An interesting piece of news out of the UK says that the Welsh government has ordered a "sacred bull" owned by a group of Hindus to be put to death.

http://news.yahoo.com/..../oukoe_uk_britain_shambo

Shambo the bull apparently is stricken with bovine tuberculosis, and is now considered a public health threat. The Hindu group, as you can imagine, is pissed off. Cows and bulls are like Gods to these folks. They worship these animals.

Of course, Brahma, the biggest sacred bull of them all, who lives up in the Hindu Heavens, should have protected Shambo from even contracting the disease. But then again, I'm not an expert on Hinduism.

What's particularly stupid about all this, is that the owners of Shambo, who are devout Hindus, and who are acting like they are being forced against their will, don't seem to want to do anything to help Shambo. That is, why not pool their money to get this bull treated? Why not pool their money and move to Shambo to some place far from human contact? I mean, they're supposed to love Shambo right?

Here's a tell tale quote from the news report...

"The law needs to be broad enough and should include viable alternatives such as isolation and treatment to achieve their purpose so that they don't cut across people's ethics, religion or conscience. We don't cull infected humans, we treat them."

In other words, the Hindus want the government to protect their religion. This isn't about Shambo, this is about public endorsement and protection of their faith.

Labels: Hinduism, Religion