I was somewhat more prepared to watch part 2 of Earthlings than I was to watch part 1. I could think about things in a more conscious and analytical manner, though this didn't lessen the impact of the documentary in any way.
What I liked about Earthlings is that it didn't concentrate solely on how we use animals for food. Instead, it focused on speciesism as a whole, and therefore addressed 5 different categories in which human use of animals can be placed: Pets, Food, Clothing, Entertainment, and Research.
We focused on the Research part in class just this week, when we learned about vivisections and the UT Animal Resources Center. This was a real lesson in suffering, and we made it analogous to human suffering through our discussion. Research is still something I'm having a hard time wrapping my thoughts around. I believe that science is inherently a good thing, and the pursuit of knowledge something we should encourage. However, unnecessary cruelty is absolutely NOT. Vivisections are SUCH a disgusting concept to think of (everytime I tell someone about it, their jaws just drop in disbelief and their eyes widen in horror - there is no variation to this initial gut response) and is such an intense degree of cruelty, that it astonishes me that it is still a legal practice. Our methods of scientific inquiry must be something we carefully think about: morality and justice, I believe, must always rule first.
The Entertainment part was absolutely horrifying to watch, because its something I've never really thought about. Do we realize that the circus animals we see have confined lives of captivity and abject cruelty? Do we know that the creatures we think are so talented are actually beaten and terrified into submission?
No, we really don't.
I have to be honest. I don't think that it is evil to eat animals, or to use them to our purpose. But I do believe that this must be done in a respectful manner. We must preserve the dignity of our fellow living Earthlings, and appreciate them for all that they offer us. Animals eat other animals: the food chain DOES exist for a reason. But there is no evil and cruelty in the animal kingdom. THey do what they must to survive, nothing more, and nothing less. We humans, on the other hand, have become wasteful. We are greedy and powerhungry and exert our superiority over everything "beneath" us. We have lost our balance.
Personally, I have not eaten meat in the last three weeks, except for twice. I don't think I am permanently a vegetarian, but I can only bring myself to eat meat that I know has been prepared in ethical manners. For example, Muslims have a method of slaughtering animals that is called halal or zabiha. THis basically means that the animals was properly raised (in a caring manner, never abused) and then killed in the name of God (so they are prayed for and appreciated) in the swiftest, most painless way possible. I know that kosher is very similar, and that's why it was extraordinarily shocking when Earthlings showed the kosher slaughter house that violated everysingle kosher law and sold this "illegal" meat to unsuspecting Jews. This was clearly the worst case scenario, but still, it makes me wary. LUckily, I know that the place my family buys meat from has an open farm policy, and family friends have visited and verified that it is an ethical place from which to buy meat.
Still, I have trouble eating it because I cannot shake those images off. They are less clear now, a few weeks later, but the feelings cannot disappear.
The thing is, what truly shook me about Earthlings is not specifically the animal part (although obviously it is huge and has had a severe impact on me).
No, what truly riled me and shoved me into a new way of seeing the world was the realization of how much utter cruelty exists in human nature and the world. I've always been an optimist and a dreamer - I see the positive side to every situation and believe that good triumphs over evil and heroism exists and the human heart will always win. I have not lost that attitude, but I have become more grounded. I know that there is true unadulterated evil in the world, and it is frighteningly easy for humans to give in to that dark side. If this had been a documentary on warfare, on the situation between Palestine and Israel, or on the Bosnian war, or on Darfur, or Afghanistan or Iraq or Tibet or any source of human conflict in the world... I would react similarly, I think. I would be encased in a sense of shock that such cruelty is possible, and such numbing to empathy and love is possible.
However, I still believe that good will triumph. Love is always the most powerful factor. I truly believe that.
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