Thank you for dying for me

A guy I don’t really know asked me out recently. I asked him if he was a hunter because I don’t date hunters. He replied: “No, but if I were to hunt, I would thank the animal for giving its life to nourish me and use as much of it as possible."

What’s wrong with this statement? Most everyone will acknowledge that on the deep scale of suffering in the acquisition of animal flesh, skillful hunting tends to cause less suffering than factory farming. Yet hunting still causes immense suffering and I do oppose it regardless, but the part I object to here is about thanking the animal for giving its life to a human. 

Why? Because I look at such things from the animals’ point of view. It makes absolutely no difference to an animal whether someone prays to her or thanks her or gives a blessing to honor her before eating her body. And the animal doesn’t care if all or none of her flesh is used. 

Second, an animal would never sacrifice his life to provide food for a human in the first place. I’m pretty sure no animal has ever given that go-ahead in the history of the universe and never will, and that’s because animals have an intrinsic instinct to survive.

Saying that an animal “gives its life” is dishonest. There's no consent here. Born of ancient Native American practice, it's now a greenwashing technique used by new-age spiritual types. The first time I recall hearing it was in the early 2000s by a guy wearing a loincloth at the Boulder Co-op. He was on a debate panel on vegetarianism. He called himself a deep ecologist and told a story of a deer who gave him permission to kill her. They communicated in voices most will never hear, apparently.

Claiming the animal "gave its life" is even worse than using the word "harvest" instead of "kill." It’s like a murdering rapist thanking the woman for sacrificing her body to him. Make no mistake: these lives were taken, and taken in vain, but that's fodder for another blog.

When it comes down to it, those who thank or "honor" the animal they’re about to murder or eat cause an equal amount of suffering as those who just chomp down and skip the blessing bullshit. It just helps some types feel better about what they’re doing. Maybe fooling themselves aids in their digestion.

Let’s not buy and spread the lie that everyone's happy about animal slaughter, including the animal. Let’s be honest with ourselves and our children about where meat comes from. At the most basic level, we can be certain it came from a sentient being who did not want to die.