Senaka Weeraratna Vice – President Justice for Animals and Nature

A man preaches peace. He is world renown as ‘Prince of Peace’. Yet, ironically his birthday anniversary is celebrated worldwide with unlimited bloodshed of defenseless animals.

Turkeys, cattle, pigs, goats, lambs, rabbits, and bird kinds such as ducks, hens, roosters, fowls are all lined up and forced to lay down their precious lives for human feasts on account of the ‘Prince of Peace’ – Jesus Christ.  

Shame on followers of Jesus Christ. Their idol deserves better than blood shed of innocent animals as a gift for his birthday anniversary.

Killing for Christmas

No Merry Christmas for poor animals. In fact, Christmas is the worst period in the calendar year for them. It is a sad reflection on humanity if the purpose of Christmas is seen as to give Joy for humans to feast on animal flesh, and in contrast, total misery for animals to suffer and die for the sake of feeding humans. Christmas is hardly a win – win religious festival vis a vis, say, for example, Vesak, where no animal is forced to sacrifice its precious life to celebrate a religious festival. Buddhism is a life – affirming religion.

Nevertheless, Christmas is an apt time for reflection on our civilizational values because it is the season where hundreds of thousands of innocent animals undergo extreme suffering, exploitation, and death. Millions of turkeys are slaughtered for Christmas dinner, along with ducks, geese, pigs, lambs, and chickens. In western countries, puppies and kittens are given away as presents, then often neglected or discarded by new owners when the novelty has worn off.  Rabbits and foxes have their fur stripped from them to be turned into clothing and accessories.

The undeclared war that is being waged everyday against countless millions of non-human animals all over the world with hardly any opposition from the Abrahamic religions, takes on an aggravated turn during the Christmas season. These practices are deeply unsettling to anyone who values compassion and respect for the life of others. We cannot remain silent.

  A human being is an animal, a part of nature. But we single ourselves out from the rest of nature. We classify other animals and living beings as nature, as if we ourselves are not part of it. Then we pose the question, How should I deal with Nature?” We should deal with nature the way we deal with ourselves. . . ! Harming nature is harming ourselves, and vice versa.” (Thích Nhất Hạnh )

The greatest moral challenge faced at Christmas being a religion-based festival is to make it slaughter – free. Violence towards innocent animals on a mass scale is not an ethically correct way to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the founder of a religion renowned as the ‘Prince of Peace’.

Why does not the Christian Clergy give voice to the suffering of animals? Why are they deaf to the screams of animals inside slaughter – houses?

We in Sri Lanka can set an example to the rest of the world by making Christmas a slaughter-free day. The biggest beneficiaries would be the innocent animals. 

To remain mute in the face of mass murder of animals to celebrate Christmas makes the silent crowd complicit in this horror event.

Extend the spirit of goodwill to animals this Christmas by avoiding meat altogether on Christmas Day. That will be a unique and truly noble gesture.

Senaka Weeraratna