Torajan funeral ceremony: gruesome and barbaric water buffalo sacrifice

[The_Traveler]

Alfred, Lord Tennyson 'In Memorium A.H.H.'

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation's final law
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

 

[runnah]

Your personal slant on this is skewing your photos. I'd not use such strong adjectives if you want an honest assessment.

What the photos I've posted don't show is that the buffalo have their jugular and wind pipes severed and that they are then left to bleed to death slowly on their feet. They take about 5 painful minutes to die, struggling to get up several times. They try to get away from the humans but are tied up.
It isn't as quick as a bolt or bullet to the brain. They see each other sacrificed, and when they have their necks slit it is not a quick painless death. They stumble around gasping for air while bleeding profusely. It is not quick, it is not painless. It is not pretty. It IS barbaric.


Gruesome aftermath of a water buffalo sacrifice at a Toraja funeral ceremony- Tana Toraja, Sulawesi Indonesia by Phil Marion, on Flickr

It may be hard to watch but this is how it has been done for a thousand years, heck millions.

My point is that as Americans we are so distant from our food that anything that doesn't come from the meat department at a grocery store is considered barbaric. Assigning your western ideals on a different culture is not very appropriate. For them this is normal and "humane".

 

[runnah]

This appears to be much more civilized than what we do every day to serve a couple million Big Macs. If you're looking for barbarism visit a Texas/Oklahoma feedlot and slaughter house or come to my state and visit a hog farm. You can't bring a camera though -- they'll lock you up.

Joe

That is what I believed prior to witnessing the ceremony. I am aware that cameras are banned from slaughter houses, and have 2 friends who worked at a chicken slaughter house who are now both vegetarians. I imagine what goes on in our slaughterhouses is also barbaric and gruesome. Both events are gruesome and barbaric in my view. One of the reasons I can enjoy a good steak is because the horrors of the slaughter house are kept out of my consciousness.

Actually slaughterhouses (most) are marvels of efficiency. Most can process a full grown cow in a matter of minutes.

I don't see where you get the barbaric feeling from as there is no nice way to get a steak from a cow.

 

[bribrius]

The Halal Slaughter Controvesy


putting the religion aspect of this aside, this was the first thing i came to in a search and thought it might pertain. The halal method is common and practiced in the states as well for years before we went to the bolt in the head method. Also, noted, it was and is practiced on humans as well in executions. In which case it may not be so much the pain felt but the knowledge you are bleeding out and cant breathe and are dying for those first seconds (assuming they didnt hack with a dull knife for minutes) and the sever cuts the nerves as well so little is actually felt.

 

[Philmar]

I don't see where you get the barbaric feeling from as there is no nice way to get a steak from a cow.

Then one can argue that the process of getting our steak is also barbaric. There is a reason cameras are banned. That it occurs frequently and out of our site does not make it less barbaric, I just call it as I feel it.

 

[Philmar]

It may be hard to watch but this is how it has been done for a thousand years, heck millions.

My point is that as Americans we are so distant from our food that anything that doesn't come from the meat department at a grocery store is considered barbaric. Assigning your western ideals on a different culture is not very appropriate. For them this is normal and "humane".

Then nothing is barbaric if the person doing it feels it is normal and the act has been done countless times before.
It is my personal belief that what we do in the West is also barbaric. I guess I acknowledge my/our barbarism, heck, I love a good steak. I certainly would eat less of them if slaughterhouse images/videos were common in our mass media/tv/movies/magazines.

 

[runnah]

It may be hard to watch but this is how it has been done for a thousand years, heck millions.

My point is that as Americans we are so distant from our food that anything that doesn't come from the meat department at a grocery store is considered barbaric. Assigning your western ideals on a different culture is not very appropriate. For them this is normal and "humane".

Then nothing is barbaric if the person doing it feels it is normal and the act has been done countless times before.
It is my personal belief that what we do in the West is also barbaric. I guess I acknowledge my/our barbarism, heck, I love a good steak. I certainly would eat less of them if slaughterhouse images/videos were common in our mass media/tv/movies/magazines.

We could dance around terms and usage of words, my point was that assigning such strong terms to a photos gives the viewer a preconceived notion as what to expect. Now that can either work in favor or against an artist when it comes time for appreciation of their work. I personally like to leave things a blank slate so the viewer can come to their own conclusions.

