7/26/2006: Hindu ritual sacrifice - Page 2

Trilby · 07-26-2006, 03:58 PM

I'd like to dangle one of them over a boat, say a prayer and drop the line. jerks.

Shawnee123 · 07-26-2006, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

I'd like to dangle one of them over a boat, say a prayer and drop the line. jerks.

Yeah, and if they come back, then it means they weren't bad!

milkfish · 07-26-2006, 05:27 PM

It's all part of the great circle of life, when it sinks the crabs get to eat the bovine, the fishies eat the crabs, fisherman catch the fish, prosperity and happiness abound.

Why does it look like a couple of the guys are throwing gang signs, though?

seakdivers · 07-26-2006, 08:45 PM

From one picture, do we really know what is going on here? If they planned on drowning the calf wouldn't they have weighted it down? The one guy is still hanging on to the leash like thingy around it's neck - why do that if you were just going to dump it overboard?
I dunno.... seems like there's something else going on there.

spooke · 07-26-2006, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seakdivers

From one picture, do we really know what is going on here? If they planned on drowning the calf wouldn't they have weighted it down? The one guy is still hanging on to the leash like thingy around it's neck - why do that if you were just going to dump it overboard?
I dunno.... seems like there's something else going on there.

Maybe holding it so they can slash its throat first before dumping it into the sea?

I doubt it's as simple as a sea-rescue of a cow that couldn't swim.

wolf · 07-27-2006, 01:43 AM

The guy on the far right, in the leather jacket, he's clearly saying, "Hey, I got 100 rupees says that the calf drowns in 7 minutes!"

Pie · 07-27-2006, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

In a culture where scarcity is not uncommon, why just drop a beast into the sea when it could provide several hundred meals? How can such a practice survive when it is clearly superstition - and worse than ineffective?

Hindus practice religious vegetarianism. Beef is especially forbidden, so the calf could not provide "several hundred meals" in any circumstances. It is very likely male, and like most other newborn male cattle, is destined to die very young. Since it will never produce milk (the only "useful" thing produced by the cow) they are sacrificed, or allowed to starve to death. Take your pick.
UT, the line between superstition and religion is hard to pin down. Every person who goes to church on Sunday looks awfully superstitious to me.

Undertoad · 07-27-2006, 09:08 AM

To me, any follower of any religion is superstitious, and when we look at religions outside our own culture, it becomes more obvious.

That calf could certainly provide several hundred meals. It's rich in protein, and certain amino acids that are quite beneficial for human life.

Humans are built to be omnivores, and religious vegetarianism is a faulty anomaly in behavior. Sorry! If you look at your own teeth #6 and #11 you will find that they are ideal for tearing flesh and that truly vegetarian species don't have such teeth.

Pie · 07-27-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Humans are built to be omnivores, and religious vegetarianism is a faulty anomaly in behavior. Sorry! If you look at your own teeth #6 and #11 you will find that they are ideal for tearing flesh and that truly vegetarian species don't have such teeth.

While you are correct that humans evolved as omnivores, describing vegetarianism as "faulty" goes a bit far. In India at least, it evolved in society as a way to allow *more* people to eat -- the lower down the food chain you eat, the less acreage is necessary to support you. While it may not be the best nutritional plan for an individual, as a society, vegetarianism helped India avoid starvation and malnutrition for the masses.

Why the value judgement?

Kitsune · 07-27-2006, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pie

While you are correct that humans evolved as omnivores, describing vegetarianism as "faulty" goes a bit far.

I was actually taken aback by this logic, too, since there is only one other argument in which I hear it that tends to piss me off: "If you look at penis A and vagina B, you will find they are ideal for sexual reproduction, therefore homosexuality is a faulty anomaly in behavior. Sorry!"

MaggieL · 07-27-2006, 09:24 AM

At first glance I thought it was a maritime deer-strike.

Can't say I've ever seen a video of a bris. (I'm assuming it's Jews who do this?)

I do remeber the SNL parody of the 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis ads with a diamond cutter working in the back seat on a rough road. In the parody the gemologist is replaced with a Mohel...

"Poifect!"

Undertoad · 07-27-2006, 09:44 AM

I don't understand much of history, but I don't count India as one of the cultures that effectively worked out its starvation problems.

My values are rooted in science and trying to work out the truth. I admit bias there. If humans evolved as omnivores, we are still omnivores. Meat contains proteins and amino acids that make it easier to live.

