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From: bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys)
Newsgroups: net.misc,net.med,net.religion,net.research,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Is genetic research too far?
Message-ID: <275@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 25-Jul-84 08:49:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: utastro.275
Posted: Wed Jul 25 08:49:40 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 09:28:14 EDT
References: <1141@rti-sel.UUCP>
Organization: UTexas Astronomy Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 22

> The hindus can let children starve while millions of sacred cows line the
> roads because they believe that the life of an animal is equivalently
> sacred to that of a human.  Also, a cow is a specific representative of
> a particular god (I think Shiva or Lakshmi, but I don't remember
> clearly).
> 
> So this question would sound to a hindu pretty much as clearly foolish
> and either satirical or simply immmoral as Swift's "Modest Suggestion"
> -- that Irish babies be fattened up and cooked to feed English families.
> 
> Western cultural chauvinism is a subtle thing sometimes...

It would seem even more foolish once one recognizes that the cow is India's
main source of power (draft animals), cooking fuel (dung) and is an important
renewable source of protein (milk), which is worth far more to the Indian 
economy as live animals than it would be if slaughtered and eaten.
-- 

	Bill Jefferys  8-%
	Astronomy Dept, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712   (USnail)
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