I put cruel in quotation marks because while Kosher or Halal slaughtering may be less instant than other kinds, given the horrible treatment of animals in feed lots and at commercial slaughterhouses, it seems that the "cruel" is clearly relative. A proper Kosher slaughtering takes only a few seconds and because the animals must be healthy, you will not find weak, sick animals being herded to the slaughter house, prodded with electric prods, in order to get them there. This is not an attack on eating meat, rather it is a suggestion that there is a great deal of hypocrisy in attacks on kosher slaughtering. (I should add I do not keep Kosher and get almost all my meat directly from farmers raising them for small scale farming, grass feeding, and non-industrial slaughtering.) But to make an argument that Kosher slaughtering is less humane than other kinds, is to ignore the mistreatment of animals by large scale producers, even if the actual moment of slaughtering take a few seconds less than Kosher or Halal.
************************************************* Paul Finkelman, Ph.D. President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208 518-445-3386 (p) 518-445-3363 (f) paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu<mailto:paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu> www.paulfinkelman.com<http://www.paulfinkelman.com> ************************************************* ________________________________ From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] on behalf of Sanford Levinson [slevin...@law.utexas.edu] Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 1:06 PM To: 'paul.finkel...@yahoo.com'; 'religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu' Subject: Re: German circumcision decision I'm not clear why Paul puts "cruel" in scare quotes. It seems clear--see Temple Grandin's lifework--that it IS less humane than other possible means of slaughtering. Perhaps it has to be tolerated, but we shouldn't avoid the truth. Sandy ________________________________ From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu <religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu> To: Paul Finkelman <paul.finkel...@yahoo.com>; Law & Religion issues for Law Academics <religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu> Sent: Sun Jul 01 11:30:02 2012 Subject: Re: German circumcision decision I posted this before I had a chance to read the decision, which I now see is about a Muslim case; that undermines some of my arguments, but not all of them. The politics may be less about Jews than Muslims but the issue remains the same -- a fundamental attack on religious minorities. I wonder, for example, whether the next step will be a ban on Kosher or Halal slaughtering on the grounds that it is "cruel" to animals? The case does not seem to be based on the place of the circumcision. That is one could imagine a law that requires it to be done in a hospital. But this does not appear to be the issue here. ---- Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208 518-445-3386 (p) 518-445-3363 (f) paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu www.paulfinkelman.com ________________________________ From: Paul Finkelman <paul.finkel...@yahoo.com> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics <religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu> Sent: Sunday, July 1, 2012 12:21 PM Subject: Re: German circumcision decision Are they also banning parents from piercing the ears of children? In many cultures it is common to see infant girls with pierced ears. Does the ban extend to pierced ears before age 18? And then there is body piercing before age 18. Is that being banned? Has the Court banned tattoos for people under 18? And has this ban spread to Muslim male children, who are circumcised at age 7, 10 or slightly later depending on the sect. The fact is, given Germany's history of how it has dealt with Jews, is is not illegitimate to wonder what the Court is thinking. Germany has one of the fastest growing Jewish populations in the world -- mostly through immigration. This decision, if enforced all over the country, would slow down or stop that population growth. One might at least ponder why this case has come to the Germany court, and not one involving piercing, tattoos, or Muslim circumcision. ---- Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208 518-445-3386 (p) 518-445-3363 (f) paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu www.paulfinkelman.com<http://www.paulfinkelman.com/> ________________________________ From: "Volokh, Eugene" <vol...@law.ucla.edu> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics <religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu> Sent: Sunday, July 1, 2012 11:56 AM Subject: RE: German circumcision decision Any chance we could have some helpful analysis of the decision, rather than one-liners? The question of the degree to which parents should be able to permanently alter their children’s bodies – for religious reasons or otherwise – is not, it seems to me, one that has a completely obvious answer one way or the other. There may indeed be one correct answer that can be demonstrated, but such demonstration requires argument rather than assertion. Eugene _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu<mailto:Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu<mailto:Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
_______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
