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#2-1 Jewish Bible, sacrifice of animals, patriarchy.....Animals in bible: dominant tradition:  

ROLL CALL

INDUCTION OF TWO MORE MEMBERS INTO THE ORDER OF THE GREEN BAND

LOOKING AHEAD:

#2-6 Carnism and Ideology;Why We love Dogs, Eat Pigs, Wear Cows The Face on Your Plate; LEADER: SOUTHERN STING RAY

#2-8  Carnism and Sustainability Quiz in class."Best and Worst" LEADER: BELUGA WHALE

• #2-13 P3A  DUE;  COWSPIRACY

 

QUIZ

P3

 Jewish Bible, PRESENTED BY WHITE GOAT

Blue Iguana Lesson Plan: 1/28 for 2/1 Genesis

 

God categorizing us (0:00-2:00)

Southern Stingray

God, like us, categorizes things in order to make sense of the world.

experiential learning (2:00-13:00)

draw (2:00-5:00)

evaluate (5:00-7:00)

choose (7:00-13:00)

hierarchy of humans and animals

Okapi (13:00-14:00)

Grizzly bear (14:00-15:00)

Hedgehog (15:00-16:00)

Asian Elephant (16:00-18:00)

hierarchy of males and females

Blue Indian Peacock (18:00-19:00)

Hedgehog (19:00-20:00)

Okapi (20:00-21:00)

power in naming

Okapi (21:00-22:00)

Blue Indian Peacock (22:00-23:00)

Asian Elephant (23:00-24:00)

closing discussion (24:00-30:00)

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Blue Iguana Blogs Outline: 1/28 for 2/1 Genesis

 

James Green (Southern Stingray)

like God, we like to categorize; therefore, we put people in boxes

"God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:25).

"God was species, a biologist, and he had fierce OCD. God, just like us, is only happy when everything is sufficiently categorized. Categorization makes it easier for us to build power structures and define ourselves. Biologists do this by separating species by Domain, Kingdom, Species...etc. The everyday person does this by implementing and demanding gender norms." —Southern Stingray

Rachel Luo (Blue Indian Peacock)

Bible as origin of the 'temptress' role

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (4).

"This is the pivotal moment of temptation, the one where the woman becomes the one to blame. From hereon after, women take on the role of temptress. Not only that but it starts the narrative of women as the weak-willed of the two. Imagine if Adam had been the one the serpent had spoken to. What if he had taken the first bite? How would that change the centuries of misogyny that would follow?" —Blue Indian Peacock

man becomes God-like by his power over animals

"By giving the animals the truly appropriate name for each Adam proves that he has insight into their true nature, that he understands them. This at once puts him on a different plane from them; he is a creature nearer to God than they, and in fact sharing some at any rate of the insight that enabled God to create them in the first place" (30).

"It definitely relates to the reading from Gender Ideology about calling animals "it" and how that detracts from their humanity, however it traces those origins even farther back. There is this power dynamic where man is still ruled by God yet has some degree of power due to the obedience of animals. We enforce that power dynamic through our language, which goes back to a bunch of the scenes in Earthlings. One scene that I vividly remember is with the elephants in which a man is whipping them and saying horrible, derogatory things to them. That along with the scene with the pigs really emphasize the degree of human cruelty but also the way we gain power through words." —Blue Indian Peacock

Saamia Imtiaz (Black Jaguar)

the origin of shame and relation to Twain's essay "The Lowest Animal"

Derek Yu (Hedgehog)

human dominion over animals

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air" (345).

"To me it is interesting here that God specifically divvies up the other inhabitants of the Earth specifically for humans to control. This here certainly to me sounds like a justification for humans to do with animals as we please, after all God gave us dominion over them. However, I am not entirely sure whether us having simply having dominion over animals necessarily gives us the right to do with them as we please. There still seems like there should be a sense of reasonable restraint." —Hedgehog

male/female duality

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (345).

"I think here is a contradiction between what Genesis says and what we know from medical science and what we can interpret from the previous LGBTQ readings. From this line, it makes it clear that the writers of the Bible see a world where only two sexes exist: male and female. If there were more, then why wouldn't God create them at the very beginning? With the existence of intersex babies, we should be able to see that the male/female duality is one entirely invented by society, and that this is biologically separate sex." —Hedgehog

William Baskin (Bear Cub)

the supremacy of humankind

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl or the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (1).

