Animal Sacrifices - are they ever ok?

[beenherebeforeagain]

So should we not stop being the obliging consumers then?

Obligate consumers. Obliging consumers would be something else, I think. We're obligate consumers because we cannot generate our own food from sunlight or other energy sources.

 

[Quintessence]

Oh dear, I suppose I should have clarified since I waxed technical into biology and that maybe isn't apparent to some readers. I don't even know if they talk about trophic levels in K-12 anymore. Ecology on the whole gets terrible coverage in public education.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Oh dear, I suppose I should have clarified since I waxed technical into biology and that maybe isn't apparent to some readers. I don't even know if they talk about trophic levels in K-12 anymore. Ecology on the whole gets terrible coverage in public education.

Well, as omnivores, we are not obliged (I kinda like that word, though) to eat meat as a requirement for survival--with enough planning and variety, humans can survive quite well on an entirely vegetarian diet, requiring the killing of no animals at all. We could be herbivores, and yet most of us choose to consume meat as a significant part of our diets.

 

[Quintessence]

I don't see anything wrong with killing animals for food, though. As someone who honestly likes plants more than animals, I am definitely not going to give some "moral high ground" to someone who only kills plants!

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I don't see anything wrong with killing animals for food, though. As someone who honestly likes plants more than animals, I am definitely not going to give some "moral high ground" to someone who only kills plants!

As an animist who views plants and animals as kin, I do prefer that people take a respectful attitude toward whatever they kill in the course of their lives. Even as a spray for bugs and pull up weeds, I apologize and make offerings to/for those I harm. And when hunting and fishing (although I haven't done either in years), I ask for permission and make offerings in thanks to the ones that sacrifice themselves so I can eat. It's all about being respectful and and maintaining balance with the kin-folk, whether they are furred or finned or feathered or leafy.

 

[psychoslice]

To me animal sacrifice is from ignorance, so no they should not sacrifice animals at all.

 

[Sees]

Always a difficult topic because people asssume it is "we give God/s death, make happy" and if Jews and Christians had maintained the practice of animal sacrifice it wouldn't be so taboo.

 

[Thief]

Just a brief question. Obviously some religious preach crazy and even human sacrifice, while other like to cut off chicken heads. But, what about like sacrificing a goldfish? Your opinion?

and you do so to appease your god?

sacrifice is a substitution.
something dies in your place.

so....you kill something because you're not worthy to stand before your god?

and killing an animal some how helps..............................................................?

 

[Thief]

I personally have, and will continue, to sacrifice goats. The preparation is nine days prior, where we feed it a diet of oats, honey, mead and just generally whatever we've found that our little friend happens to like. He or she is treated as well as we can manage, and if it's a male goat that includes some lady-goats he takes a fancy towards, with them given the same treats and care he is(albeit no mead or alcohol in general). One of us stay with him/her all hours of the day to make sure they're doing well, free to roam wherever they want(well within the enclosure, but it's pretty damn big and goats aren't exactly ones who like to stray to begin with).

On the day of the sacrifice we give him more alcohol, to get him, well, plastered. Then we give him an anesthetic. We don't want them to feel any of it. I then take my seax(which I should point out, is made of obsidian, or volcanic glass, and is thus sharper than 99% of surgical blades) and slit its throat, and then curve towards the back to clip the spine. He's dead in less than a second.

and as you fatten yourself up in this life.......

 

[Thief]

That's biologically impossible, unless you want to genetically engineer humans to be plants. Which I absolutely approve of. I totally want to be a plant.

I believe in the afterlife....where we become what we really are

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

and you do so to appease your god?

sacrifice is a substitution.
something dies in your place.

so....you kill something because you're not worthy to stand before your god?

and killing an animal some how helps..............................................................?

Maybe to appease. Maybe to honor. Or to thank. The definition of the term allows for different motives (using OED; if you're using another source, please advise).
I see nothing in the definition of the word to suggest that the thing sacrificed is a substitution for anything else. And in pagan practice it is not considered so: It dies because it is the sacrifice. Something of value is offered, sacrificed. Where does this idea of substitution come from?
So, what you conclude is likely in error (that the person performing the sacrifice is not worthy) from the perspective of pagans. Those of other traditions may have other ideas, as I suspect yours are.

