By Morris Dean
Chapter 21 of Hugues de Montalembert's 1985 book, Eclipse: A Nightmare, opens:
Ten years ago [before the author was blinded by having paint thinner thrown in his face by a burglar], while passing through Barcelona, I stopped by a little restaurant in a working-class suburb where I was told that the local specialty was grilled sheep's head. I now remember, with a certain queasiness, that split skull staring at me from my plate with its two protruding, dead eyes. [p. 138]When I first read that, an analogy leapt to mind between de Montalembert's eyes before and after he was blinded and my body before and after I aged and died, and I made a note to write a sonnet comparing my dead body on a pyre awaiting cremation and the dead body of a pig in a Carolina barbecue pit.
But in the meantime, a provocation arose that the de Montalembert quote could also serve to introduce....
A correspondent in Arkansas emailed me that her family was happy that the Razorbacks had won their first football game, and I quipped that I was glad for the razorbacks but sad for all the pigs that had been slaughtered for bacon and sausages. She actually agreed with the sentiment, responding that she has mixed emotions about eating bacon & pork chops because she knows it's cruel and she has always thought that pigs are cute.
It happened that we were both copying another correspondent, and this correspondent commented that she thinks pigs are cute, too, but she has never felt guilty eating pork, because "God gave us animals for us to eat, remember?"
My blood rose a bit at that. Oh, God did, did he? And I remember this? Was someone in Sunday school supposed to have taught me this fantasy?
I shot back, "Your understanding of God appalls me." And it took my blood several minutes to cool down, and for me to apologize to her
for my appalling remark. I wrote in revulsion against the point of view that animals were made for us. I utterly reject that view of "God." If "God" actually did intend to set up the food chain, in which prey are eaten by predators (which is what Nature has arranged), my moral conscience wants a creator-god that suffers with the prey as well as enjoys gladness with the predator for its present meal. I find this killing of weaker by stronger barbaric. And remember, we could become prey to a stronger predator....
 |
| Francesco Petrarca (1304 – 1374) |
When I am dead and my body is laid_______________
out in a box for incineration—
not any organ fit for donation,
all the arrangements having been made,
all the fees and taxes having been paid,
the temperature just right for cremation,
all time past for further hesitation—
the box into the furnace is conveyed.
Will nearby be the spirit of a pig
to compare that scene to its in the pit—
its final act when it performed the gig
forced on it by the men who built the spit?
Or would the comparison be too big
a leap?—I simply died; the pig was split.
Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean
| Please comment |
When it comes to the bible, and those who claim to follow its teachings, it is difficult to decide who to have the most contempt for: those who claim to be literalists yet who carefully pick and choose the pages and passages they "literally" believe, or the modernists who do the same. In the case of using the bible as a justification for eating pork and other meat, the Old Testament versus New Testament is a quagmire of contradiction: here is a link to a brief sampling on the matter http://www.openbible.info/topics/eating_pork
ReplyDeleteNot that hypocrisy on the part of believers, or contradiction within the bible, is anything new. If history is to be believed, then one has to consider that Moses, the man who reportedly delivered the commandment "thou shall not murder" along with the rest, was a few years later leading a band of murderers who made Charles Manson and his bunch seem mere pranksters by comparison.
When one looks objectively at what the bible says one place compared to another, and what the devout allegedly believe versus what they do, the quote from the band 'Jethro Tull' may have it as right as anyone: “In the beginning Man created God; and in the image of Man created he him.”
You know, if you take out the part were, "God said this onto me". There are few things that deal with religion(a belief in a god), but instead try to convince people to do right. The Jews don't eat pork today, but the reason in the beginning was because there was no way to keep pork safely and you had a 50% chance of dying. They drank wine because there was no way to keep grape juice from going bad. Murder wasn't what we look on as murder today. It was more along the line of, dark night and one Jew killing another Jew for profit. So if you look at the story of the bible as just that, a story of a people trying to better themselves(it was and has always been about the Jewish people, Christians under Paul high-jacked the religion), then it is more of a road map out of darkness(Old Testament, mainly. The New Testament is more about justifying the claim Christians keep making that they are part of the big show.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Doctor Konotahe, Doctor of Divinity! I am not being facetious, but trying to express my admiration for the authoritative, informed-sounding voice with which you speak of these matters.
