As sentient beings, we are not mere objects that can be taken and used, made to suffer for pure entertainment. We are not like a soccer ball that can be kicked with all one’s might or a tennis ball that can be struck with a racket, since those objects feel nothing.
In contrast, the slaves whom the Romans used as gladiators for simple amusement (bread and circuses) did suffer. Likewise, innocent children who are victims of bullies who amuse themselves by humiliating and mistreating them can suffer to the point of suicide.
Non-human animals used in animal-related festivals also experience pain, such as bulls in bullfighting and other related events, fox hunting, throwing a goat from a bell tower and many others like those described in the link I sent you.
Imagine that you or a loved one are put into an arena full of people and “banderillas” (sharp barbed sticks) are repeatedly driven into your body, until at the end of the cruel spectacle a sword is thrust through you while the crowd applauds enthusiastically.
The main argument put forward by its defenders is tradition. But should we then have continued the custom of throwing Christians to the lions? Or of crucifixions and impalements? Or the centuries-old tradition of systematically torturing people during judicial interrogations, even the innocent?
Fortunately, we have made progress, such as in festivals involving geese hung from a rope. In the past, the geese were placed there while still alive. Riders would gallop on horseback and, when they were under the goose, they would pull its neck downward. They repeated this again and again. Each time they pulled the neck, it would stretch, sometimes dramatically, separating the vertebrae from one another. When a rider finally managed to tear off the head with a strong pull, he became the winner and was cheered by the people who found amusement in that torture—likely the majority of the town. This atrocity has been replaced by dead or rubber geese, which is also deeply degrading (imagine if the men of a town did this with the corpse of a woman or with a rubber replica, or if white people did it with the corpse or mannequin of a black person), but it is far less cruel.
Let us continue to move forward until all types of festivals with animals that may cause them suffering or in which they are degraded are abolished.
There are many healthy and enjoyable ways to have fun, such as watching Netflix series, documentaries, or videos on YouTube or TikTok, meeting friends to chat, reading books or the newspaper, going for a walk, to the beach, or out into nature, sightseeing, and much more. With so many excellent forms of leisure at our fingertips, what need is there to resort to those that cause so much suffering to others?
Because a crime is always a crime, no matter how much it is permitted by law and socially accepted.
Unfortunately, we tend to operate through labels. We are raised in a culture in which some groups have the label of “respectable” and must be treated well, while others have the label of “victimizable” and can be crushed with hardly any empathy—such as non-human sentient beings, Jews, black people, LGBTQ+ individuals, other ethnicities, and many others throughout history and even today.
A good person is one who does no harm to others, with the exception of legitimate self-defense or the defense of others. An even better person is one who takes action so that others do not cause suffering either. And an even better person still is one who, in addition to all this, does good to others.
Edmund Burke said:
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing”.
Please do something so that evil does not triumph. If you are a good person, I would appreciate it if you would show it by signing this campaign against bloody festivals.
And by sharing it with as many contacts as possible on all your social networks, including all types of WhatsApp groups, unless a group has approved by majority a rule against sending this type of message. You have the right to send messages just as others have the right not to read them or to leave WhatsApp groups. It does not matter if sharing these types of messages is more or less common, as justice—understood as doing no harm to anyone except in legitimate self-defense—stands far above “minor customs and habits.”
Thank you,
Xavier Paya
Live Without Harming initiative
LET’S NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against an aggressor.
With the Live Without Harming initiative, we strive to prevent any kind of suffering or harm from being caused to you, your loved ones, and others.
1 Mission: A happier world
3 Goals:
1. Share scientific knowledge about wellbeing.
2. Encourage people not to cause harm.
3. Promote scientific research on quality of life.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE TIPS TO BE HAPPIER?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP US LEAVE A BETTER WORLD THAN THE ONE YOU FOUND?
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