What do Spain, Nepal and Turkey have in common?
Geography? No.
Language? No.
Religion? No.
History? No.
What we share is a horrific and cruel bloodletting of innocents, which we call “sacrifice”.
Ancient cultures “honored” their gods by sacrificing the purest and the most innocent.
Aztecs are said to have sacrificed more than 80 000 prisoners to re-consecrate a temple.
The Thugee of India sacrificed 2 million people for the Goddess of death, Kali.
In China and Japan, millions of people, most of who slaves and servants, were sacrificed to bring good luck to edifices and monuments and to serve their masters in the other world.
Until 97 BC, it was legal to sacrifice humans in ancient Rome.
European cultures, such as the Celts, the Norse, Slavic people, Magyars and many others have used human sacrifice to add to their glory.
Animal sacrifice found its way into all cultures under the respectable guise of religion. All three Abrahamic religions have practiced, or still continue the practice of sacrifice. In Orthodox Greek villages, the sacrifice of goats and rams to saints is called Kourbania. Wealthy Moslems are expected to sacrifice Kurban during their pilgrimage as a part of the Hajj. Korbanot, the ritual of sacrifice in Judaism is mostly abandoned now but is regarded as the best way to absolve one from his sins.
Gadhimai, the ritual killing (jhatka) of animals in Nepal, probably the largest single such event in the world, took the lives of 250 000 cattle in 3 days this year. During the “festivities” the heads of the cattle were chopped off with a single blow of the axe, severing the spinal cord and the arteries at the same time. Although urban Hindus reject the idea, rural population practices the sacrifice with great ardor to gain the respect of their Gods.
In Spain, as in Portugal, parts of France and some Latin American countries, the ritualistic sacrifice of bulls is practiced to this day, in front of millions of spectators. Finding its roots in pre-historic bull-worship and sacrifice, it is a massive and bloody industry where cruelty to those majestic animals is funded by European Union money. Every year 500 million Euros is granted to the Spanish fighting bull breeding industry alone, from the EU funds.
Is cruelty to animals ever going to end?
Yes it will! Cruelty to animals will end the moment we realize that every conscious decision we take to end it will be a step forward.
Will we witness it?
Possibly no….
Maybe our children will. So why not start now?
I am shocked and horrified by this brutality!
Stop this brutality!
Zoiets breekt mijn hart,daarom wil ik zo fel reageren.Zo’n dieren geeft je onvoorwaardelijke liefde,dat krijg je nooit!!! van een mens.,ik ben een zachtaardig persoon maar weg met zo’n crapuul dat niet op deze wereld hoord..Een hele fanatieke dierenliefhebster.
people are barbaric , that’s why we have wars too .
When people practice non violence to all animals, then world peace between humans will begin !
C’est tout simplement horrible… ça me rend malade.
Its sickening,no words to define such killers.My way of thinking is clear and simple.These killers should be killed the same way as their prey.The life of that bull is much more valuable than the damn man who stabbed the animal.I’m Turkish,ı dont believe in sacrifice what ever the religione is.
There is an enormous ground swell of opposition to these practises, and this opposition is coming from within the countries that commit these atrocities. Please note, kind Canadians are putting an end to the horrific seal slaughter. You can do it too!
Well, I think they are all ASSHOLES ! That they have in common ! It’s the 21st century ! Stop the brutality ! DAMN !
First of all Victor, thank you for highlighting this on your site, it will be people like you and others that help, to end this tragedy sooner or later. I doubt though that this so called enlightened species will ever shed its bloodthirstiness soon, I agree with Nur Aykurt, the bull being more valuable than the man who killed it, he’s right about what should happen to any of them who commit such acts. I doubt if the bull was, or should be afraid of God,as the murderer should be, I doubt also that it would please any God, the length though we go to, although misguided, to please them, what does that say of most of humanity? You see any animal making sacrifices to God, what a laughable creature we are, this so called superior species.
Our wonderful Viktor!!! You speak the words we all feel. I like so many, am continually disheartened that these abhorrent rituals go on day after day, year after year, yet we fight so hard to put an end to them!!!! We spread the word, we sign the petitions, we shed tears for the countless murdered God’s creatures and above all we need it to stop now!!!! If only the higher powers would share our views, the governments, the politicians, the Mayors, in fact anyone who has the power to put the laws in practice to end this slaughter now!!!!
Some days I feel so disheartened….but I will never give up fighting to stop it. My heart is so heavy!!!!! God bless you Viktor x
What do you mean by writing Orthodox Greek villages? Maybe someone will be confused and misunderstand you because when we say Orthodox in Greece we mean Christian Orthodox and Christian Orthodox people DO NOT make any kind of sacrifice to the God!
Anyway, all these atrocities should be stopped!
If my compassion not the fact the law will be the fact.
As said, we won’t see the change but I do hope our children see it by continuing the fight to abolish the torture. Hopefully the cultural mores will change.
Absolutely horrified! this hell should be stopped – the way we treat animals shows how enlightened we are, and with this kind of horror going on, we have not passed beyond caveman days – disgusting!
This is gross and even more so if any of these perpetrators claim to be Christians. Whatever their religion, who would want a God that would accept this treatment of his creatures?
barbarians… cruelty to nature!!!!!
I live in Portugal, and I am able to say that most people I know (as myself), are totally against this brutality. The problem is, the few stupid people that like these kinds of horror shows are (as usual) louder than those who don’t.
this is brutal…they should be ashame as human being …they are not human…human will not do like that to animal. stop this asap.
Well Gods will get agngry if you dont do the brutality, and even today some culture do kill childrens and babies to appease their Gods.