DeleteBut no comment on my sonnet? I was (and still am) pretty proud of it, especially the achievement of using only four rhyme sounds in a fourteen-line ENGLISH verse (much easier in Italian or other Romance language).
kono, wonderful piece of writing, as always. Maybe it is your "Doctor of Divinity" title, as denoted by Morris, and my lack thereof, that got me lost, but for now let's look at your prose as a brilliantly designed road course raceway - Watkins Glen or Road Atlanta, perhaps - and me as the novice driver who misjudged the second turn and went through the gravel pit and into the trees.
DeleteAre you saying the bible and the religious beliefs associated with it were basically a road map to survive the environmental challenges of the day, and should have been abandoned by all when a new day came? Or are you saying it was all about the Jewish people and no one else should have adopted any of it? Or are you saying that is was a light to find one's way out of the darkness then, and still has relevance to find one's way out today?
Morris, yes, your sonnet, as usual, is clever and creative. I do hope those who appreciate such do let you know.
Yes Morris I enjoyed your sonnet.Not sure that's the word I want to use.
DeleteIn a land that grew so few viggies, meat was the most sensible thing to eat. The American Indians ate dog and horse, because it made sense to them. Humans have not always had a choice about what they ate. I eat less meat today than I did in my youth, but that has more to do with my heart than taste. One day we my be at the bottom of the food chain, but until then, I believe most of us will be meat eaters.
Now back to religion. The Old Testament was a history book of the Jewish Nation. Not until the new testament does the bible say anything about non-Jews. And even then there was a debate about how Paul's converts could join the Jewish religion. Peter said they had to be circumcised, but Paul still allowed converts to join without being circumcised. This put a wide gap between the two sides. Also, brought into question, if these new members of Paul's were indeed Jewish.
Jesus was a Jew as were all the others. Christians claim the blood on the cross invited them in, but that is no where in the Bible. We are not even invited to the end times. All those things that happen in Revelations, happen to the Jews. There is no mention of non-Jews as having a part in anything. Well, they do play the bad guys in most of the stories.
We'll talk about why I believe Paul was gay, in our next class.(smiley)
Kono, and to think I thought Morris was kidding about your "Doctor of Divinity" title. I am duly impressed. To clarify for the benefit of those who aren't Jews but think it is important follow the Bible: They are basically delusional? There is nothing in scripture that says they matter in the biblical scheme of things?
DeleteThat is the way I have always understood it, but if someone of your academic standing spelled it out they might actually get it. Although I doubt it. (little smile)
Congratulations on the sonnet. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteCarnivory is. Whether you choose to blame a god or not, eating other creatures is a very common way to make a living - one that humans have usually used when we had a choice. While I respect those who decide not to participate, denouncing the practice will not eradicate it from nature.
Chuck, yes, killing and eating other creatures has always been the quickest, easiest, laziest, most unenlightened way for humans to feed themselves, so that is what most of them have done and continue to do. However, vegetarianism and veganism have lengthy documented histories, mostly among the more enlightened and nature oriented, then as now. Vegetarianism basically disappeared as Christianity advanced: Big surprise.
DeleteConsidering your professional background and latent posts on this blog about mathematics, you might be interested to know Pythagoras was a vegetarian: https://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=830
Since you have an interest in mountain climbing, you might also find it interesting that there is a tribe in the Himalayas that has reportedly been vegan for 5,000 years. Wiki has quite a history about vegetarianism over the centuries at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_vegetarianism.
Vegan burgers cook just as well on the grill as do hamburgers (smile).
I thought that would get a rise out of you! ;>)
DeleteWe're talking past each other here a bit. I know that there have been obligatory vegetarians (no meat available), cultural veggies (against religion), and voluntary veggies (you). My points are that carnivores are, and always have been, a big part of nature, and that most humans are, and always have been, omnivores by choice. Most people will eat some meat if they can get it, and apparently it has been thus throughout the history of the race. And, third point, I'm betting that any effort to turn most of humanity into voluntary vegetarians is doomed to failure, because meat tastes good, and is (in moderation) high-quality nutrition.
I understand the moral and environmental issues, and think universal vegenasim would be a Good Thing - but it won't happen. Easier to talk us into celibacy.
I hear you, Chuck, about carnivory being here to stay. And I don't mean to be trying to change the world with respect to that, or much else. I think I'm more interested in going with my own feelings about things in a writerly way, in verse sometimes as the spirit strikes me. Certain things evoke my feelings more than others: the widespread belief in "God"; my sense that animals, too—that is other animals—have rights, have spirits—in this world if not in the next, just like us...exactly like us; etc.
