i am currently in ubatuba, i have been here for the last 10 days. its been incredible and i will post about it when i get home and have more access to a computer. for now, i must tell you about this...
last night at my friend sandra's house she asked if i would watch a movie with her called earthlings. it is about the treatment of animals that we then consume for our pleasure. i have watched movies and clips on youtube of these horrible events before, and they are always sad and gruesome... i told her i would watch it, but that i was not sure if i could make it through the entire film. well, i did. 95 minutes of the worst horror movie of my life. it was the worst because i knew it was all real. there was no script, no actors, no fake blood and stunt doubles... this was really happening and it is happening right now, right now and right now.
the movie opened with this statement:
the three phases of truth
1. ridicule
2. violent opposition
3. acceptance
i think there should be another phase in there coinciding with ridicule; denial. we are all so in denial of the truth and facts of where our food is coming from, and those who are aware but have not changed the way they live ridicule others by poking fun. i think the reason i am feeling so strongly about this right now is because of the experience i have had here in brasil. the way everyone treats me for realizing this truth and accepting it, changing my lifestyle and living as example. instead of watching me or asking about why i do this or why feel this way they, make fun of me and tell me that i am going to die. they laugh while another shoves their fork in my face or tricks me into eating fish. they actually believe that i am going to die if i do not eat another dead being. if i do no kill another, i will perish.
the film had 5 chapters: pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. not one area was less effective than the other. my body reacted in different way along with the film: squeamish, shocked, hysterical, numb, and nauseous. when the movie was finished i went to my room and cried. i cried for the animals i had seen, i cried for the animals that will feel this pain today, i cried for the ignorant people who consume and consume without thought, i cried for the workers who follow out these torturous acts, and lastly, i cried for myself. i cried because i have compromised myself and what i believe in to make other people feel more comfortable, and through this i have begun to lose myself.
i am not writing this because i am part of some cult or i am trying to convert you. i am writing this because i feel, because we all feel. we were created and have evolved with thousands of nerve endings, these nerves filled with blood that give us life. and in this life we have desires. desires to be happy, to seek comfort and avoid pain. when we get a paper cut we flinch, when we burn our hand on a pot while cooking dinner we wince, when a bone breaks from falling off a skateboard we squirm in agony for days. these things that we feel are no different than any other thing that has these nerve endings. they too have these same desires, and were created to live the same free lives that we so blindly take for granted.
some facts in the movie that stuck out for me were: americans consume the same about of meat in one day as they did in an entire year in 1930... we are also a lot more fat and unhealthy than we were then. the leading source of pollution in our earth comes from slaughter houses, their waste, the toxic gases from the waste of the animals and the diseases that have begun to infest our water and food (including vegetables and fruit as well as the meat itself). an average cow has the life expectancy of 20 years, an average cow used for milking has the life expectancy of 4 years. a typical kosher slaughter house would fail on all rules and regulations of traditional kosher slaughtering, a peaceful and painless death.
now, i will ask of you one favor... please, as my friend, as my family, as the person that we all know we are and want to be, take the hour and half to watch this movie. if it takes you four days or one month or just one sitting, please watch the entire film. there is not one image or one sentence that is not worth your time. after you watch this movie, if you chose to continue to live the life that you are now, please be thoughtful. if you continue to consume meat, do not be lazy, buy local and organic meats. the animals are treated with more respect, which creates less stress which is better to consume. they are not fed unnatural pesticides and hormones which is better to consume. and lastly, you will eat less which helps your heart and your cholesterol and cuts down the chances of obesity, illness and cancer... for which all of us are at risk.
thank you for taking the time to read this, for you, and for me, and for the earth.
and remember: we reap what we sow...
here is a link to watch the movie in full on the earthlings website for free:
you can also rent or buy the movie.
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