1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:10,427 --> 00:00:13,555 (solemn flute music) 4 00:00:23,356 --> 00:00:26,693 - How can we expect ourselves to have 5 00:00:26,693 --> 00:00:31,489 lives of joy and freedom and spiritual clarity 6 00:00:31,489 --> 00:00:33,908 when we are sowing the seeds 7 00:00:33,908 --> 00:00:35,201 of the opposite of that? 8 00:00:35,577 --> 00:00:37,912 - It's almost like some mad scientist 9 00:00:37,912 --> 00:00:42,042 like Satan himself designed these systems 10 00:00:42,042 --> 00:00:45,295 that are being used now to raise animals. 11 00:00:45,295 --> 00:00:47,338 It is absolute insanity. 12 00:00:50,675 --> 00:00:53,845 - I don't get how you can love everything Jesus says 13 00:00:53,845 --> 00:00:55,805 and then participate in 14 00:00:55,805 --> 00:01:00,685 a mechanized system of mass slaughter 15 00:01:00,685 --> 00:01:04,647 that involves pain beyond your wildest imagination. 16 00:01:04,647 --> 00:01:06,775 - Even keeping quiet and silent 17 00:01:06,775 --> 00:01:11,404 about the violence, you are part of that violence. 18 00:01:11,404 --> 00:01:14,824 - There's another passage in the Quran that says that 19 00:01:14,824 --> 00:01:17,952 because of the wrongs of humanity, 20 00:01:17,952 --> 00:01:20,455 there has been much corruption 21 00:01:20,455 --> 00:01:23,792 seen in the oceans and on land. 22 00:01:27,378 --> 00:01:30,215 - So for a few moments in which we're 23 00:01:30,215 --> 00:01:33,635 enjoying what is really just a palette preference 24 00:01:33,635 --> 00:01:37,263 we're taking what is most essential to animals, 25 00:01:37,263 --> 00:01:40,683 their very lives and that's the opposite 26 00:01:40,683 --> 00:01:42,519 of compassion, it seems to me. 27 00:01:42,519 --> 00:01:45,980 - We are ashamed of our ancestors who owned slaves. 28 00:01:45,980 --> 00:01:47,982 We are ashamed of our ancestors 29 00:01:47,982 --> 00:01:51,069 who believed in segregation 30 00:01:51,069 --> 00:01:54,364 so too, our grandchildren will be ashamed 31 00:01:54,364 --> 00:01:56,866 of what we allowed to happen on our watch. 32 00:01:56,866 --> 00:02:00,578 Each of us has to ask ourselves a spiritual question, 33 00:02:00,578 --> 00:02:04,290 what side do I want to tell my grandchildren I was on? 34 00:02:04,290 --> 00:02:08,044 Was I on the side of mercy and compassion, 35 00:02:08,044 --> 00:02:10,380 or was I on the blind side that helped 36 00:02:10,380 --> 00:02:11,923 to perpetuate suffering? 37 00:02:14,467 --> 00:02:16,678 ♪ This little light of mine ♪ 38 00:02:16,678 --> 00:02:18,847 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 39 00:02:18,847 --> 00:02:21,141 ♪ This little light of mine ♪ 40 00:02:21,141 --> 00:02:24,269 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 41 00:02:24,269 --> 00:02:26,563 ♪ This little light of mine ♪ 42 00:02:26,563 --> 00:02:27,814 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine. ♪ 43 00:02:27,814 --> 00:02:29,732 - This one is for you. 44 00:02:29,732 --> 00:02:33,361 ♪ Let it shine let it shine let it shine ♪ 45 00:02:33,361 --> 00:02:35,405 - [Thomas] This is my daughter Melody. 46 00:02:35,405 --> 00:02:38,616 She's the reason I'm making this documentary. 47 00:02:38,616 --> 00:02:42,036 It's for her and it's for all the children 48 00:02:42,036 --> 00:02:45,123 who will inherit whatever world we choose to leave them. 49 00:02:46,207 --> 00:02:51,212 (OM-ing) 50 00:02:52,964 --> 00:02:55,550 - We've got a potato. 51 00:02:55,550 --> 00:02:56,843 - Thank you for this food 52 00:02:56,843 --> 00:02:59,429 and let it nourish our bodies and our spirits. 53 00:02:59,429 --> 00:03:02,098 Let it keep us healthy and happy 54 00:03:02,098 --> 00:03:04,684 and full of life and love and compassion 55 00:03:04,684 --> 00:03:05,977 for all of creation. 56 00:03:05,977 --> 00:03:07,687 - And be vegan. 57 00:03:07,687 --> 00:03:10,398 - Be vegan and be a champion for the people 58 00:03:10,398 --> 00:03:12,650 and be a champion for the planet 59 00:03:12,650 --> 00:03:15,403 and be a champion for the animals 60 00:03:15,403 --> 00:03:17,655 and be a champion for ourselves. 61 00:03:17,655 --> 00:03:20,408 - And for all of these things we say 62 00:03:20,408 --> 00:03:22,368 thank you and so it is. 63 00:03:23,286 --> 00:03:26,289 - And be champion for the animals, so it is. 64 00:03:28,374 --> 00:03:30,543 - [Thomas] I haven't always been a vegan. 65 00:03:30,543 --> 00:03:33,296 I was born in a small town in South Georgia 66 00:03:33,296 --> 00:03:35,089 during the late 60s 67 00:03:35,089 --> 00:03:37,717 and I was raised a southern Baptist 68 00:03:37,717 --> 00:03:39,427 and I grew up eating the a southern version 69 00:03:39,427 --> 00:03:41,346 of the standard American diet. 70 00:03:41,346 --> 00:03:44,015 Comprised mainly of meat, dairy, and eggs, 71 00:03:44,015 --> 00:03:46,351 mixed in with huge helpings of fast 72 00:03:46,351 --> 00:03:48,311 and processed foods. 