Toto

Animal sacrifice is not "okay" but it is legal under American law and the American constitution. That's all I meant - there would have been no legal problem with an animal sacrifice. So the pagans were using a chocolate bunny for other than legal reasons.

emotional

Ah, all right. I'm not vegetarian but slaughtering animals for sacrifice (as opposed to eating) is very hurtful to me. As long as they don't do those things, and don't deny the value of this world, the pagans are OK. Monotheists, on the other hand, advocate manslaughter and say that the afterlife is the "real thing". Monotheism, especially the Troublesome Trio of Abraham, is truly evil.

brighid

Paganism is a pretty broad umbrella and there are Vodun aka Voodoo/Hoodoo and Santeria rituals that call for the use of animal sacrifice – such as the blood of a chicken.

Here is some info from various sites:

Additionally,contrary to the Hollywood hype, animals are not the focus nor the center of our ceremonies.

They are merely consecrated offerings, made sacred for communal meals by the intiate, to share with their gods and ancestors. The "rituals" surrounding this routine event are no more spectacular than the prepartion of foods and farm anmials for a family meal, or the Jewish ritual of kashruth (Kosher slaughtering) in making an animal sacred for offerings and consuming.

<a href="http://pub47.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=3951612168&password=&catid=105&ac tion=showcat" target="_blank">http://pub47.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=3951612168&password=&catid=105&ac tion=showcat</a>

Information about Vodun at <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/voodoo.htm" target="_blank">http://www.religioustolerance.org/voodoo.htm</a>


Ebo contains many categories of sacrifice and offering to the Orisha. "There are offerings such as addimú which can include candles, fruits, candy, or any number of items oractions that may be appreciated by the deities or orishas in the religion. In divination, the orishas may ask for a favorite fruit or dish, or they may call for the person to heed advice given. At times they may ask that a person give up drinking or other practices that are unwise for that individual. They may request a person to wear certain jewelry, receive initiations or any number of other things. Or they may request an animal, usually a chicken or a dove, so the orisha will come to that person's aid. As a rule, animal sacrifice is called for only in major situations such as sickness or serious misfortune. Animals are also offered when a new priest is consecrated in service of her or his orisha during the birthing process of initiation. In every birth there is blood" 38 . Animal Sacrifices are essential to winning favor with the gods, and must be performed by a santero (priest) 39 .

"When the religion requires the sacrifice of an animal, it is offered to the Orisha or the ancestor with respect. It is killed quickly and with as little pain as possible." 44 The meat is usually eaten by the participants of the sacrifice. "Sometimes an animal is sacrificed as part of a ritual cleansing. It is believed that such animals absorb the problems and negative vibrations of the person being cleansed. In such cases, the animal carcass is disposed of without being eaten." 45
The church took the city to the Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of the church. The brief of the case of The Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah explains the proceedings in great detail. A summary of this brief can be found on The Religious Freedom Page . One justice, Justice Anthony Kennedy, was quoted, saying, "Although the practice of animal sacrifice may seem abhorrent to some, religious belief need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection
<a href="http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/santeria.html" target="_blank">http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/santeria.html</a>


I know that in Wicca, witchcraft and other types of Neo-Pagan movements animals are highly revered. The chocolate bunny was simply a symbol of the Goddess, the rebirth Spring brings and just something tasty. At the Spring Equinox and Ostara my group has performed rituals using the decoration of eggs. We each paint eggs with Runic symbols on them that signify our desires for the coming year and we peel the eggs, take out their yolks, combine them into a bowl and make some delicious “deviled” eggs of the mixture. The discarded eggshells go into a planter with soil and some seeds. The eggs shells will help fertilize the plant and the plant is a reminder of the progress of our goals, hopes and aspirations. We eat the eggs, discuss of hopes and dreams if we like and share our hopes and dreams for our groups and it’s individual members. The rituals are harmless.

I am not aware of any New Age Pagan religion that uses animal sacrifice as part of its rituals. Most Neo-pagans discourage such practices, but will not forbid them. All animal sacrifice ceremonies that I am aware of are in line with what I have posted. I have never witnessed any, or taken part in anything like that but I have found no credible evidence to the contrary that Neo-pagans or other Pagans torture or mutilate animals in ritual.


Brighid

Toto

That just about says it all.

I think that people who are not vegetarians cannot complain about the sacrifice of an animal that would be killed for food in any case (not a household pet - no dogs or cats.) The ritual sacrifice is less of an ordeal for the animal than the modern slaughterhouse, even though the modern system allows us to avoid facing up to the fact that some creatures die so we may eat a high protein diet.

cheetah

I agree with Toto about the treatment of animals. One note, while animal sacrifice for religion is legal, they must still treat the animals well before sacrificing them. For instance, just recently in San Diego a guy was arrested because he was keeping a bunch of chickens, allegedly for a ritual sacrifice (I'm pretty sure he had some kooky Chrisitan-esque sect going). They arrested him because the animals were being kept in poor conditions, etc. So, there are still rules!

Marduk

Oh come on! it was a chocolate Rabbit! This was obviously intende as a joke.

Gar

If it's in your religion, and you aren't affecting other people, then it is (or should be) covered under freedom of religion. As far as your definition of "people", animals are not protected by the Constitution of the United States.

"No, there is no freedom of religion allowed if it is at the expense of what is sacred to others."

There is no freedom of religion if it is at the expense of [I}others[/I], not what is sacred to others. If someone thinks it's wrong to kill animals they should boycott whatever they find offensive. Claiming that animal sacrifice shouldn't be allowed is pressing their beliefs on other people.

Of course the animals need to be treated reasonably, and that's what animal cruelty laws are for.