I see you changed your profile picture; the new ones are lovely. Really glad to see that you are a rational person and I was able help to show you my point. And I strongly believe you know, I was not rambling anything (at least that wasn’t my intentions). We need to keep in mind it’s nice and necessary to hear other voices, even if you don’t agree with or like them.

Best,
Ozlem

Two memories from my childhood, which was too long ago…

My nanny, who was my father’s nanny first, and who was 100 years old the year I was born, was one of the wisest persons I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, and one of the major ‘shapers’ of my life. One day – I must have been 3 or 4, I saw a frog in the garden. There was a brick at the side of the path, I picked it up and dropped it on the frog, smashing it absolutely flat. Then I picked it up by one foot, and took it to show my nanny. She took one look, nodded, and said, “Ok, now give it back its life.” I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do. I asked her how I could do that, and she told me she didn’t know. Then she said something that changed my life forever, that has shaped – I hope – who I am today. She said, “Never take something that you can’t give back!” Ponder that for a while.

Second memory… I was a curious child, but the old fashioned, authoritarian household I grew up in wasn’t very keen on answering questions. So I explored. On the first day of Kurban I was forbidden to go to a certain part of the garden. I knew that that was where the sheep I had been feeding for the past 15 days or so would be killed, but I didn’t know how, and the sight was considered too gory for my tender years. The year I was 7, I sneaked out of the house before everybody else, climbed into the branches of the mulberry tree right above the designated slaughter area, hid myself among the leaves and waited.

They brought out the first sheep – there were four that year. They put it down on its side, and tied three of its legs together. Then they tied a scarf over its eyes. The sheep was struggling and bleating, it didn’t need to see the knife to feel that something was wrong. Then they made a cut in its neck, in the main artery. Blood spurted out, ran into the ground, staining everything red. They waited for perhaps two or three minutes, it seems killing the animal instantly is not desirable, its blood should run. I was crying, just as I am now as I write this, and biting my hands so I wouldn’t make a sound. The movements of the sheep became sluggish, its bleating got weaker. Then they severed its head from its body, and hung it up by its legs in my tree, which is when they saw me. It was fortunate, because I don’t think I could have watched the same thing three times more. My nanny held me in her arms as I cried, and said, “Life is not always what we want it to be…”

I was told the story of Abraham, how God had sent him a ram to sacrifice, how it was required, how it was to help the poor, and so on, and so forth… To be honest, my grandfather really did send nearly all the meat to truly poor families, not neighbors. But I never played with the sheep that appeared in the garden two weeks before Kurban, ever again.

Maybe I was a bit too graphic in my descriptions. If I shocked you, I’m glad, that was my intention. The end does not always justify the means. If you want to help poor people, you can give them rice, beans, money, whatever, or better still, try to find a way to help them earn money. I do not think that the compassionate, loving God of my religion condones or promotes killing, He even says that the blood of those sacrifices does not reach Him.

One last word for Özlem: praying over your victim does not change the fact of its killing – it still ends up dead. And please remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!

if these killings are to help (i mean sharing the meat with the poor/needy), first sit down and think. but pls do it with your brain this time. the meat will be digested within 24 hours at the latest and the poor will still be starving afterwards or be in need of some vital things, such as medical help etc. but of course, going to a slaughterhouse, taking your credit card out of your purse and ordering “kill!” is the easiest way to “commit a good deed”. but on the other hand, to care for a person in need, you need to get up, move and “sacrifice your comforts” a little… this is not helping, this is showing off.

i agree that the people in the video are “not the whole”. maybe they are not. BUT if you sit silent and accept the crime as a “single unfortunate incident”, you are no different from that “idiot”. even worse!!! even more pathetic!!!

yes, i do have a belief too. i believe in life. the right to live. the equal right of living that every creature has. some people’s understanding is to kill and enjoy the bloody scene but mine is a bit harder… it takes time and effort. i believe in saving and rescuing. my interpretation of “helping” is giving life, not taking it (which i do not have the right to). no matter for what excuse.

1 Haklisin butun musluman ulkelerde bu bayram kutlaniyor. Ama biz Turkiyede yasiyoruz dilerim bu sacmaliga herkez son verir. Turkiyede yasanan kurban bayramindaki belki tek degisiklik insanlarin fakirlere et dagitimindan baska kredi kartlarina borclanarak kurban kesmeleri bu isin asil amacini saptirmiyormu sizce.

2.Bizler sadece Turkiye Ispanya degil Kore Cin gibi butun ulkelerde yapilan hayvan zulumlerine karsiyiz. Elimizden geldigi kadar hangi ulkede olursa olsun hayvanlara yapilan iskenceleri kiniyor imzalar topluyoruz.

3.Mutlaka bu konuda haklisiniz. Bu videodaki insan, Turk insanlarinin Turkiyenin temsilcisi degildir. Bu video buraya insanlari bilinclendirmek icin koyulmustur. Turkiyede yasayip hayvanlari koruyan kurtaran binlerce yuzbinlerce insani bu videodaki insan disi yaratikla ayni tutmuyoruz. Videonun amaci insanlari bilgilendirmekdir.

5. Ozlem bu kanuda cok yanlissin. Malesef Turkiyede kesilen kurbanlarin buyuk bir cogu kendi masalarinda yada akraba es dost tarafindan tuketiliyor. Fakirlerin masasina gitmiyor. Eger fakirlere gercekden yardim amaci varsa neden onlara kurban karsiligi para verilmiyor. Herhalde et yemekden daha cok paraya ihtiyaclari vardir ne dersiniz.

Ozlem hanim elimizden geldigi kadar kisilere karsi degil yapilan olaylara karsi ugrasmakdayiz. Turkler Muslumanlar diye birsey degil savasimiz. Hayvanlara yapilan iskenceler. Mutlaka her insanin vejiteryan olmasi bir ruya bizler icin. hayvanlarin iskence gormemesi imkansiz gibi ama bir yerlerden baslamak lazim. Ben vejeteryan oldukdan sonra ailemin teker teker bana katilmasi kadar mutlu edici birsey olmadi hayatimda. Belki yillar surecek hayvanciklarin bu iskencelerden kurtulmalari ama birakmayacagiz sonuna kadar bu savasi

Dediginiz gibi bu yourumlar kisiye kulture veye dinlere karsi degildir. Herkeze acik olan bir blog’da fikir alisverisidir.

sizin gibi insanların giderek azalmasını ve sonunda yok olmasını tüm kalbimle diliyorum…..

Müslümalıgına devam et..Hacca gitmeyi de unutma.
Öyle mini etekler, kotlar, topuklular giyerek müslüman olunmuyor, önce müslüman ol; madem çok heveslisin kurban kesmeye, sonra afranı tafranı , artistliğini yaparsın.