 

[snerd]

........ heck, I love a good steak. I certainly would eat less of them if slaughterhouse images/videos were common in our mass media/tv/movies/magazines.

What?! Are you saying that you're just looking to be offended? Heck, you can find those videos on the Internet.............. go watch them and eat less steak, if that will make you feel better. I'm not sure I get the point of the discussion lol!! They'll get my medium rare rib-eye when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

 

[limr]

Oh lord, I'm an idiot. I finally decided to look only at the second page of this thread just to assuage my curiosity. "Maybe it's one of those humorously misleading titles!" I thought. "Better not look at the pictures, just to be sure, though." Well, at least I was smart enough to listen to the second thought. Then I countered that smart move with the dumb move of expanding a quote and seeing one of the pictures anyway.

For the record, I do believe the word "barbaric" applies to our slaughterhouses here in the States. (There's a reason why there's such high employee turnover and a high incidence of PTSD in those workers.) And this belief is one of the reasons I haven't touched steak or poultry in 20+ years, and why these days I literally go out of my way to find milk and eggs from small, local farms that can sustain free-range farming.

Having lived one year right next to one of the official Istanbul slaughtering centers of goats/sheep for Kurban Bayrami (Eid-al Adha in Arabic - the "Sacrifice Holiday"), I can say that the ritual slaughtering is also horrifying.

 

[Gary A.]

Philmar is defending his title ... a title which intentionally used strong language to protect/shield/warn others who are sensitive to said images not to view. I think that is quite admirable for him to do so.

What it boils down to is the argument that all killings for food is, arguably, barbaric. Studies have shown that man is healthier with some animal protein in his diet ... so we kill other animals for this protein. Even wild chimps will organize into hunting teams and kill for protein.

We can argue, until the sun goes down, levels of barbarism from mass slaughter to ritualistic death ... and nobody will be right or wrong. But I applaud Philmar for protecting those that do not wish to view blood and gore of any type.

 

[pixmedic]

I was going to go vegetarian until I witnessed the brutal and barbaric slaughter of thousands of innocent vegetables at our local market. They way they were so callously ripped from their home and dismembered made me so distraught I had to run to the nearest steakhouse and order some prime rib.

 

[runnah]

But I applaud Philmar for protecting those that do not wish to view blood and gore of any type.

The harsh reality is that to get a patty you have to kill, butcher and grind up the flesh of an animal. Personally I think every meat eater should kill and butcher at least one animal. Sparing people this imagery does nothing but coddle those who wish to bury their heads in the sand.

 

[runnah]

I was going to go vegetarian until I witnessed the brutal and barbaric slaughter of thousands of innocent vegetables at our local market. They way they were so callously ripped from their home and dismembered made me so distraught I had to run to the nearest steakhouse and order some prime rib.

I am a level 5 vegan, I only eat things that don't cast a shadow.

 

[pixmedic]

But I applaud Philmar for protecting those that do not wish to view blood and gore of any type.

The harsh reality is that to get a patty you have to kill, butcher and grind up the flesh of an animal. Personally I think every meat eater should kill and butcher at least one animal. Sparing people this imagery does nothing but coddle those who wish to bury their heads in the sand.

That's pretty u realistic though.
Do you tell vegetarians they should have to farm their own Vegetables before they can get them from the store?
Should everyone have to rebuild an engine before being allowed the convenience of driving a car?
Wet print before being allowed to use a digital camera? I mean..talk about barbaric man....chemicals...to make a picture....ugh.

 

[runnah]

But I applaud Philmar for protecting those that do not wish to view blood and gore of any type.

The harsh reality is that to get a patty you have to kill, butcher and grind up the flesh of an animal. Personally I think every meat eater should kill and butcher at least one animal. Sparing people this imagery does nothing but coddle those who wish to bury their heads in the sand.

That's pretty u realistic though.
Do you tell vegetarians they should have to farm their own Vegetables before they can get them from the store?
Should everyone have to rebuild an engine before being allowed the convenience of driving a car?
Wet print before being allowed to use a digital camera? I mean..talk about barbaric man....chemicals...to make a picture....ugh.

Yes, yes and yes.