As sentient beings, we are not mere objects that can be taken and used, causing us to suffer for simple entertainment. We are not like a soccer ball that can be kicked with all one’s might or a tennis ball that can be hit with a racket, as those objects feel nothing.
In contrast, the slaves whom the Romans used as gladiators for simple leisure (bread and circuses) did suffer. Just as innocent children who are victims of bullies—who find amusement in humiliating and mistreating them—can suffer to the point of suicide.
Likewise, non-human animals used in festivals involving animals experience pain, such as bulls in bullfighting and other taurine events, fox hunting, throwing a goat from a bell tower, and many others, such as those described in the link I have sent you.
Imagine that you or a loved one are put into an enclosure full of people and “banderillas” are repeatedly stabbed into your body, until at the end of the cruel festival, your body is pierced with a sword while the audience applauds enthusiastically.
The main argument put forward by its defenders is tradition. But then, should we have continued with the custom of throwing Christians to the lions? Or with 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. Previously, they were placed there while still alive. Riders would gallop on their horses and, when they were under the goose, they would pull its neck downward. They did this repeatedly. Each time they pulled the neck, it would stretch. It would even stretch significantly, separating the vertebrae from one another. When a rider finally managed to sever the neck with a tug, he became the winner and was cheered by the people who found amusement in that torture—likely the majority of the town. This barbarity has been replaced by dead or rubber geese, which is also very demeaning (imagine if the men of a town did this with the corpse of a woman or a rubber one, or if white people did it with the corpse or mannequin of a Black person), but much 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 exciting ways to have fun, such as watching Netflix series, documentaries, or videos on YouTube or TikTok, meeting friends to chat, reading books or the press, going for a walk, to the beach, or into nature, sightseeing, and much more. With so many excellent types 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 operate by labels. We are educated in a culture where 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 or in current times.
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 does something 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 the triumph of evil is for good men to 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
Living Without Harm initiative
LET’S NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against an aggressor.
With the Living Without Harm 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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