Whereas Christianity threatens Hell in the afterlife against sin, Buddhism threatens rebirth as a non-human animal. Buddhists believe in a force called Karma. In life, those who choose to commit evil receive bad Karma, those who choose to commit good receive good Karma, while not choosing is an impossibility. Upon death, Karma perseveres and determines into which of the six realms of existence one will be reborn. Good Karma enables rebirth into a higher realm, such as a god or human realm, whereas bad Karma means one is doomed to be reborn into a lower realm such as that of the (non-human) animal. It is punishment for us to be reborn as an inhabitant of the animal realm, as the animal realm is one of higher suffering. While no evidence exists to give credence to this karma, realm, and rebirth nonsense, I do agree that animals sometimes endure more suffering than humans, often at the hands of those from our supposedly higher human realm.
As the title of this blog suggests, I’d like to offer some advice, so here it is: Children of the world, you had better behave otherwise you will be reborn as a suffering animal (or go to hell) in your next life. I’m just joking. Actually, I would never say that to a child. Scaring young minds with nonsense to try making them behave is a form of child abuse. My real advice was for Buddhists. What I meant to say is this: Buddhists of the world, if you are destined to be reborn as an animal, try not to be reborn in a Buddhist nation.
For more than 4 years now I’ve been living in South Korea, a mostly secular nation, which has historically been Buddhist and contains the human realm’s sixth largest Buddhist population. I suggest that Buddhists, upon death, don’t get reborn as an animal here in South Korea. I’ve previously blogged about the culture of animal abuse here in Korea. Suffering pets, suffering animals at tourist attractions, disgusting dog farms, bears farmed for their bile, and animal exploitation entertainment on the TV, make the Korean status quo. The animal rights movement has had little impact in Korea, and correspondingly, animal protection laws are very weak and ineffective. But Korea is progressing rapidly, with the government strengthening animal protection laws in 2007, and again in 2010. Maybe in the future, rebirth in Korea won’t be so punishing.
Abandoned pets on Jeju Island, South Korea. Lucky for these little guys they have been rescued and cared for by a wonderful Korean woman. A group of caring foreign English teachers help her out every Saturday by walking the dogs and cleaning their cages/rooms.
China and Japan contain the biggest 2 populations of Buddhists in this human earth realm. Rebirth in either of these places could be tortuous. China has no laws protecting animals from cruelty, enabling, among other things, its disgusting animals markets, its sickening fur production, and the torture and killing of animals to produce traditional medicines. Japan, famous for continuing to spear dolphins to death and slowly killing whales with explosive spears, is like Korea and only has weak animal protection laws. Hopefully the lives of animals in Japan and the world’s oceans will improve as arguably East Asia’s most progressive nation moves forward. Rounding out the top 5 biggest Buddhist nations are Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. Definitely avoid animal rebirthing in any of these places.
In China, which contains the worlds biggest Buddhist population, you could be reborn as a bile-bear to produce traditional medicine, or if you're (relatively) lucky, a chick or duckling covered in dye.
So where would I recommend rebirth as an animal? Easy, get reborn in secular nations with very few Buddhists. This is sound advice, but vulnerable to misinterpretation. Better would be to say get reborn into a rich, democratic nation where religion is weak (any religion, not just Buddhism). Nations with these characteristics are the most progressive in the world, and subsequently have stricter protections for animals. Nations such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Canada are where you should get reborn as an animal. The lives of many animals are far from ideal in these nations, but a more secular, progressive culture and legal protections help. It’s probable that all human societies to have ever existed have largely excluded non-human sentient animals from their moral spheres, have lacked strong animal protection laws, and thus have caused extensive animal suffering (examples to the contrary are very likely romanticized). Whilst many free-er thinkers throughout history have delved into the issue of animal suffering, it’s safe to say that none have been anywhere near as effective in changing our old animal-abusive ways as those responsible for the modern, secular, animal rights movement. Right about now some people may cry out that within Buddhism the killing and harming of all animals (including invertebrates) is banned. But this supernatural-based, extremely-impractical moral exists only within some Buddhist traditions, and judging by how Buddhist nations treat animals it seems only to be adhered to by fundamentalists (Monks, for example). The majority of Buddhists eat meat and kill mosquitoes, as does the majority of the rest of us.
I don’t directly blame Buddhism or any other religion for animal suffering (except in the case of animal sacrifice), but religion often does, to an extent, justify it. Widespread ideas such as animals being confined to a magical realm of suffering (Buddhism), or animals being intelligently designed for the purpose of human utilization (Christianity) are complicit with animals suffering at the hands of humans. Regarding animal rights, the biggest problem with religion is that it is a force of conservatism, a preserver of old ideas, and therefore it helps to slow progress away from our old animal-abusive ways. Free thought is essential for progress, but religion necessarily suffocates it. Any religion that does not actively suffocate free thought, or purge free thinkers, would bring on its own demise, as adherents would lose faith, seeing religion as myths and lies. More free thought would allow societies to more quickly understand what should be common sense- that animals aren’t predestined to suffer, that they share a lot of our biology and are therefore capable of suffering in similar ways to us, and a good thing to do is not cause non-human animals unnecessary suffering.
