Associated Press: "Festival of mass animal sacrifice begins in Nepal"

 

Today newspapers and websites worldwide reported hundreds of thousands of animals are being killed as a Hindu sacrifice ceremony begins in Nepal; however, these are not circumstances intrinsic to any particular religious tradition as here in Southern California I'm aware of a local orthodox Christian church where lambs are sacrificed and the meat eaten by congregants.

The beliefs that are being manifested in Nepal encompass the notion of a god or goddess requiring homage with gifts that have material consequence in human society.  The fulfillment of ceremony participants' hopes and dreams is the desired outcome.

For me, a primary consideration is one's perception of the nature of intermediary 'powers' (to use a word that appeared in one of the many articles about Nepal's Gadhimai fair).  What has one experienced in his or her own life that would support a belief in the value of animal sacrifice?

By observing animals, I've noticed some personality traits that remind me of my own.  Just as I wish that all people's circumstances in life were as happy as mine, so would I like to see an end to all unnecessary suffering for animals.

Gemenu Amarasinghe observed in an Associated Press article: "The ceremony, which goes back for generations, has enormous resonance in a country where per capital income is about $25 a month, illiteracy is widespread and vast social divides have left millions working as tenant farmers for feudal landlords."

It is evident that geography and one's family traditions are factors concerning individual opportunities to be found and perhaps even the wisdom traditions that one might ponder.  I cannot equate boundaries and economic restrictions to God or gods because historical records establish these delineations with the ambitions of men.