Paradigm

There are so many things pressing on my mind. I don't know where to start. That's why I don't start. It's a terrible cycle. So here's a step...

From the script of "What the Bleep Do We Know":

"So, a wonderful story that I believe is true...is that when the Indians--the Native American Indians on the Caribbean Islands saw Columbus's ships approaching, they couldn't see them at all. Because it was so unlike anything they had ever seen before, they couldn't see it. When Columbus's armada landed in the Caribbean none of the natives were able to see the ships, even though they existed, on the horizon. The reason that they never saw the ships was because they had no knowledge in their brains, or no experience, that clipper ships existed. So the shaman starts to notice that there's ripples out in the ocean, but he sees no ship but he starts to wonder what's causing the effect. So every day he goes out and looks and looks and looks. And after a period of time, he's able to see the ships. And once he sees the ships, he tells everybody else that ships exist out there. Because everybody trusted and believed in him, they saw them also."

This bringing-into-reality-through-knowledge is the way paradigms in our thinking change. This is what happened to me when I became vegetarian. The reality of the cruelty that exists in factory farms for animal meat became clear to me. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to see it. I told myself "I need my protein so I'll buy the meat at the market and not see the life." Now I'm stirring inside myself. The knowledge is there and I can't escape it. I want to scream for these animals...they can't scream for themselves...well, they do, but people turn away. Their babies are taken from them. They watch their parents beaten, chained, slaughtered, and they can't escape. They are animals, but they feel. It's not that their lives are taken, that's just the food chain, it's that they are cruely abused, tortured, and terrorized. What's more, we simply don't need meat to survive or have healthy diets. In fact, vegetarians live 10 to 15 years longer than meat eaters. It's just not necessary. How do I live with this knowledge and not tell everyone I know? Please stop eating meat. It's not that I'm pressing my morals on you. It's that I must speak for those who can't be heard. I don't care about your morals. I care about ending sensless suffering. If you were abused, I would fight for you, too.