DeleteIn the case of today's column, the passage from de Montalembert's book was the evoker. And the image of my remains about to become cremains came to me quite unbidden, as did the parallel image of a pig being prepared for feasting. I have a lot of sympathy for the pig, I don't feel it's right that we eat him or her. Hence, the fact that some people not only do eat pigs (and other animals, of course), but imagine that "God" sanctions it—that really riles me.
I believe that the food chain came into being in a materialistic way and appears to have had to come into being. It's natural selection by definition. How else could it have worked, have possibly worked?
While I make a point that animals are other animals, I also note a moral difference between them and human animals, who (or some of whom) are capable of rising above the instincts that lead those other animals to eat each other and have the means to feed themselves without resorting to eating flesh. I don't condemn a lion for eating a zebra, but I do condemn myself for eating pigs.
Golly! I am just chortling with delight at today's commentary. Thank you all who have commented so far. But let's hear from Sharon Stoner, Jim Rix, James T. Carney, Brother and Sister Price, and some of our diverse readers from Europe and Asia and Down Under! "Let's all get together and love one another, right now."
ReplyDeleteMorris, about that love one another bit...sorry, only vegetarians need apply here. To put it as delicately as I can, for a long-time vegan, meat eaters smell like dumpsters in summer.
Deleteok,you asked for it. i dont feel anywhere near as vehement as you on religion, bro-Mo, so i avoid when you write about it..avoidance is a good family happy technique:-)
ReplyDeleteas for the sonnet...i have found, tho i am FAR from happy about it...that i simply dont get into most poetry...i heard of a good poetess, hubster bought me her books for a gift....they sat....and sat...i just dont go there so...
Susan, thanks for taking me up on commenting, whatever you had to say.
DeleteYes, poetry (or verse) is not for everyone, no doubt about it. And much poetry isn't for me either, I have to admit that. Because of its compression (trying to say more with fewer words, etc.), it's more work to read it for enough comprehension to turn on any chimes.
By the way, does "[no]where near as vehement on religion" indicate that you are vehement on religion to some degree?
...But I guess you won't tell us about that, for the sake of happy family.... <grin> If my wife weren't approximately as skeptical of religion as I am, I'm not sure we could have lasted for these 47+ years. She's been more steady on it than I have been. At one time, in the seventies, I was working at believing, wanting to go to church regularly (and take the kids), wanting to go on a couples retreat at a monastery, that sort of thing, and she couldn't quite get into it. Now, it's more the other way: she certainly doesn't want to go to church, but she's willing to just let religion lie...for other people...and keep her mouth shut.
My anti-religion simply provides too much fuel for my "creativity" for me to remain quiet. Plus, in a social/cultural/political—rather than an artistic—way, I feel that religion has much to answer for and we let it flourish at our peril....
Morris, your verse is quite clever. I firmly believe in loving one another and participate as often as possible. Any volunteers?
ReplyDeleteGood on you, Sharon! The world does need more love, doesn't it? I guess you and I are soliciting?
DeleteI do not understand some of the conversation--especially the part about being Jewish--but I love the poem. Not being a vegetarian (but almost about to become one, I find information about raising, treatment, and killing of animals as a food source to be a bit unacceptable. We treat the animals we eat as if they are not worthy of respect or humane treatment. Think I have just convinced myself to stop eating animals.
ReplyDeleteAnon, good for you! If you are serious about becoming a vegetarian do a bit of research about which foods need to be eaten with others to ensure you not only ingest enough protein, vitamins and minerals, but that they are in a ratio that your system can assimilate. And be prepared to go through some withdrawal symptoms as you try to wean chemical-laden meat from your diet. I don't think it is the meat your body misses, just the chemicals in the meat.
ReplyDeleteAs a vegetarian of 30some years and a vegan of 20some, I can vouch that your energy, strength and health are far superior without meat. The main problem you will have is finding a way to tolerate people who are too small-minded or lazy to try it themselves. Be prepared to land in a whole new social group, and be ready for them to be much more energetic and superior company to what you have been keeping.
Ok. You all have just convinced me to stop reading this blog. Since when are "animals" the only life form worthy of respect? What about bacteria and fungi--which, by the way, feed on humans? What about fruits, vegetables, and grains? Do you not kill them to eat them? Or do you not think them cute enough to consider as alive?
ReplyDeleteGood point Carolyn. I could get into an extended argument about brain wave in animals, versus none such in fruits, vegetables and grains, but I will instead just say that all you mention are indeed incredibly cute and that is why I have refined my vegan diet to the point I basically live on powdered rock mixed with rain water. Although I am somewhat concerned that our native sandstone, despite not having a brain wave, may have a higher IQ than many of the people in the region where I currently live.
ReplyDelete