At easter time this year i finally took a trip to Auschwitz. I became aware of unimaginable horrors on a scale i could never have dreamed up - but what disturbed me most was that, normally a very sensitive sort of person, i came away feeling not as moved by the horrors as i thought - instead a deep anger about another matter started welling up in me - i thought i would be laughed at if i ever tried to describe this to anyone but watching this film has enabled me to liberate the thoughts i had.....
... atrosities far worse than the holocaust and on a far greater scale are happening every single day, not just in far away places but on my doorstep - in the Bernard Matthews turkey farm, in the nearby slaughter houses, on the fish farms. The way we treat our own species is one thing, but how low are we to knowingly and carelessly inflict this on innocent, harmless, beautiful creatures that we should be honoured to live alongside and be using our intelligence to learn from. How arrogant are we that we think the holocaust so horrendous yet these other daily massacres are perfectly acceptable. People will look at me with disdain if i dared to compare the holocaust with a Bernard Matthews turkey farm - why - to me the suffering is the worse. We have become so conditioned to believe it is ok, normal, part of the cycle of life. We are truely base creatures - to have our 'intelligence' and to use it in this way.

I also feel frustrated that portrayal of animal rights activists has been manipulated by those want to perpetuate animal holocaust as terrorists, themselves evil - making it so much harder for those inclined to speak out about it to be heard.

I see myself as a peaceful person, my role models are Ghandhi and Tolstoi yet after this film i felt urged to harm the perpetrators in the same way they were harming the animals - of course this is the wrong approach, violence is never overcome with more violence - i'm just sharing my raw feelings with a like-minded audience. what a relief to know i'm not alone with these views.

Susan Bennett
Vegan
forensic psychologist
Earthling
age 38

Answer me this;
Is violence really wrong if it is the only way they will listen to you ?
Is violence wrong if it will in long term cause less violence ?
Is violence wrong if it is used to protect yourself / someone else ?

Yes, anger is a normal feeling. Nothing to be afraid of. Thing is highly problematic because humans, knowingly or unknowingly tend to break our own rules. Do not kill, yet we can kill everyday with no restraint ?

Auschwitz is a great example of what can happen when things go wrong. And such camps exist even today. That regime of repression is not a history. It still lives and army is the best way to 'promote' it. America, china, russia. Just because it doesn't get written about in the paper it doesn't mean it doesn't exist any more.

Beautiful words for an awful reality. Thanks for sharing!

Samuel.

today the world seems like an uglier place to me than it did yesterday,I am changed by what i've seen. i'm ashamed to be human and feel powerless and small in the face of the machine that humans have become.

People who support this film want the same thing don't we? we want it to stop and for there to be a harmony between humans and animals. What is the most effective way to reach this shared goal?

by using violence aren't we playing straight into the hands of those who want to carry it on - it enables them to totally ostracise and therefore quieten disenters, we become marginalised, criminalised, the focus of the immorality - when we want the opposite - we are in the right and we need to be in the mainstream, not in the shadows, we need the media to be behind us, championing our goals, raising awareness, taking people with us.

I felt a cheer when the elephant retaliated - but look how it ended - there were no winners.

Wipe that feeling off, you are completely wrong ! World is a beautiful place populated by (sometimes) ugly people !!

You might want to read Unabomber's manifesto - Industrial Society and Its Future it holds some valid points.

Yep, the elephant effect. Somewhere deep down in us, we all feel it.

Welcome...

What you have described is very typical of someone who has seen Earthlings for the first time. The anger is completely natural, and your audience is most definitely like-minded. I fully agree that the Holocaust comparisons are not only warranted, but are insufficient in describing the atrocities that continue in the present day.

My favorite Gandhi quote is that what you do will be insignificant, but it's very important that you do it. Are you familiar with Thoreau too? I know a little less about Tolstoy.

All we can do is live according to our beliefs and try to help others understand our motivation, and hopefully it will bring a better future.