As a Pagan, I believe that the Created, i.e., the Universes of the Seen and Unseen world, were born of the Divine. I believe that every living organism, flora or fauna, was also designed (via the mechanism of evolution) by the Divine. I also believe that the Divine has also imbued us with not only Seen parts but Unseen ones and that some of these Unseen parts include souls. I think that humans are one of a handful of creatures whose unseen parts includes a self-aware soul and that while the majority of life on our planet has Unseen components, they do not have self-aware souls.
In ancient Egypt, this would be the relationship of the ba and ka. The ba was the component of the Unseen, a type of spiritual aspect of the being, that all living beings possessed. It was the most basic of the spirit-bodies an individual being had. I liken it to be the 'spark' of the Divine within all living organisms; the most basic common denominator between all life and the Divine. On the other hand, the ka was that spiritual part where one's consciousness, one's self-awareness, one's individuality, personhood, and ability to reason and think abstractly have root. The ka is the origin of sentience (in the sense of the word that implies human-level intelligence). The Ancient Egyptians believed that only humans had kau (plural form of 'ka'); animals did not.
I agree but with several exceptions. I believe there are a few other species that are self-aware and sentient, among them are: the Great Apes, elephants, and cetaceans (e.g., dolphins and whales). In this worldview of mine, we are required to treat all living beings with respect and honor though we might use them for our own needs like food and materials. Being sacred--being of and created by the Divine regardless of intelligence or 'sentience' as defined above--the animals we eat deserve our utmost reverence. We fulfill our roles as the Hunter and they, the prey. This has been the order of things for millennia, not only for humans but for all beings--the endless circle of predator and prey: a life is taken so that another might live; a sacral relationship were there ever one.
However! I also believe that while these prey animals are not sentient in the sense that I would consider humans, the Great Apes, dolphins, etc, they are sacred. And being sacred, regardless of whether or not they are sentient, are self-aware, have individual personalities, or think abstractly about art, philosophy or in a language, they are as much children of the Divine as we are and need to be treated accordingly. For every child of the Divine, I believe, has, at the very least, the right to lead a full life free of unnecessary suffering and slavery (after all, what are cattle but slave animals?). They may not have as highly evolved a mind as humans or dolphins but they do feel anxiety, pain, torture, suffering, and death. This alone makes me wonder if I should forego meat.
But, the meat-eater in me decries vegetarianism and insists that the Gods have created me to eat meat. Indeed, were it not for our meat-eating, we would never have evolved the intelligence to questions whether eating meat was ethical! The meat-eater insists that to eat the prey animals is to honor the cycles of life and death and the lessons of the Great Hunter and the meaning of sacrifice. But even the meat-eater in me admits there is no honor or value in our mainstream mass-production farming methods.
So, what is a Pagan to do? Honor the sacred in all life and be vegetarian or honor the cycles of life and death--the hunted and the hunter--and be omnivorous?
Perhaps there's a middle-ground? Be vegetarian in the fruitful seasons and only eat meat during the months of wane? But that doesn't solve the ethical dilemma of all life being sacred, free from slavery, and free from suffering.
Another answer would be to only eat animals raised and killed humanely? Would that be kosher? Do they have 'free-range' cows and turkeys?
Do you think about these things? What kinds of answers have you arrived at?
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