How Our Culture of Eating Animals Creates Our Culture of Violence
Growing up and living in a world where it is normalized to kill and eat animals conditions you to view animals as separate from you. You do not see yourself in animals, you do not see innocent, childlike souls in animals, unless you overcome this conditioning.
In childhood we are disconnected from our innate knowing of unity when we are pressured to eat animals. In order to justify eating animals, we must create separation. When someone eats an animal, if they were to fully take that animal as a part of themself—if at each meal they were to stop, take a moment to connect to the animal, imagine their life and death, all of the suffering, fear, pain, and terror—if they were to do this day in and day out, it would be too overwhelming. That is to say, the reality of our choices is unbearable to us. To even be able to eat animals, we must create separation. Animals are deemed “other” and empathy is not extended.
The foundation of separation consciousness is laid in childhood with the consumption of animals. This belief that we are separate from animals then expands into the belief that we are separate from each other. When you buy into the belief that it is possible to be separate from animals, you have bought into the belief that it is possible to be separate from another being at all—you have bought into the whole concept. When we spend years being conditioned to view animals as separate from us, we develop and strengthen this way of thinking and it becomes natural to apply it to people, especially if they get in the way of our ego’s self-interests and are deemed a problem or threat.
Separation is very tempting and empowering to the ego. If I am separate from another being, if their suffering does not matter to me, then I can trample over them if they get in the way of my self-interests. This is how the unconscious ego operates. It is selfish and motivated by self-preservation and a desire for comfort, pleasure, and security. So if everyone around me is eating animals and I don’t want to be left out and become socially ostracized, then if I view animals as separate from me, I can eat animals too, because why not? If the animal’s suffering is not my problem, if it’s not real to me, if it doesn’t matter to me, then I have no reason not to eat them. However, if I take an animal’s suffering as my own, I have all the reason in the world not to harm them, the same way I have all the reason in the world not to chop off one of my own limbs.
We are not excused for harming animals because we believe we are doing nothing wrong because we bought into lies and misinformation about diet and health that suited our biases and desires. We are not excused because we bury our heads in the sand and refuse to look at what actually goes on in the animal agriculture industry. We know that what we are doing to animals is wrong, yet so few of us change. The hypocrisy is damning and we suffer the consequences in our physical health, mental and emotional health, the level of abuse, violence, and corruption in our world, the lack of harmony and unity, our lack of spiritual progress, and on and on.
What if children were being raised to view all life as sacred? What kind of world would we live in if children were being guided into unity consciousness rather than separation consciousness? What kind of world would we live in if millions and millions of people were entering into adulthood with an instilled knowing of oneness? Imagine the positive impact that would have on the world, even more so when you consider the ripple effect and the 100th monkey effect. If we truly want to create a peaceful world, we must raise our children in alignment with the principle of nonviolence and instill in them, by example, a knowing of oneness with all life.
If we want an end to violence, we must end all violence. We cannot be hypocrites and call for an end to human violence while we perpetuate cruel, mass-scale violence on animals. We will not hold the level of consciousness necessary for sustained peace so long as we slaughter animals. We must make the connection and realize that the violence in our world is deeply connected to our culture of killing and eating animals. To create a peaceful world, we must truly practice seeing ourselves in all life. We must put in the spiritual effort to embody unity consciousness. We must have the integrity to live in alignment with the Golden Rule. When we come together in doing this, we will be able to experience a new world.