My final advice for Buddhists (and adherents to other religions) is this: Buddhists of the world (and other religious folk), for the sake of the world’s voiceless non-human animals, please stop supporting your religion, and please don’t preserve it by indoctrinating the young. Please allow religion to continue on its overall course of weakening, allow ideas to flourish, and allow society to progress to a state that includes animals fully within our moral spheres. Let’s help stop the suffering of animals (and humans), simply because it’s a good idea.
As the title of this blog suggests, I’d like to offer some advice, so here it is: Children of the world, you had better behave otherwise you will be reborn as a suffering animal (or go to hell) in your next life. I’m just joking. Actually, I would never say that to a child. Scaring young minds with nonsense to try making them behave is a form of child abuse. My real advice was for Buddhists. What I meant to say is this: Buddhists of the world, if you are destined to be reborn as an animal, try not to be reborn in a Buddhist nation.
For more than 4 years now I’ve been living in South Korea, a mostly secular nation, which has historically been Buddhist and contains the human realm’s sixth largest Buddhist population. I suggest that Buddhists, upon death, don’t get reborn as an animal here in South Korea. I’ve previously blogged about the culture of animal abuse here in Korea. Suffering pets, suffering animals at tourist attractions, disgusting dog farms, bears farmed for their bile, and animal exploitation entertainment on the TV, make the Korean status quo. The animal rights movement has had little impact in Korea, and correspondingly, animal protection laws are very weak and ineffective. But Korea is progressing rapidly, with the government strengthening animal protection laws in 2007, and again in 2010. Maybe in the future, rebirth in Korea won’t be so punishing.
Abandoned pets on Jeju Island, South Korea. Lucky for these little guys they have been rescued and cared for by a wonderful Korean woman. A group of caring foreign English teachers help her out every Saturday by walking the dogs and cleaning their cages/rooms.China and Japan contain the biggest 2 populations of Buddhists in this human earth realm. Rebirth in either of these places could be tortuous. China has no laws protecting animals from cruelty, enabling, among other things, its disgusting animals markets, its sickening fur production, and the torture and killing of animals to produce traditional medicines. Japan, famous for continuing to spear dolphins to death and slowly killing whales with explosive spears, is like Korea and only has weak animal protection laws. Hopefully the lives of animals in Japan and the world’s oceans will improve as arguably East Asia’s most progressive nation moves forward. Rounding out the top 5 biggest Buddhist nations are Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. Definitely avoid animal rebirthing in any of these places.
In China, which contains the worlds biggest Buddhist population, you could be reborn as a bile-bear to produce traditional medicine, or if you're (relatively) lucky, a chick or duckling covered in dye.So where would I recommend rebirth as an animal? Easy, get reborn in secular nations with very few Buddhists. This is sound advice, but vulnerable to misinterpretation. Better would be to say get reborn into a rich, democratic nation where religion is weak (any religion, not just Buddhism). Nations with these characteristics are the most progressive in the world, and subsequently have stricter protections for animals. Nations such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Canada are where you should get reborn as an animal. The lives of many animals are far from ideal in these nations, but a more secular, progressive culture and legal protections help. It’s probable that all human societies to have ever existed have largely excluded non-human sentient animals from their moral spheres, have lacked strong animal protection laws, and thus have caused extensive animal suffering (examples to the contrary are very likely romanticized). Whilst many free-er thinkers throughout history have delved into the issue of animal suffering, it’s safe to say that none have been anywhere near as effective in changing our old animal-abusive ways as those responsible for the modern, secular, animal rights movement. Right about now some people may cry out that within Buddhism the killing and harming of all animals (including invertebrates) is banned. But this supernatural-based, extremely-impractical moral exists only within some Buddhist traditions, and judging by how Buddhist nations treat animals it seems only to be adhered to by fundamentalists (Monks, for example). The majority of Buddhists eat meat and kill mosquitoes, as does the majority of the rest of us.
I don’t directly blame Buddhism or any other religion for animal suffering (except in the case of animal sacrifice), but religion often does, to an extent, justify it. Widespread ideas such as animals being confined to a magical realm of suffering (Buddhism), or animals being intelligently designed for the purpose of human utilization (Christianity) are complicit with animals suffering at the hands of humans. Regarding animal rights, the biggest problem with religion is that it is a force of conservatism, a preserver of old ideas, and therefore it helps to slow progress away from our old animal-abusive ways. Free thought is essential for progress, but religion necessarily suffocates it. Any religion that does not actively suffocate free thought, or purge free thinkers, would bring on its own demise, as adherents would lose faith, seeing religion as myths and lies. More free thought would allow societies to more quickly understand what should be common sense- that animals aren’t predestined to suffer, that they share a lot of our biology and are therefore capable of suffering in similar ways to us, and a good thing to do is not cause non-human animals unnecessary suffering.
My final advice for Buddhists (and adherents to other religions) is this: Buddhists of the world (and other religious folk), for the sake of the world’s voiceless non-human animals, please stop supporting your religion, and please don’t preserve it by indoctrinating the young. Please allow religion to continue on its overall course of weakening, allow ideas to flourish, and allow society to progress to a state that includes animals fully within our moral spheres. Let’s help stop the suffering of animals (and humans), simply because it’s a good idea.
