Wednesday September 23, 2009, 6:43 pm



Thnx Tierney hun!!

Wednesday September 23, 2009, 9:48 pm
Tierney thank you, I do not understand this but thank you

Thursday September 24, 2009, 12:04 am
This is another cruel ritual of the jewish religion! Thanks Tierney.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 12:52 am
i.v sent several letters of protest about this to a rabbi whos name i can't remember now if one of their rabbis speaks out maybe it will help. maybe they should sacriice the death rather than the life of the chickens to atone for their sins and have a vegan day.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 5:24 am
I have signed aginst this and have also sent e-mails. It is barbaric and needs to end. Thanks Tierney.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 7:38 am
I think my views on cruelty inflicted on animals in the name of religion or tradition are sufficiently well known to cause most religious persons apoplexy! The interesting thing is many adherents of Judaism and indeed Islam and Christianity will often produce a counter text when arguing that in this instance chicken swinging should cease! That is of course one of the problems of religion period it was manufactured by humans for humans to describe te natural world in an age when such things could only be understood interms of God, magic, miracles and the like. As a human invention it is fallable and subject to futher human interpretation and dependant on how literally people take their religion is often a measure of theirintolerance of others and therefore their propensity for war and the violent propagation of their religion! However it ia also my belief that anyone shouldbe free to practise their religion unless that practise impinges on the well being of othersbe they animals or humans. Thus I would condemn any who propagated religious hatred in the same way I would condemn religious rituals involving animal cruelty be they chicken swinging, setting fire to bulls and cutting off their testicles or barbaric slaghterhouses! As all of this animal cruelty is tied up with illustrating some religous theology and similar abstractions surely the same end can be acheived by a representation of whatever is being illustrated Why not for example be far more than symbolic by writing the sin large on a peice of cardboard and circling this for all to see in atonement. No ambiguity of message I'm naughty boy this is what I have done. no surrogate sinner chicken symbol required. After all one would assume that God understands Hebrew, Arabic, English and even American English! If he or she does not then what may one ask is the point of trying to communicate in anyway?

Thursday September 24, 2009, 7:44 am
The mind boggles at the thought of people writing their sins large and displaying them for all to see at Temple on a Saturday morning or the Mosque on Friday night or Church on Sunday morning. Did you really do that Mr whoever! Perhaps sinning would be reduced by this method of public humiliation as well as seeking atonement! Whatever the chickens would be happier!

Thursday September 24, 2009, 9:44 am
I sent e-mails and got no response. I am glad someone understands that this is cruel and must stop.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 10:27 am
It's not just Judiasm. In September every year the Greek Orthodox Church has a feast for the Virgin Mary where a lamb is slaughtered, I believe by cutting it's throat and the poor animal is laid out for everyone to see while they slice the meat and serve it. The American Orthodox Churches do not engage in this practice, to my knowledge. Any religion that engages in the sacrifice of animals belongs in the gutter. Sorry but that is how I feel. There is no place for animal sacrifice in the name of God in a progressive, kind, humane society.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 11:04 am
Tierney you made the front page again, Congratulations.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 10:47 pm
Another cruel practice. What is it with people and chickends!
Tx Tierney....

Friday September 25, 2009, 1:15 am
I'm against cruelty to animals, but I am also against antisemitism, so I would like Katrin to enlighten us about the "other" cruel rituals of the Jewish religion. This leading remark is sufficiently ambiguous to cause concern.

Friday September 25, 2009, 2:50 am
Alba, Perhaps Katrin is referring to ritual slaughter in Kosher butchery involving bleeding a conscious animal to death and the fact that those animals awaiting slaughter may well witness the demise of their brethren thus increasing their terror. However many religious and non religious slaughterhouses do this and some add filth and gratuitous abuse and cruelty on top of the method of killing! I think killing first borns has been phased out from it's Biblical heyday! In non religious UK slaughterhouses the animal is stunned prior to being bled to kill it by either a captive bolt gun (as used by the RSPCA to exterminate unwanted animals) or electro stun tongs (giant taser) The effectiveness of this stunning appears to be very hit and miss! Non stun bleed out killing is used by other religions as well as Judiasm. There are also so many variants of each and every religion so that not all of them use either the same rituals or even a similar ritual at all! The only other "cruel" Jewish ritual I can think of is smashing a wine glass at a Jewish wedding ceremony, what harm did a wine glass do to anyone? Note to my Jewish friends, that remark is said tongue in cheek! I think stoning has also been discontinued although it lingers in other middle eastern cultures! In the UK stoning of sinners has given way to sinners getting stoned, usually this ritual is practised at weekends although some devout inebriatti manage to practise daily! ! My feelings about treatment of animals or humans by religions are not inhibited by the abuse being carried out in the name of or as part of a religious ritual. Therefore if it's Islamic law stoning women or Christians throwing cats from bell towers or setting fire to bulls or Jews swinging chickens I find all these acts equally abhorent and the religion is as far as I'm concerned is irrelevant, the abuse and cruelty is just that! To furnish it with the apparent respectability of tradition or religious ritual to justify it, is simply an excuse for not dealing with the cruelty or abuse! In case some one gets the wrong idea in our hyper PC world that such criticism is motivated by antisemitism, antiislam antichristian or anti any other religion! Likewise any criticism one might make of Isreal's cowardly bombardment of Palestinians or UN sites or terrorist rocket attacks on Israel is neither antisemetic or antiislamic but more a statement of the obvious! Of course I'm not daft enough to believe that there are not many who would grasp these crueltys simply as a tool to beat the particular religion with, but having no concern for the cruelty involved!