"Growing up there was a woman who was the director at one of the summer camps my parents owned named Marietta Johnson. She was a lovely woman and a devout Christian; it was from her that I learned a permutation of Christianity that I now find destructive. The entire basis behind the philosophy is based on the idea that man was given control. Their doctrine was that the entire Earth was our and we could do with it what we pleased. It's a highly anthropocentric view of the world. Animals are meant for death strictly so we may eat, trees are meant only for what uses we have for them, and any living thing has just as much value as we place in it." —Bear Cub

"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you" (9).

"We've spent a lot of time talking about how this affects animals and the morality of that situation, so I want to focus more on the destruction of the Earth. Marietta was an avid recycler, or so it would seem. In an effort to appeal to all the crowds of people that would come through camp, she would present areas that looked like they had recycling bins, only to throw the recycling away with the rest of the trash. To her, there was no need to recycle because God would provide and the Earth was meant to be used and abused by people. We still joke that if there is a material and we aren't sure if it's recyclable or not, that we will call Marietta and she would tell us that of course it is." —Bear Cub

Varun Rajaram (Orca Whale)

patriarchy of Genesis

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female created he them" (1:27).

"I wonder if the mention of 'in the image of God he created him' is referring to God creating man first? Is this a subtle element of patriarchal thought being perpetuated in Genesis?"

"The Female Bee that feeds her Husband Drone Deliciously, and builds her waxen Cells" (Paradise Lost, 20).

"Despite having an understanding of the relationship bees have, I find this quotation from Milton's Paradise Lost to embody an attitude of servitude between the female bee and the male bee. This, in tandem with the many sections of Genesis that talk about the necessity for men to till the fields and execute other traditionally masculine tasks, help provide a convincing case for the elements of patriarchal thought that have been perpetuated throughout theology." —Orca Whale

inferiority of animals

"The superiority of man to the animals is further emphasized in his story by the incident of man's naming of all the living creatures. God brings the animals which he has created to man to see what will happen; and man expresses his innate superiority by giving them names, names which thenceforward are unalterably the ones that properly belong to them" (36).

"Did God put animals on Earth to be ultimately inferior to mankind? This passage seems to suggest otherwise. God put animals on Earth to "see what would happen", and mankind expressed its natural superiority by "naming" the animals. I think in this analysis, "naming" the animals is indicative of much more than just assigning a name, and is moreso a testament to the ultimate domestication and absolute domination over animals. Was this God's will? Did God intend for animals to be subjugated for all of eternity? These are questions I still do not know the answer to, but as a vegetarian and as a Hindu whose belief is that animals are not necessarily solely a source of food, I find this viewpoint intriguing." —Orca Whale

Taylor Haydon (Sea Turtle)

God has a greater plan

harmony with living things

"These novelties seem to be in harmony with larger intellectual patterns. What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in relation to things around them. Human ecology is deeply conditioned by beliefs about our nature and destiny—that is, by religion" (380).

"I believe that many of our ideas about ecology stem from familial socialization, so it makes sense that religion plays a role. This quote reminds me of Jainism. Followers refuse to do anything that could harm the world around them out of respect for the earth. Nonviolence is Jainism's basic tenet, so followers act as environmental stewards." —Sea Turtle

Prerna Pamar (Okapi)

all beings are equal

"And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind" (2).

"This quote proves the idea that all beings are equal. If God made us animals, humans, and all other living beings after his kind, why is there still evidence of power complex in which one species is pressured or forced to be inferior to another. Humans constantly attempt to prove their superiority among their own kind as well. If we are made from the same kind as it says in Genesis, there should be no discrimination in our society." —Okapi

woman is equal to man (unique interpretation of quote)

" She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (3).

"This quote is yet another declaration of equality. If women and man are made of the same material than we should be considered the same in all areas. There should be no reason for one gender to claim superiority over the other." —Okapi

power in naming beings

"First to give a name to some other being is to claim and exercise sovereignty over it. One obvious example is the authority of a parent over a newborn child" (30).

