DEFINING MORAL COWARDICE
suffering
All posts tagged suffering
i really have nothing further to add.
The quote below speaks for itself.
No commentary required in any attempt to clarify
a statement of ethical truth.
This is . . .
OUR ETHICAL DUTY
IT IS OUR DUTY
to alleviate suffering wherever it occurs.
Blessings on those
who from places of empathy and compassion,
take immediate action
to protect, defend and lend voice to,
ALL sentient, living beings in need,
without prejudice of species.
WE think, WE dream, WE love, WE hunger, WE feel, WE suffer, WE grieve.
In these capacities,
WE ARE EQUALS
Nonhuman and Human Animals….
WE ARE….
The Animal Spirits.
~ Gerean Pflug
FOLLOW THE ANIMAL SPIRITS ON FACEBOOK
image credit: izquotes.com
BOUND TO SUFFERING
Empathy
dictates that we,
at the very least,
show the reverence of imagining ourselves
in the place of another.
Compassion
dictates that we feel WITH them.
Mercy
dictates that we take action
to protect other sentient living beings from suffering.
Who is willing to continue to look the other way?
What you allow, will continue.
In empathy, compassion and mercy,
take action.
~ Gerean Pflug for The Animal Spirits
Pigs at Tona Toraja Market in Indonesia. They are mercilessly bound to bamboo poles while still alive, many of them injured. They are refused water or food and left to suffer until a human purchases them for slaughter. Is this mercy? Is this grace? Is this compassion?
Image found at: http://ccloser.tumblr.com/post/23889971821
PRODUCT LABEL REALITIES
Humans ~
The contents of packages you consume,
so insensitively referred to as
“products,”
contain
our flesh, our blood, our organs,
Our Friends,
Our Family Members,
Our Parents,
Our Children,
once innocent, sentient, breathing, living beings,
our lives memorialized within the space of
a label.
~~~~~
In life,
WE think,
WE dream,
WE feel,
WE fear,
WE suffer
and in these capacities,
WE are your equals.
WE are mercilessly imprisoned, enslaved and slaughtered
by human food factories,
Slaughter Houses,
the man-made hell holes of
despair,
mercilessly and intentionally disconnected from
Life,
in numbers exceeding millions per day,
billions per week,
intentionally hidden from view of
the public of “humanity,”
who would most assuredly be sickened by
the “process.”
Compassionate Human Action Required.
Bear witness.
Compassionate Human Action Required.
Empathize.
Compassionate Human Action Required.
WE are NOT products.
Compassionate Human Action Required.
Free us.
~ The Animal Spirits
~~~
VIDEO
Educate yourselves/Become Aware
SAMSARA Food Sequence.
“Killing animals for sport,
for pleasure,
for adventures,
and for hides and furs
is a phenomenon which is at once
disgusting and distressing.
There is no justification
in indulging in such acts of brutality.”
~ His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
~~~
TO KILL A WHALE
by Gerean Pflug
~~~
Diesel powered ships
fueled by money, greed
and humans paid to crew
hunger to kill for pay
mega sized pointy spears
of monolith resistant steel
built-in hooks with jagged edges
spools of ropes and cording
explosive penthrite-tipped
cannon powered violent action
heartless slaughter intended
body piercing harpoon style
into ideal depth of the flesh
nylon cords extend
tight and quick is what it takes
to pull the pin of delivery
grenade ladened weaponry
detonation of their payload
obliteration of the body
agonizing screams of pain
desperate thrashing
a futile fight to survive
the slow death lasts
up to a half hour or more
while hanging on to threads of life
the shots and injuries continue
empathy non existent
compassion withheld
at last the lower jaw relaxes
flippers cease to paddle
active motion slows
flotation no longer possible
the sink begins
once innocent, sentient, living beings
majestic royalty of the seas of an entire planet
now spirits passed on to the ‘nother places
lifeless, nameless, mammoth bodies
hauled by ropes
attached to arms of men
through life blood thickened waters
ultimate bounty is declared
liquid assets pending
cash prizes collected
goods liquidated
to meat markets hidden
behind signs that proclaim
“It is finished.”
in the name of scientific research.
~~~~~
Written by: Gerean Pflug for The Animal Spirits, all rights reserved
Copy permitted with a link back to this page.
~~~~
Japanese whaling ships
under the guise of scientific research
slaughter hundreds upon hundreds of endangered whales each year.
They kill the planet’s wildlife in protected whale sanctuaries.
This is not only illegal, it is immoral.
The suffering inflicted upon the whales is unspeakable.
They feel.
They suffer.
We suffer as equals.
Blessings on those who out of empathy and compassion
give voice to living beings who cannot speak for themselves.
Blessings on International Heroes:
Captain Paul Watson,
the crew and volunteers of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
and every individual of the international community
who take action in support of their work.
~~~~~
NOTE: The above writing is inspired by the work of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Follow The Sea Shepherd on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/TheAnimalSpirits?ref=hl#!/seashepherdconservationsociety?fref=ts
Additional Resource: “The Inner Lives of Whales” ~ Society for the Advancement of Animal Wellbeing
In my lifetime, I have observed every emotion imaginable exhibited by animals of a myriad of species. They feel. All one must do is be present to know this to be so. ~ Gerean Pflug, The Animal Spirits
~~~
~~~
”People must have renounced, it seems to me, all natural intelligence to dare to advance that animals are but animated machines…. It appears to me, besides, that [such people] can never have observed with attention the character of animals, not to have distinguished among them the different voices of need, of suffering, of joy, of pain, of love, of anger, and of all their affections. It would be very strange that they should express so well what they could not feel.”
~ Voltaire, Treatise on Tolerance
PHOTO COPIED FROM:
~~~
We know that living beings are suffering all across the planet today. Many of us are overwhelmed by the monumental, worldwide challenges that stand between our individual selves and those desperate to be rescued. None of us can single-handedly rescue the suffering masses of living beings, but this does not prohibit us from taking action. We don’t have to say, “There’s nothing I can do.” There are living beings in our backyards and in our communities who need our help today. Any and every compassionate action taken with intention, makes a difference . . . one-life-at-a-time.
The following adaptation from “The Star Thrower” by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977), illustrates this beautifully.
Many Blessings to those of you who are continually aware that every life matters.
~Gerean Pflug, The Animal Spirits
THE STARFISH STORY
adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley, (1907 – 1977)
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, so he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.
To this the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
As if he hadn’t heard, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
THE ANIMAL SPIRITS 