Pie · 07-27-2006, 09:50 AM

Sure, evoultion made us omnivores -- but does that make vegetarianism wrong?

Undertoad · 07-27-2006, 09:52 AM

My guess is that homosexuality is a built-in behavior to regulate human culture in its early tribal societies.

We now have scientific evidence that homosexuality is more evident in younger brothers of brothers. This means it would show up in tribes where there was a lot of birthing going on. I bet it created a different male behavior in such tribes, which may have made the tribe operate better.

Homosexuality is not a fault and vegetarianism is not a fault in people who have made that choice. Both would be faults in cultures that encouraged them somehow. Not faults of the individual people who have made that choice, but faults in the culture.

If a culture overencourages homosexuality it may die off completely. There are examples of cultures who did such things!

Cultures often make such mistakes and my own culture is totally laden with massive mistakes, some of which I can't see because I am in it.

MaggieL · 07-27-2006, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

My guess is that homosexuality is a built-in behavior to regulate human culture in its early tribal societies.

There's plenty of biological evidence that it goes back a heckuva lot further than that.

07-26-2006, 05:27 PM	#3
milkfish A serene breakdown Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Northern NJ, USA Posts: 266	It's all part of the great circle of life, when it sinks the crabs get to eat the bovine, the fishies eat the crabs, fisherman catch the fish, prosperity and happiness abound. Why does it look like a couple of the guys are throwing gang signs, though? __________________ A genius is one who can do anything except make a living. - Joey Lauren Adams

07-27-2006, 09:50 AM	#13
Pie Gone and done Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,808	Sure, evoultion made us omnivores -- but does that make vegetarianism wrong? __________________ per·son \ˈpər-sən\ (noun) - an ephemeral collection of small, irrational decisions The fun thing about evolution (and science in general) is that it happens whether you believe in it or not.

07-26-2006, 03:58 PM	#1
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	I'd like to dangle one of them over a boat, say a prayer and drop the line. jerks. __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

07-26-2006, 08:45 PM	#4
seakdivers Icy Queen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Southeast Alaska Posts: 700	From one picture, do we really know what is going on here? If they planned on drowning the calf wouldn't they have weighted it down? The one guy is still hanging on to the leash like thingy around it's neck - why do that if you were just going to dump it overboard? I dunno.... seems like there's something else going on there.

07-27-2006, 01:43 AM	#6
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	The guy on the far right, in the leather jacket, he's clearly saying, "Hey, I got 100 rupees says that the calf drowns in 7 minutes!" __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

07-27-2006, 09:08 AM	#8
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	To me, any follower of any religion is superstitious, and when we look at religions outside our own culture, it becomes more obvious. That calf could certainly provide several hundred meals. It's rich in protein, and certain amino acids that are quite beneficial for human life. Humans are built to be omnivores, and religious vegetarianism is a faulty anomaly in behavior. Sorry! If you look at your own teeth #6 and #11 you will find that they are ideal for tearing flesh and that truly vegetarian species don't have such teeth.

07-27-2006, 09:24 AM	#11
MaggieL in the Hour of Scampering Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia) Posts: 4,060	At first glance I thought it was a maritime deer-strike. Can't say I've ever seen a video of a bris. (I'm assuming it's Jews who do this?) I do remeber the SNL parody of the 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis ads with a diamond cutter working in the back seat on a rough road. In the parody the gemologist is replaced with a Mohel... "Poifect!" __________________ "Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

07-27-2006, 09:44 AM	#12
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I don't understand much of history, but I don't count India as one of the cultures that effectively worked out its starvation problems. My values are rooted in science and trying to work out the truth. I admit bias there. If humans evolved as omnivores, we are still omnivores. Meat contains proteins and amino acids that make it easier to live.

07-27-2006, 09:52 AM	#14
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	My guess is that homosexuality is a built-in behavior to regulate human culture in its early tribal societies. We now have scientific evidence that homosexuality is more evident in younger brothers of brothers. This means it would show up in tribes where there was a lot of birthing going on. I bet it created a different male behavior in such tribes, which may have made the tribe operate better. Homosexuality is not a fault and vegetarianism is not a fault in people who have made that choice. Both would be faults in cultures that encouraged them somehow. Not faults of the individual people who have made that choice, but faults in the culture. If a culture overencourages homosexuality it may die off completely. There are examples of cultures who did such things! Cultures often make such mistakes and my own culture is totally laden with massive mistakes, some of which I can't see because I am in it.

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