Friday September 25, 2009, 6:15 am
Religion and animal abuse does not go together. Go look in the mirror and ask yourself if your God permits you to abuse these chickens. Where is the love and respect for animals?

Friday September 25, 2009, 1:20 pm
I do not care what you call it. it doesn't make it not mean and cruel, the chicken does not care what you cal it it is still mean and cruel. I have never seen anywhere that it says you can get rid of your sins by swing a chicken over your head. PLEASE! I have a problem believing someone can make my sin go away by telling me to say hail Marys, when I knew what I was doing was a sin and unsuitable by the church. How did I get into the century I am living in and these people are still back in the dark ages? Did I miss something? Boy am I pride I did. What is that old saying 2 wrongs do not make a right? Will looks like to me that would be doing 2 wrongs, hey but what would I know just a little ole lady.

Friday September 25, 2009, 2:05 pm
There is nothing I can add to Chris b. I become so angry I just rant. Thanks again Chris b.!

Friday September 25, 2009, 9:46 pm
Thanks Tierney

Saturday September 26, 2009, 12:05 pm
So much terrible cruelty in the name of religion. God is love, peace and harmony. Why is there so much violence, hatred and anger - human to human, and human to animal?

Monday September 28, 2009, 1:07 am
I could show them atonement for sin; shouldn't they take it out on themselves as personal punishment for their sins? And what does torturing an animal have to do with their own punishment? This does not sound like intelligent judgment. They need to read the book punishment for dummies 101. Sorry I don’t mean to speak rude of anyone’s nationality or beliefs but I certainly am not a believer of any type of torture of a animal for any reason!!
Thanks T.

Monday September 28, 2009, 3:47 am
I guess the way cows and chicken are killed generally is better...hit them over the head.

Monday September 28, 2009, 8:03 am
Ronald T, I have never understood the phrase "A better way of killing" Does God mark the manner of ones death out of ten and all those scoring ten get a gold pass to the heavenly banana factory? I think (occasionally!) that the medievil practise of flagellation that was practised by religiuos persons might fit the bill for atonement, although nowadays it has an association with the S&M sector of sexual deviants! Now where did I put my chains and whips? Nan B, The statement of an opinion or indeed fact is not rude as far as I'm concerned provided it is in itself not malicious or filled with expletives and as most of the these practices date back to Biblical times it is rather akin to expecting modern day city dwellers to return to the caves and wear animal skins out of necessity rather than vanity! Any religious or cultural traditions that involve animal abuse are inherently wrong and if God requres such activity then that is no different to the religions of ancient Rome and pre history etc that required all sorts of sacrifices to a whole pantheon of gods! How one can describe abuse of an animal as being in anyway reverent to God is I'm afraid beyond my comprehension and until someone can adequately justify such abuse, which is I think unlikely then I shall feel bound by morality and compassion to condemn it! If an atonement vehicle is required which is after all is said and done purely a symbolic device, why use a sentient animal? Surely the symbolism could equally be served by any receptical for ones sin? Such as a cardboard chicken if you must or money which is after all the root of all evil, perhaps some modernist theologian could devise a modern day "chicken" how about writing your sins on a peace of recycled paper and putting them in an envelope and then placing them in the recycle bin by way of atonement. Maybe borowing the old Catholic tradition of the priest doing a quick flip aroung the congregation with a brass bucket of Holy Water and a well worn paint brush flicking water as he went, would have the desired affect! As I have said elsewhere those that delve into theology and attempt to interpret the meaning of various religions their doctrines, dogma and articles of faith, liturgy etc often conclude such divergent "truths" that one is inclined to wonder if they are reading from the same book etc! Religion has almost identical DNA to politics so need I say more on the subject! The main strand on the helix being egocentricity! Religion states I am the one true God and you shall have no others but Me! How many times have we heard the same sort of statement from Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Labour or indeed any other political party although they usully don't actually claim to be God just imply it with lawyer speak and forked tongues! Vote for me and there will be manna from heaven and taxes from hell if you dare to vote for the other lot!

Monday September 28, 2009, 8:19 am
Ronald T what makes you think cows and chickens are killed by being hit over the head? If you are referring to slaughterhouse cows and chickens are killed by being bled out. If the cows are lucky and slaughtered in a UK or US slaughterhouse they might be stunned first, the unfortunate chickens wil be hung on a moving hook production line and die from a variety of torture including throat slashing the same as cows, electrocution, boiling or being trodden on or run over so think on the next time you tuck into a chicken nugget what sacrifice she made for you, male chicks don't make it to the human food chain they are either left to die of starvation(it takes a few days) or ground up alive in a giant schredder for pet food or farm animal consumption! Thus for every female chicken you eat one male chick has also given it's life!

Friday October 2, 2009, 1:58 am
These are good news! Rituals change and it's great that this cruel practice is being questioned by a religious movement, I mean, it's not the same that criticism coming from an outsider. TY Tierney.

Friday October 2, 2009, 4:32 pm
Yes, one wonders where Ronald T gets his info from.....

Very glad there is a movement now to tackle this 'ritual'. Ritualistic killing and / or torture is for barbarians only.

Thank you Tierney