HAJJ

we were watching CNN in a cafe and they mentioned something about Hajj and showed a shot of all the pilgrims around the thingy in Mecca. I said it'd be incredible to be in mecca at this time of year, to be surrounded by so many people so into what they believe.
and jack said "yea, and slaughtering an incredible number of goats"
to which i immediately replied "that's no different to Christmas in Britain, 10's millions of turkeys"
he shut up then. i don't even know if there is any slaughter that goes on- i can't pretend I know anything about Hajj at all.
But, being born and raised in a mostly Christian country i do know a liittle about common practise in christian festivals- in the Uk at least. christmas is a time of mass ritual slaughter in the uk, though the important part is the consumption of the flesh rather than the act of slaughter. it amounts to the same to any non-human animal who is unlucky enough to take part in such an activity.

The rituals continue in Western birthday traditions as well, how many parties have I been to where different varities of flesh are laid out in celebration of someone's time on this planet?
This is not a dig at meat-eating in general, i'm just trying to point out that through secular and religious celebrations in the west we do engage in ritual slaughter, even though most of us label it barbaric when it's not for OUR religious ceremony, or OUR secular ceremony..