"This quote reminds me of the Oscar nominated film "Lady Bird." In the film, the protagonist is a strong-willed teenage girl who calls herself Lady Bird, rather than the name she was given by her mother. The quote coincides with the idea portrayed in this film since it claims the act of naming a child is equivalent to exercising sovereignty over another being. Each individual has the right to choosing who they are and their name is a huge part of this process." —Okapi

Zachary Epstein (Grizzly Bear)

human/animal hierarchy

"By contrast, both the creation stories in Genesis, in their individual ways, stress the distinctness of man from the rest of creation, while in one of them his homogeneity with it at least played down. In the older story, Genesis, both man and the animals are formed out of the dust out of the ground; but the birds and beasts are nevertheless not adequate companions and partners for man. Only another human being, formed out of his own living substance, can be that. It is this unique kinship which, so the story claims, explains the all-surpassing force of the bond between man and woman" (30).

"This passage shows the differentiation between man and animal, and I think this is important. Noting that we as humans are above animals does not mean we should not treat them with dignity and respect. But it does mean we should recognize that we are on different levels of a hierarchy, and I do not feel bad saying that. If I could save either a cow or a sister, I would save the sister. That is not anything against the cow - it really isn't. But it does show that there is a fine line between both being respectable creatures, and one being put above the other. And I feel it's crucial that we recognize this difference, and we act accordingly." —Grizzly Bear

Shoumik Dabir (Asian Elephant)

superiority of man

"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you" (9).

"This quote from the Genesis cemented my disdain for the underlying premise within Christianity: that man is bestowed with a divine right to plunder, loot, and exploit nature for his benefit. The Genesis does not advocate harmonious living amongst all creatures on the planet, ensuring the wellbeing of all, but rather presents animals as living in "fear" and "dread" of Man. From what convoluted angle does this idea present a sustainable means of living in a world with a loving, compassionate God? And why does he extend his compassion exclusively to humans?" —Asian Elephant

superiority in naming

"God brings the animals which he has created to man to see what will happen, and man expresses his innate superiority by giving them their names, names which thenceforward are unalterably the ones that properly belong to them [...] to give a name to another being is to claim and exercise sovereignty over it" (30).

"I thought this was particularly interesting because I never thought about how the very act of naming something/someone asserts your dominance over him/her. It reminds me of how at the time of baptism, especially when converting religion, one adopts a Christian name. In this context, it would symbolize subservience to the church, God, and Jesus. From a Biblical perspective, the relationship between man and the rest of nature is cemented through actions such as these." —Asian Elephant

Sara Ross (Goat)

maybe God didn't create everything

Alexander Davis (Deer)

Why did God create beings with an innate desire to know if he wanted to keep them from certain knowledge, etc.?

Cheng-Ying Daniel Shih (African Lion)

woman came from man

"And the rib, which LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man" (3).

"I thought it was very interesting that Genesis believe that women came from men. The fact that "men" came before "women" gives the religion a strong argument in gender inequality, at least in my eyes. Though God loves everyone on this planet, it is hard to imagine that God would not create both men and women at the same time while loving both equally. I also found out that God created women after all the animals and creatures were created. In a sense, does that women are inferior to them as well? After all, the Genesis refers to humans as "men," does that mean women don't enjoy the same rights as men?" —African Lion

"[The 'dominion'] is in essence a perfect obedience to the will of God which is rewarded by a divinely ordained harmony and abundance in nature, which recognizes man as the greatest of all God's creates and pays him homage. If this vision offers any goals or ideals for our present situation, they certainly are not the extermination of species or the ruthless exploitation for short-term gain of precious natural resources. On the contrary, thy are much more akin to the aims of modern study of animal life and of environmental conservation" (16).

dominance over animals

"I was deeply confused by this quote. I do not understand how being 'dominion' is more akin to modern study of animal life and environmental conservation when species equality is such an important principle for environmental protection efforts. For me, the conservation efforts are purposed so humans will be able to share this planet with other species, rather than being the "better species" and help other species from going extinct. After all, we as humans created climate change, which brought Earth to the largest wave of extinction in millions of years." —African Lion