I fail to understand how can killing innocent living beings and spilling blood be a religious obligation? Why no modern muslim questions this barbaric practise?
I can understand that from a vegan perspective the killing of any animal can be appalling and barbaric, especially an animal that some think are equal to humans, the sacred cow. I respect the vegan lifestyle though I'm not one. Vegans do have a lower ecological footprint than meat eaters and I appreciate their contribution to the planet.
Maybe I'm looking at this from the perspective of a meat eater but I think it is unfair to blame Muslims and call them names for animal slaughter on Eid. As
@Pluralist mentioned, it is an occasion of sharing and gathering. Breaking social and class boundaries. Making those unfortunate feel a part of society.
As for the animal slaughter itself, it can be unsightly if one isn't familiar with their food chain (unless you are vegan). I think there are some important life lessons in the ritual itself and being uncensored is part of it, to ground oneself in reality and appreciate life a bit more. In the modern world, animals are slaughtered in a factory, hiding the process and the meat people purchase often don't resemble the original animal form. This creates a society of people that are detached with their food and treating meat as just another commodity, like potatoes and lettuces, often leading to over consumption of meat and waste in the environment of abundance, meaning more animals need to be slaughtered. Some people might not fully appreciate how meat was once an living animal that was raised to a certain age and slaughtered for consumption to nourish their life force. An animal died so a human can sustain its life, so eat what is necessary and don't indulge in gluttony and waste. Meat was once a living creature, people should understand that.
Some humans consume meat and same is true of creatures in nature, we are apart of nature. In nature there are herbivores, omnivorous, and carnivores, humans also follow these methods of nourishment.
