Jain Spirit 2004 10 No 20

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 27

ITS YOUR LETTERS 25
Jain Spirit LETTERS/17
PETA
Ingrid Newkirk, the President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent an open letter to the readers of Jain Spirit:
Rex H. Shah writes to Jain Spirit on behalf of the Oshwal Association:
Dear Fellow Jains,
Dear Editor
The news that Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has donated more than $13 million to help search for extraterrestrial intelligence in space got me thinking. For decades, our spacecrafts have carried signs in a 'language' we hope other intelligences will be able to decipher. The signs read, "We come in peace." Now, if Jains were the ones going up into space, it might be true. But in reality it's a big, fat lie unless the intelligent life forms we find are more powerful and aggressive than we are, in which case the message will serve as a desperate plea to save human hides.
If, however, we discover other forms of life, no matter how intelligent, and we are more powerful than they are, we will do to them exactly what has been done to every diverse form of life on Earth and in Earth's oceans and skies: they will be captured, dissected to see what makes them tick, eaten, made into fancy belts, put in zoos and circuses, and so on. If practising Jains ran NASA, a code of conduct would be imposed in space that would be far superior to the one that now dominates our own planet.
The octopus decorates her den; the squid communicates in waves of light; newts and birds navigate by using the Earth's magnetic field, the tides and the stars, geese mate for life; hens and rhinos make excellent mothers, ants build boats to cross rivers, mice and elephants send messages sub-sonically, at frequencies we can't hear: and, just in the last three years, our esteemed species' scientists have discovered that sheep can recognise each other from photographs, that hens show considerable courage and intelligence in overcoming obstacles placed before them, and that even fish have their own complex culture.
Intelligent life forms are all around us. How appalling that human beings have not learned to respect them and leave them in peace here before taking our aggression into space. For young Jains, who take ahimsa seriously and are contemplating a career in the sciences, how about NASA? Very truly yours, Ingrid E. Newkirke President People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 501 Front St. Norfolk, VA 23510 Tel: ++ 757-622-7382
The Oshwal Association of the UK (OAUK) is the largest Jain Community organisation in the UK. Established over 30 years, the community has expanded and has two wonderful community centres ar Potters Bar and South London.
At our recent AGM, I have been elected to the Executive Committee and have been given the privilege of chairing the External Relations Subcommittee. With the growth of the Jain community in the UK, numerous religious, educational, support, welfare and charitable organisations have been established to serve the Jain community and the community at large.
It is very much our wish as OAUK, and particularly that of my subcommittee, to foster closer relationships with all of these bodies. We admire the work of these organisations and sincerely believe that as a Jain community, we can all benefit from closer links and cooperation.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I would like to invite correspondence from all Jain organisations. OAUK would like to know more about what you all do, how we can work with you and what we can do for you. With over 20,000 Oshuals in the UK, I am sure that there is common ground and many areas where we can help one another and promote our faith to a wider audience.
OAK have recently embarked on the construction of a beautiful Jain Derasar at the Oshwal Centre at Potters Bar. The project is well under way and is scheduled to be completed in December 2005. Throughout the construction period, we will be holding a number of open days and fund raising events. We would like to extend invitations to these events to all Jain faith organisations that make contact with us.
To get in touch with OAUK, please contact us as below: Oshwal Centre, Coopers Lane Road, Northaw Herts EN6 4DG E.Mail: external@oshwal.org Web: www.oshwal.org I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Rex H. Shah Chair, External Relations Subcommittee On behalf of Oshwal Association of the UK
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