Most notably, the just war principles, while intended to limit wanton killing in warfare, nonetheless provided justification for waging war to belligerents who could claim (as in practice all are able to do) that their particular circumstances complied with just war principles. “I will refrain from taking life,” the first of the six precepts for lay persons, is the Buddhist equivalent of the fifth commandment. There is a shift in emphasis from an injunction imposed on the believer to a personal resolution voluntarily undertaken by a seeker. There is no sense of guilt or sin behind the precepts; rather, it is considered that killing, for example, is unskillful, that it will place barriers on the path to enlightenment. The precepts are designed to develop skillful means to remove those barriers. Exactly how to apply the precepts to one’s own life is left for individual determination through study, reflection, and especially meditation. The natural world is characterized by continuous and universal killing. Every animal necessarily kills plants or other animals for food, and every animal serves as food for other animals or decay organisms. A news item a few years ago noted that a circus tiger had mauled and killed its trainer. It is common in such cases, the item stated, to put the animal immediately to death. The trainer’s wife, however, refused, saying the tiger was doing no more than what was natural to it. Human beings are omnivores, able to eat both animals and plants. Furthermore, our diet is not dictated by hard-wired instincts but rather by free choice, and both in the East and to a lesser degree in the West, individuals have opted not to eat meat. There are some variations in vegetarianism. Vegans do not eat meat, eggs or dairy; ovo-, lacto-, and lacto-ovo-vegetarians allow egg or dairy. There are also a number of rationales offered. Within Buddhism there is a wide range of practice regarding eating animals. Monks in the Theravada tradition are strict vegetarians. Tibetan Buddhists usually are not. The Dalai Lama follows a practice which is fairly common: refraining from eating any animal which would have been killed specifically for him, but feeling free to eat meat from an animal which had already been killed earlier. For those acting out of spiritual motives, there is primarily the desire to spare animals the suffering involved in the meat industry. It is not only the actual killing, which is frequently done in the most humane way possible, but even more the cruel factory-like system for raising animals for meat. Beef cattle are taken as young calves to huge feedlots where they are immobilized (moving around consumes precious calories which are more profitably stored as fat) and fed a scientific mix of nutrients and additives. The aim is to have them gain as much weight as possible as quickly as possible. Poultry are kept in tight cages in the dark, treated to soothing background music to keep them calm. The conditions are far removed from the old-time barnyard, let alone the free-ranging grazing fields. Some vegetarians believe that the suffering of animals carries over into a negative spiritual quality in the meat, and that this spiritual poison is absorbed by the meat-eater. For many, there is the realization that the primary benefit of humane vegetarianism is the softening of one’s own heart and the gradual purging of our own negative tendencies. An ecological rationale for vegetarianism is also compelling. Biologically, meat is a much more concentrated form of calories than vegetation; that is its advantage for carnivores. A gazelle needs to graze almost continually to meet its quota of calories; a lion need only kill a gazelle every few days and do fine. But these patterns developed within a balanced ecosystem, and the human population is not in a state of balance. There are too many people to be fed, even with the use of agricultural technology, and increasing population will only make matters worse. The loss of calories as one moves up the food chain can be as much as ninety percent at each step. In other words, the 100 calories of grain fed to a steer will produce only 10 calories of meat. With threatening food shortages, it makes sense for humans to eat the grain directly rather than run it through meat with a ninety percent loss. Of course, the problem of hunger is much more complex, involving a flawed distribution system and particularly the patterns of distribution of wealth which leave the poor unable to pay for the food they need. Nonetheless, moving to vegetarianism would make more food available and would be a step in the right direction. There are also reasons of health. Only meat, dairy, and eggs contain cholesterol; vegetables do not. Saturated fat and trans fats are more prevalent in animals than in vegetables. Particularly when raw, whole grains, fruit and vegetables are high in fiber and contain hundreds of phytochemicals which promote health. Of course, protein is a consideration. Meat is a high-protein food and the protein is of high quality. Unfortunately, it is also a high-fat food, and the fat is generally of the unhealthful kind. Vegetarians can do quite well with protein by using beans, whole grains, and products like whey, tofu, and soy protein. Beyond killing for meat, there are also other less noticed, indirect ways in which we humans cause the destruction of animal as well as plant life. Our human species, by our enormous numbers and our intelligence and technology, have basically negated the natural balances which regulate animal and plant populations. As habitat is altered and destroyed, animals suffer starvation and ultimately extinction. For a while, we humans can use technology to postpone the catastrophe; but we follow this path at our own peril. What is called for is a radical simplicity of life. Vegetarianism is a small step, but one which perhaps will encourage us to take the next step. We must overthrow consumerism, we must become cooperative rather than competitive, we must feel ourselves at home within the ecosystem of the planet. We must open our hearts in compassion for all the suffering human beings and also for all living beings, including mother earth herself. Dom Roberti |