The Wrong trial of indecency – Mathieu Ricard

August 2016 Article published in Le Monde
Excerpt from a conference given on December 16, 2014

Animal advocates do not forget the suffering of human beings. To love animals is also a way to enhance humanity.

Following the publication of "The Case for Animals" in October, one of the most frequent criticisms I encountered was that it was indecent to focus on animals and seek to improve their welfare when so much human suffering exists in places like Syria, Sudan, and elsewhere. To even consider animals would be seen as an affront to humanity. While this argument may appear to be based on noble principles, upon closer examination, it lacks logic entirely.

If devoting some of our thoughts, words, and actions to alleviating the unspeakable suffering inflicted upon other sentient beings such as animals is deemed disrespectful to human suffering, then what about listening to France Musique, playing sports, or sunbathing on a beach? Would those who engage in such activities be condemned as despicable individuals for not devoting all their time to alleviating famine in Somalia?

As Luc Ferry astutely observes: “I would like someone to explain to me how torturing animals would benefit humans. Does the plight of Christians in Iraq improve because thousands of dogs are skinned alive in China every year and left to die in agony for hours, given that the more excruciating their pain, the better their flesh? Is it because we mistreat dogs here that we are more sensitive to the suffering of the Kurds? (...) Each of us can take care of our own, our family, our job, and also engage in politics or community life without resorting to slaughtering animals.”

If someone were to devote 100% of their time to humanitarian work, one could only encourage them to continue. In fact, it is likely that a person with such altruism would also show kindness to animals. Kindness is not a finite resource to be distributed sparingly like chocolate cake. It is a way of life, an attitude, an intention to do good to all those within our sphere of attention and to alleviate their suffering. By loving animals, we do not love people less; we love them better because our benevolence is broader and thus of higher quality. Those who only love a small portion of sentient beings, or even of humanity, demonstrate a limited and narrow benevolence.

For those who do not work tirelessly to alleviate human suffering, what harm is there in alleviating animal suffering instead of playing cards? The fallacy of indecency, that it is immoral to care about animals when millions of humans are starving, is often an easy excuse for those who do little for either cause. To someone who sarcastically questioned the ultimate usefulness of her charitable actions, Sister Emmanuelle responded, “And you, sir, what are you doing for humanity?”

Fighting on all fronts
In my humble case, the flawed argument of indecency is rather incongruous, as the humanitarian organization I founded, Karuna-Shechen, treats 100,000 patients a year, and 25,000 children study in the schools we have built. Working to alleviate animals’ immense suffering does not diminish my determination to alleviate human suffering in the slightest. Unnecessary suffering must be eradicated wherever it exists, whatever its form. The battle must be fought on all fronts, and it can be.

Concern for the fate of the 1.6 million other species on the planet is neither unrealistic nor indecent, because it is often unnecessary to choose between human and animal welfare. We live in an inherently interconnected world, where the fate of each being is intimately linked to that of others. It is not a matter of caring solely for animals but rather for all beings. In reality, we will all either succeed or fail together because the overconsumption of meat in affluent countries due to industrial farming perpetuates hunger worldwide. It is also the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (after buildings and before transportation) and is detrimental to human health.

By being concerned about the mass slaughter of animals, we do not forget the plight of the Syrians; we simply demonstrate compassion.

By Matthieu Ricard
Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk and writer.
His latest book, "Plaidoyer pour les animaux," is published by Allary Editions, comprising 370 pages.