Saturday, May 05, 2012
Hidden assumption
UK Telegraph runs a basically unnecessary article about halal and kosher slaughter. Presumably the main purpose of the article is to stir some excitement in the comment section, and it succeeded there!
I'm still puzzled by the basic attitude:
Simple logic: If you're going to kill a critter anyway, the last few seconds of its life are irrelevant. It won't remember those seconds.
You should be worrying instead about how the animal is kept during the two or three years of its life. That's when the meaningful suffering happens. Modern factory farming is in fact unnecessarily cruel.
Same with humans. Satanic "civil" "rights" lawyers are always suing to modify the process of capital punishment. Some states have postponed executions because they didn't have the "correct" kind of anesthetic on hand.
If you're going to kill the man anyway, the last few minutes don't matter. Vastly more important to do the execution soon after arrest, and to do it predictably and certainly. That's how deterrence works. When criminals can see that their crimes will bring quick and certain pain or death, some of them will choose a non-criminal way of life. Criminals are short-term thinkers, and they're good at figuring the odds.
You should be worrying instead about the long suffering of ordinary people who are killed or injured by criminals who know the odds.
= = = = =
When did this idiotic focus on the last few seconds of life dominate the thinking of post-Christian cultures? It's fairly recent, and it's certainly not a universal part of moral thinking. It hasn't corrupted Islamic societies yet. They remain rational.
I'm still puzzled by the basic attitude:
Prof Bill Reilly, ex-president of the British Veterinary Association, said cutting the throats of lambs, chickens and other animals without stunning them breaches legal requirements because it causes significant pain, fear and distress.
British and EU law permits the method of religious slaughter to account for Muslim and Jewish dietary practices, but stipulates that the animals must not be caused "unnecessary suffering."
Simple logic: If you're going to kill a critter anyway, the last few seconds of its life are irrelevant. It won't remember those seconds.
You should be worrying instead about how the animal is kept during the two or three years of its life. That's when the meaningful suffering happens. Modern factory farming is in fact unnecessarily cruel.
Same with humans. Satanic "civil" "rights" lawyers are always suing to modify the process of capital punishment. Some states have postponed executions because they didn't have the "correct" kind of anesthetic on hand.
If you're going to kill the man anyway, the last few minutes don't matter. Vastly more important to do the execution soon after arrest, and to do it predictably and certainly. That's how deterrence works. When criminals can see that their crimes will bring quick and certain pain or death, some of them will choose a non-criminal way of life. Criminals are short-term thinkers, and they're good at figuring the odds.
You should be worrying instead about the long suffering of ordinary people who are killed or injured by criminals who know the odds.
= = = = =
When did this idiotic focus on the last few seconds of life dominate the thinking of post-Christian cultures? It's fairly recent, and it's certainly not a universal part of moral thinking. It hasn't corrupted Islamic societies yet. They remain rational.
Labels: Natural law = Sharia law
¶ 4:32 AM
