{"id":494,"date":"2009-06-07T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-07T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radhikand.wordpress.com\/2009\/06\/07\/sunday-spotlight-earthlings"},"modified":"2009-06-07T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-07T00:30:00","slug":"sunday-spotlight-earthlings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiance-holistic.com.au\/site\/sunday-spotlight-earthlings\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Spotlight: Earthlings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Nature, animals, humankind … make the connection. That is the tagline of this award-winning documentary film<\/a> (@EarthlingsMovie<\/a> on Twitter) about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets<\/a>, entertainment and medical research. I would like to share a few lines from their homepage<\/a> that describe the documentary<\/a>, its impact and its making. <\/div>\n
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\u201cConsidered the most persuasive documentary ever made, EARTHLINGS is nicknamed \u201cthe Vegan maker\u201d for its sensitive footage shot at animal shelters, pet stores, puppy mills, factory farms, slaughterhouses, the leather and fur trades, sporting events, circuses and research labs. The film is narrated by Academy Award\u00ae nominee Joaquin Phoenix<\/a> and features music by platinum-selling recording artist Moby. Initially ignored by distributors, today EARTHLINGS is considered the definitive animal rights<\/a> film by organizations around the world. ….. Nation Earth<\/a> was established to produce documentary films on socially urgent issues. EARTHLINGS, released in 2005, was the company’s first feature film<\/a> and is the first of a documentary trilogy. The company is currently at work on the second instalment, UNITY, which will explore the unifying force of consciousness found in nature, animals and humankind. UNITY is scheduled to be completed in 2009.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now I must warn my readers, as does the trailer of the documentary at the start, the footage in the documentary is very graphic. I had to stop watching the trailer half way through. But that is exactly the kind of \u201cshock treatment\u201d impact needed to get anything past our thick skulls. I\u2019d say it is appropriately named \u201cthe Vegan maker\u201d as it will not be surprising if you feel squeamish eating any kind of meat after you\u2019ve watched this documentary. However, my view about this whole issue is very different from most people (as it is on many other topics<\/a> like human history<\/a>). <\/div>\n
If we look around, we see that food chains<\/a> exist on our planet, one species being dependent on the other for their dietary needs. Plants don\u2019t consume any other species but simply CO2 and use sunlight. But from there upwards, someone consumes someone else, be it the herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. Nature<\/a> has designed us all to consume one or the other of our fellow earthlings. So then how are us humans different? We should not feel bad about eating other earthlings for our nutrition. However, there IS a difference between us and all the other species that we have morals. The lion doesn\u2019t think of the deer\u2019s suffering before digging his sharp teeth into its tender flesh. But nature has given the ability to understand other earthlings\u2019 suffering. Shouldn\u2019t we be using that ability when dealing with other earthlings? <\/div>\n
I know what you are thinking. You\u2019re thinking, \u201cSo you\u2019re telling me, it is OK to kill the animals only if we do it in a way that they don\u2019t suffer?\u201d Yes, that\u2019s exactly what I am saying. One species killing and consuming the other is a law of nature. Because if you say I don\u2019t want any killing to be done at all for my needs, then you\u2019d have to stop eating! Now you\u2019ll say, \u201cI\u2019ll turn vegan\/vegetarian\/herbivore.\u201d So my question is, just because you don\u2019t see blood pouring out of a tomato or a banana doesn\u2019t scream and protest when you detach them from the plant, you categorise that as \u201cnot killing\u201d them? Think about it. Aren\u2019t we being biased in our definition of violence and killing? So I don\u2019t get this whole point of being Vegan. You are still eating someone … they\u2019re just not as animate as some others whom us omnivores eat. Being herbivore or carnivore or omnivore is everyone\u2019s choice. But no one should fool themselves<\/a> in thinking they\u2019re helping the planet by choosing to be herbivores. You’re still using plants and animals for other purposes than food. If you really want to help the planet, strike a balance. Us humans have made this mistake too many times. We go all out in doing something and then when the ecosystem is out of balance due to it, we chose to completely stop doing it and feel proud of ourselves for stopping. No, that\u2019s not how the Earth works. She wants a balance of everything. And all we\u2019ve given here over and over again are extremes. <\/div>\n
Because of our inherent intelligence, we have worked out ways of using our fellow earthlings for more than just nutrition. We make everything, from all sorts of basic commodities to absolutely unnecessary embellishments out of these species, plants and animals. So using these earthlings for food is only a part of our reckless consumption. What needs to stop is being reckless, not the consumption. What needs to stop is cramming of cows and pigs and chickens into \u201cinhumanly\u201d small spaces because we just need more of them. What needs to stop is making their life hell when they\u2019re alive even if we are eventually going to kill them. What needs to stop is killing of snakes and seals and whales and tigers for the use of their respective body parts till only the last few of them remain on this planet. What needs to stop is capturing of animals from the wild and their confinement into cages for our entertainment, their abuse while being trained to do \u201cacts\u201d that nature never intended them to do. We need to acknowledge the right of other species to flourish on this planet and be able to live a good life. There are 6 billion of us on this planet. That\u2019s a big number when it comes to making a difference … only if we chose the right direction<\/a>.<\/div>\n

Update (12 Jun ’09):<\/strong> Two of my blogger friends, Linda MB Hughes<\/a> and Sandip Sen<\/a>, got inspired by my blog post and have written their own posts about the movie and their feelings after watching it. Must reads!<\/p>\n

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