However, I do note that the OED does suggest that the sacrifice is then burned upon the altar. This is rarely done by pagans (at least those I am familiar with, which is admittedly not all the traditions); burning the sacrifice is wasteful, instead its body is shared in a meal with others of the community.

 

[Aštra’el]

Although there are obviously many other ways to generate mana for the gods, I completely approve of animal sacrifice, and I do not feel compelled to "justify" it. ​

 

[Quintessence]

But plants don't have nervous systems and can't feel pain like factory farmed animals?

So? What does having or not having one specific type of hardware for sensing and responding to environmental stimuli got to do with treating something with respect?

 

[psychoslice]

We all may as well starve lol.

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

Neu5Gc still early days but I'm sure they will rediscover eating meat , living flesh is disgusting and unclean, cross contaminates and causes a whole host of other health related problems.
Eating living flesh is not ok lol is nearly cannibalism.
According to the rspca animals should be stunned with a vet present before slaughter guessing that doesn't happen with sacrifice.

 

[Nietzsche]

and as you fatten yourself up in this life.......

I'm not against human sacrifice either. You volunteering?

 

[Thief]

I'm not against human sacrifice either. You volunteering?

Ha!....not on your life......

too bad you can't ASK the animal......first!

 

[Thief]

Maybe to appease. Maybe to honor. Or to thank. The definition of the term allows for different motives (using OED; if you're using another source, please advise).
I see nothing in the definition of the word to suggest that the thing sacrificed is a substitution for anything else. And in pagan practice it is not considered so: It dies because it is the sacrifice. Something of value is offered, sacrificed. Where does this idea of substitution come from?
So, what you conclude is likely in error (that the person performing the sacrifice is not worthy) from the perspective of pagans. Those of other traditions may have other ideas, as I suspect yours are.

However, I do note that the OED does suggest that the sacrifice is then burned upon the altar. This is rarely done by pagans (at least those I am familiar with, which is admittedly not all the traditions); burning the sacrifice is wasteful, instead its body is shared in a meal with others of the community.

check Genesis and you will see it was......just there.....

how did it get started you ask....
and why did God prefer the animal dead
compared to first cuttings of harvest?

and it is written......WHAT!!! you think God is a god that drinks blood?

I speculate, animal sacrifice was brought on by circumstance.
First we learn fire.
then we learn to roast on a stick.
the scent draws curious animals ...out there....in the dark.....
and the curious might invite themselves to your campsite.

so...you toss an offering to the beast....
if not....it might eat YOU!

 

[Erebus]

I speculate, animal sacrifice was brought on by circumstance.
First we learn fire.
then we learn to roast on a stick.
the sent draws curious animals ...out there....in the dark.....
and the curious might invite themselves to your campsite.

so...you toss an offering to the beast....
if not....it might eat YOU!

I'm not sure about all of this, but the part I put in bold seems reasonable.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

check Genesis and you will see it was......just there.....

how did it get started you ask....
and why did God prefer the animal dead
compared to first cuttings of harvest?

and it is written......WHAT!!! you think God is a god that drinks blood?

I speculate, animal sacrifice was brought on by circumstance.
First we learn fire.
then we learn to roast on a stick.
the sent draws curious animals ...out there....in the dark.....
and the curious might invite themselves to your campsite.

so...you toss an offering to the beast....
if not....it might eat YOU!

Okay, I see that you are relying on Abrahamic tradition. Yes, why DID God in Genesis choose animal sacrifice over harvest? It would certainly seem that the biblical God wants animal, even human, sacrifice: his son is celebrated by followers who consume--whether in fact or in gesture--his body and blood. And with the exception of Jesus, in the Bible I recall no evidence at all (although I may well be mistaken on this) that what was sacrificed was a substitute for the one offering the sacrifice. Were Abel and Cain to have thrown themselves upon the altar, instead of the property they sacrificed?

Your speculation seems reasonable, but other speculations also seem reasonable, too; and there is scant evidence to support any, except how different peoples today approach sacrifice. Some may be trying to appease the hunger in the darkness, but others are saying, "Please, come join us in fellowship at the feast with the food you have provided" or "Let us honor your power and wisdom for your assistance in our journey through life" or "See, we have not forgotten you, and how you have contributed to our survival, as it has been since the founding of our line...." Indeed, there are many possible reasons for offering sacrifice. And many possible ways of offering sacrifice.