Last night the ABC aired on 4 Corners a program about how Australian cattle were treated in Indonesian abattoirs. I did not see the program but it has caused quite a stir – and evidently rightly so. The footage was apparently quite graphic as it exposed some pretty horrendous treatment of these animals.
One thing of interest however: In a major AAP story about this in today's press, no mention was made of why this is occurring. The truth is, the Australian killing of cattle is fine, but these cattle are going to Muslim markets, so they have to be killed in accordance with halal methods.
Halal slaughter processes appear to be far more inhumane than non-halal processes. One writer puts it this way: "Let's be perfectly clear and reiterate that the concern is not for how cattle are treated by Australian farmers or station managers. By all accounts, and as one said on the program last night, they like their animals. A lot. But to make money, the cattle have to be sold. And Indonesia is a big market.
"In regular abattoirs, the cattle are stunned and knocked unconscious before being slaughtered. It's quick and about as pain-free as you can get. But halal rules (Islamic dietary rules for the consumption of meat) require the animal to be alive when it is killed. To many, being unconscious does not count as being alive. But halal also requires one clean cut across the throat. As 4 Corners uncovered last night, many deaths are the result of blunt knives and require on average at least 10 'goes'. Sometimes up to 30."
An article in the press two years ago gives a slightly different slant on whether such halal methods are required under sharia (Islamic law): "The King of Jordan's sister has appealed to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to stop the ritual slaughter of conscious animals for halal meat in Australia, saying it was not necessary under Islamic principles.
"Princess Alia bint al-Hussein of Jordan, who is the sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan, said she had written to Mr Rudd saying that any lowering of animal welfare standards in Australia for religious reasons would be a blow to the country's reputation and undermine progress in the Middle East.
"'Contrary to some claims, killing without stunning is not necessary under Islamic principles,' she said. The Australian standard on ritual slaughter for halal and kosher meat states that animals must first be rendered unconscious by electrical stunning before their throats are cut. But under a disputed federal guideline, the Government has allowed at least four Victorian abattoirs exemptions to kill without stunning to fulfil Middle Eastern export contracts over the past two years."
The exact Islamic requirements for halal slaughter thus may not be fully clear, at least in some quarters. But I raise this issue since the AAP story did not mention this aspect at all. I presume the 4 Corners story did mention it. But another thing not being mentioned is another horrific form of slaughter which happens every day, yet without any MSM exposure and outcry.
I refer of course to the 100,000 unborn babies who are killed every year in Australia, and the 45-50 million killed every year around the world. This slaughter is really far worse, yet will we ever see the ABC or other MSM outlets running a story on this? Will they feature a full-colour, graphic, no-holds-barred documentary on this at prime time for the Australian public to witness?
I somehow don't think so. Not only do we know that unborn babies experience pain at an early age (but are given no anaesthesia for their killing), but we know that most of the abortion methods are horrifically barbaric and painful. I have described one of them elsewhere:
www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/05/20/late-term-baby-killing/
And see the illustrations here:
www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/PBA_Images/PBA_Images_Heathers_Place.htm
Simply to be aware of what takes place during a D&X, or late-term abortion, should put most people off from ever considering having an abortion. But this information is being wilfully, deliberately, and maliciously kept away from people. Almost no one in the MSM will run with this info, because it is simply not politically correct to do so.
The pro-abortion lobby has effectively censored out any contrary views on what actually takes place during an abortion. Undoubtedly the Indonesian authorities did not want the outside world to see what happens inside their abattoirs. In the same way, the abortion industry does not want the outside world to see what happens in their abortion mills.
We wait for the day when the world can see the truth of what happens there. The ABC may think it was brave in airing this show on the mistreatment of cattle. But we will not hold our breath as we wait for it to display some courage on an even greater calamity and cruel massacre.
Resources:
www.mamamia.com.au/weblog/2011/05/live-cattle-trade-youll-feel-sick-to-the-stomach.html
www.smh.com.au/environment/mideast-princess-in-plea-to-rudd-on-animal-slaughter-20091101-hrkx.html
Adapted from Bill Muehlenberg's weblog at www.billmuehlenberg.com.
Bill Muehlenberg lectures in apologetics, ethics and theology at several Melbourne theological colleges. Bill used to work with the Australian Family Association, Focus on the Family, and other pro-family and pro-faith organisations.