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SAVE HUMANITY FROM ITSELF
Dr. Michael Tobias Ecologist, Author, Filmmaker
This is a momentous time in biological and ethical history. Indeed, they are the same history, as viewed through Jain eyes, because at no other moment in the experience of life has there been such a cry for help from those who are dying, in pain, and need of human intervention. It was Mahavir himself who is said to have indicated (as loosely translated from the Acaranga Sutra) that no being wishes to suffer and that it is our responsibility to prevent others from doing harm (hinsa). The harm sweeping the planet, currently, is almost beyond human comprehension. But it is certainly not beyond the comprehension of the insects, fish, birds, rodents, amphibians, reptiles and mammals being slaughtered.
We stand at an In 2004, according to a United Nations study, over 52 billion animals were killed ethical threshold: for human consumption. The conditions in which these magical beings were massa
either embrace cred were equivalent to Auschwitz. The analogy with the Nazi Holocaust was first intoned by Yiddish writer, Isaac Singer, and was recently described by Holocaust sur- Mahavir and the vivor, Alex Hirschaft, head of F.A.R.M. In the recent movie, "Mad Cowboy" he describes how he knew precisely what sheep headed for slaughter are feeling. basic ethical Similarly, hundreds of thousands of other species are verging on extinction. While
pantheon of science knows of but 1.8 million species, there may be 100 million out there, and peace, or cozy 40% or so have already been driven over the brink. 40% of 100 million species relates to something like 40 million species, in which there could be a million creatures per up to your own species: in other words - TRILLIONS OF INDIVIDUALS!
destruction. We are destroying the life force before we even realize what we are doing. That is a form of insanity, and is ruining 4.2 billion years of biological evolution on earth.
Yet, the Jain community has intuited all of this bad news. Indeed, Mahavir, in his own day, clearly elucidated the scientific details, and carefully instructed his contemporaries on pragmatic solutions.
Today, we stand at an ethical threshold: either embrace Mahavir, and the basic ethical pantheon of peace, or cozy up to your own destruction. In my film, "Ahimsa -Non Violence" it was the esteemed Sushil Kumar who declared - "Total peace or total destruction. (By inference, one or the other). You have no choice, you have to try."
We all must try, and I know WILL try. The Jain community in America holds a unique leadership role worldwide. You have psychoanalyzed violence and the solutions to violence, with rare discipline, candor, and durability. Today, we need you.
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