Living in harmony

A movie I saw recently called the "The boy who wore stripped pyjamas" disturbed me greatly. The movie deals with the subject of Nazi cruelty to Jews seen from the eyes of an innocent 8 year old son of a Nazi commander. It shows how everyone was brainwashed into believing that Jews were oppressive, destructive etc. and also how Jews were not really people but a different kind of creature. People who had difference of opinion were dealt with severely till everyone fell in line with the central thinking.

Even to this day, a similar kind of tragedy, torture and killing is happening. The only difference is that we are now dealing with birds, animals, aquatic creatures etc. In the name of food processing industry huge amount of creatures are killed every day in the most inhuman manner. It is as if the poor animals do not have any right to life or dignity.

Most people who eat meat do not think about the suffering that the animals have to go through in order to become food on their table. The animals are bred and fed in very filthy environments. They are injected with drugs to make them grow abnormally. They are castrated in a brutal manner. Their body parts are chopped while still alive ignoring the pain that they undergo.

Some questions we seriously need to ask ourselves is - Are we really human? If yes, how do we allow / encourage such actions? How do we choose to act ignorant and look the other way when such acts are committed? Do we not care about the pain of the other creatures? How can we think of feeding ourselves by causing so much pain around?

This is not just about our eating habits. I have often seen speeding cars knock down animals on the road and going away without even a backward glance. It is as if the lives of other creatures do not matter. As if it is OK if they are injured, hurt or bleeding. There are very few people who care about the lives of others, especially other creatures.

We should recognise the Lord Almighty in every living being. We should be gentle and kind to all creatures. Even if we cannot go out of the way to feed them and take care of them, the least we can do is to refrain from harming them. Together we can make this world a better place. A place where every creature has a rightful place and role to play. A place where everyone is kind and gentle towards all creatures.

Let’s live in harmony and joy.