Jain Digest 1990 11

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 21

JAIN ment of South Africa continues to put people they don't care for across the line. The day has to come when killing an animal is called a MURDER. We will fight every attempt to exploit our non-human brothers and sisters."
They want to stop the Draize, L.D. 50, and Acute Dermal Toxicity tests being done on various products. The DRAIZE test is used to measure the irritancy of products that might get into a person's eyes. The rabbit is used because his eyes do not produce tears to wash the substance away. Several drops of the test substance are put in one eye. The other eye is left alone. The effects of the substance on the rabbit's eyes, such as swelling, ulceration, and blindness, are then recorded for some time, and the rabbits are killed after that. The L.D. 50 test is used to measure the lethal dose that will kill 50% of the animals in a test group of up to 200 animals. The substance is force-fed by mouth or through a tube inserted down the animal's throat; or by injection or forced inhalation. Typical reactions before death are convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, paralysis, and bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth. Those who survive until the end of the test are eventually killed. In the ACUTE DERMAL TOXICITY test, the animals are partially shaved, and the bare skin scraped raw. The test substance is applied and the results noted as the animal's skin becomes inflamed, or is eaten away. Again, the animals are killed at the end of the test. Do we need new cosmetics and houlsehold products badly enough to justify all these cruel tests?
Many organizations have come up with evidence that the results of animal testing do not compare with human reactions, so they are meaningless. The Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine (2000 members) says that "These tests are highly inaccurate due to species differences - which only gives the manufacturers loopholes they use to continue selling products which are not necessarily safe." The P.C.R.M. recommends measuring the effects of chemicals on cells in test tubes, and/or using sophisticated computerized methods. They say that the importance of animal tests in the discoveries made in treating heart disease, cancer, diabetes, smallpox and other diseases have been exaggerated. They argue that most of the improvements in people's lifespans and health have occurred because of improved sanitation and better nutrition.
So now we are entering the nineties with a new aim. The aim that has always been at the heart of Jainism: Protection of All Lives. So we should support these movements at all times. In fact, it should have been us, the Jains, who should have started them! Today nearly ten million Americans have joined different Animal Right groups, and we ten thousand Jains should also be their active participants.
DIGEST
How I feel About the Jains I Have Met by John Laplante
met dozens of Jains during our seven weeks in India.
although it's considera
bly longer than the typical vacation. And the many Jains I met are a minuscule sampling of the millions of Jains in that vast country. Nevertheless, I had such a pleasant and memorable experience.
So many things impressed me about the Jains. For one thing, their wonderful hospitality. Everywhere, we were greeted with great warmth and affection. I saw this for the first time at our arrival in Delhi, when a party of twenty or so relatives and friends met us at the airport (around 5 a.m., I recall!!) and took us to one person's home, there to rest, meet more people, enjoy this extraordinary welcome.
This same wonderful hospitality marked every day, every stage of our voyage, as after three weeks in Delhi, we traveled on to Bombay, then on to Madras, with many stops in between, then back across the country (37 hours by train on this final leg) to Delhi. Regardless of where we were, whether a big city, a small city, or a village, or what the occasion was, the hospitality never diminished. Just about every night was spent in someone's home - hotel stops were infrequent --- and everywhere we were greeted as members of the family. "If you are the friend of my friend, then you are my friend." That was the invariable response. And it wasn't just an empty saying. By their deeds, they made it true.
We visited families. We visited industrialists and businessmen in their factories and shops. We visited scholars at universities, and politicians and government officials. We met religious leaders. And we met all kinds of ordinary people, wonderful people.
I believe Jains are high achievers. They want to excel and to succeed. They want to make a contribution to their own family and to society. And they accomplish this.
I remember a sentence in a travel guidebook. "Jains are a small percentage of the total population of India, but they exert a beneficial influence that is disproportionately high." I'm quoting loosely but I'm sure I have the full sense of what I read. And I found this to be true. I met Jains who were leaders in just about every walk of life.
I also found that Jains have a great pride in their religion and heritage, and this pride makes them want to help one another in their undertakings and to find joy in their accomplishments as a group.
Pride of family that certainly was obvious everywhere. The importance of the family is paramount in the Jain scheme of things. I could see it in their love for their children, little children and grown up children, and, most impressive of all, in their love for their elders. Somebody once said to me that you can judge a people by how they care for their very old. By that standard, I found the Jains admirable.
I don't want to exaggerate, but at one moment, I felt that if you were a Jain, then you never have to be alone, adrift, forlorn, anywhere in the world. Wherever there is another Jain family, another Jain community, you are assured of friendship and support whatever support you might need. "Networking" is a buzzword of the modern day, but (Continued on Page 19, Col. 2)
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