Freedom

By |2016-11-19T18:47:55+10:00November 19th, 2016|Animals, God, Society|

manny-the-cow

This week I signed a petition, which called on the Prime Minister and the company who owned him, to free a steer which had escaped when being loaded onto a ship for live export.  This poor beast had swum and walked for kilometres in order to escape the fate which his owners had in mind for him, only to be caught and to die at the hands of the humans who sought to control him.

As a sentient being, this steer understood that his life of freedom was over, and chose to try to recover this freedom which every sentient being holds as sacred.

If you have read the Conversations With God books, by Neale Donald Walsch, including Tomorrow’s God, you would understand that God is another name for Life, but that there are other names for God as well, such as Freedom and Joy.

We are one with all of God’s creation.  All of God’s creation, such as humans and cattle, are portions of the entirety of Life which makes up God.  And all of those portions of Life, of God, who are self-aware, such as humans and cattle, are aware at the core of their being that they are portions of Life, of Freedom and of Joy.

Any sentient being, who has lost their freedom and their joy, is no longer living, but is merely on a slow, painful, path to death.

Manny, as this steer was dubbed by the person who wrote the petition, has many lessons to provide for us humans.

The first of these lessons is that it is time to give animals the same amount of respect and consideration as humans.

Every religion has a form of the Golden Rule of: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  Do you think this only relates to humans?

The reason that we are advised to do unto others as we would have them do unto us is that we get back what we give out.  What many people know as Karma is really just the fact that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and we reap what we sow.  As Jesus said: “this is the law”. (Matthew 7:12)

The way that food animals have been raised in factory farms, and exploited in other ways such as live exports, deprives animals of their freedom and their joy, and ultimately their lives.  Might there not be some correlation between our treatment of animals and the diminishment of freedom and joy in our own lives?

The second lesson which Manny presents us with is that freedom is worth exerting yourself for.  As I mentioned before, a life without freedom is not really a life.  Manny would tell us that it is time to make a stand against those who would rob us of our freedom.

As we learn the lessons which Manny has given us, we owe it to him to make our first step in recovering our freedom to end live animal exports.

I have no doubt that, given all of the facts, the majority of Australians would support a ban on live animal exports.  Why, then, do our politicians support such a cruel industry?

The answer is dollars.

As in many countries, the views and values of our politicians no longer appear to reflect the views and values of the people they represent.  Perhaps this is the reason that the votes for Brexit and Trump succeeded in those countries.

The majority of Australians would not willingly and knowingly cause suffering to thousands of export animals, regardless of the dollars involved.  There are many subtle ways in which our freedom and joy are being eroded, but in acting against the values and wishes of its people, our government is causing us to feel the loss of our freedom and joy, along with the animals we ship on those deathships.

Step one must be to make a stand on Manny’s behalf to end live exports.

Step two must be to end factory farming in Australia (and other countries).

Just like live animal exports, factory farming is cruel.  I am sure that the majority of Australians would not support factory farming, if they were aware of the inherent cruelty, and if they felt they had a choice.

It is time to start taking some small brave steps towards recovering our freedom and our joy, and ultimately our lives.

Please make a stand for Manny.  As we start to give animals back their freedom and joy, we may just start recovering some of our own.

 

Please contact your federal member of parliament: https://secure.animalsaustralia.org/action/find-your-federal-MP.php
and state senators: http://www.banliveexport.com/features/senators.php
and help to end live animal exports: http://www.banliveexport.com/facts/frequently-asked-questions.php

Please consider ways that you can help to end factory farming: http://www.makeitpossible.com/
http://www.makeitpossible.com/take_action/

The story of Manny 1: http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/11/14/19/34/cow-due-for-export-escapes-at-fremantle

The story of Manny 2: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/the-infamous-cow-that-escaped-a-fremantle-cargo-ship-has-died-20161117-gsrkhu.html

Instant Karma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22CrPtjODPY

Martin Luther King Jr:

(I just noticed the Freudian slip in the first paragraph: “the Prime Minister and the company who owned him” – not too far from the truth perhaps? So I left it in.)

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