73 00:03:48,311 --> 00:03:51,856 And like so many other kids eating the SAD diet, 74 00:03:51,856 --> 00:03:54,234 I suffered the sad consequences 75 00:03:54,234 --> 00:03:56,236 which ranged from mild asthma to 76 00:03:56,236 --> 00:03:59,280 severe allergies to tons of ear infections, 77 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,868 sties, viruses and zits and too many more ailments 78 00:04:03,868 --> 00:04:06,037 that were considered normal to list. 79 00:04:06,454 --> 00:04:11,376 (ragtime music) 80 00:04:13,836 --> 00:04:16,005 Okay...um...I'm making this video 81 00:04:16,005 --> 00:04:19,467 for, you know, my family back home and uh... 82 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,515 Um...I'm making this...okay, 83 00:04:26,474 --> 00:04:29,269 I'm making this video...I'm looking at the mic...okay. 84 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,274 It wasn't until my mid 30s living in New York City 85 00:04:34,274 --> 00:04:37,694 and attending a Unity Church that I became a vegan. 86 00:04:38,569 --> 00:04:40,738 It was studying the teachings of Jesus 87 00:04:40,738 --> 00:04:43,199 about kindness and compassion 88 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,743 and starting a daily meditation practice 89 00:04:45,743 --> 00:04:48,579 that really led me to a non violent diet 90 00:04:48,579 --> 00:04:51,249 even though no one at Unity or anywhere else 91 00:04:51,249 --> 00:04:54,127 had ever even suggested I be vegetarian 92 00:04:54,127 --> 00:04:56,337 and I had never even heard the word 'vegan' 93 00:04:56,337 --> 00:04:59,132 much less knew any. Though it wasn't long 94 00:04:59,132 --> 00:05:02,552 before I started noticing that during Sunday brunch, 95 00:05:02,552 --> 00:05:05,346 the same ministers and chaplains who were teaching me about 96 00:05:05,346 --> 00:05:09,142 kindness and compassion for all were for some reason 97 00:05:09,142 --> 00:05:12,770 not including the innocent animals on their plates. 98 00:05:12,770 --> 00:05:15,690 But who was I to judge the choices of another? 99 00:05:15,690 --> 00:05:18,276 So I decided to live and let live 100 00:05:18,276 --> 00:05:20,069 and try to be a good example. 101 00:05:21,112 --> 00:05:22,864 (baby gurgling) 102 00:05:22,864 --> 00:05:25,283 And that worked for almost a decade 103 00:05:25,283 --> 00:05:28,911 until after my daughter was born and suddenly 104 00:05:28,911 --> 00:05:31,581 I found myself with skin in the game 105 00:05:31,581 --> 00:05:34,334 and a reason to care about what happens in the future. 106 00:05:35,376 --> 00:05:37,962 (baby cooing) 107 00:05:37,962 --> 00:05:40,465 Really, is that so? 108 00:05:40,465 --> 00:05:43,926 And then I saw the documentary Cowspiracy 109 00:05:43,926 --> 00:05:46,804 where I learned that not only does animal agriculture create 110 00:05:46,804 --> 00:05:49,599 over half the greenhouse gases on the planet 111 00:05:49,599 --> 00:05:53,436 but it's also the number one user and polluter of water 112 00:05:53,478 --> 00:05:56,064 and the major cause of deforestation. 113 00:05:56,064 --> 00:05:58,107 Not to mention that the grains we use 114 00:05:58,107 --> 00:06:00,693 to feed billions of animals that we breed 115 00:06:00,693 --> 00:06:03,279 just for slaughter could much more effectively 116 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:05,156 be fed to humans and could help 117 00:06:05,156 --> 00:06:07,158 save the nearly nine million people 118 00:06:07,158 --> 00:06:09,494 who die from hunger each year. 119 00:06:11,287 --> 00:06:13,539 I felt I had to do something 120 00:06:13,539 --> 00:06:16,459 but I didn't know what, so I did what I often 121 00:06:16,459 --> 00:06:18,836 do when I don't know what to do. 122 00:06:18,836 --> 00:06:21,339 I prayed and I meditated about it 123 00:06:22,298 --> 00:06:24,967 and during that meditation this question 124 00:06:24,967 --> 00:06:27,178 popped into my mind. 125 00:06:27,178 --> 00:06:29,263 How is it possible that a compassionate, 126 00:06:29,263 --> 00:06:31,557 spiritual or religious person 127 00:06:31,557 --> 00:06:34,143 could support an industry that is responsible 128 00:06:34,143 --> 00:06:37,730 for the unnecessary suffering of billions of people 129 00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:40,400 trillions of land and sea animals 130 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,112 and the devastation of the very planet we live on? 131 00:06:45,029 --> 00:06:47,782 That question would end up taking me on a journey 132 00:06:47,824 --> 00:06:50,868 throughout the United States and around the globe 133 00:06:50,868 --> 00:06:52,912 to explore the teachings of kindness 134 00:06:52,912 --> 00:06:56,082 and compassion that form the basis of all the world's 135 00:06:56,082 --> 00:06:59,585 main religions and the not so main ones as well 136 00:07:00,253 --> 00:07:03,339 and try to understand how so many people of faith 137 00:07:03,339 --> 00:07:05,174 are doing unto others that which 138 00:07:05,174 --> 00:07:08,511 they would never wish done unto themselves. 139 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:11,514 (ragtime music) 140 00:07:11,556 --> 00:07:14,559 The journey started when I traveled back to New York City 141 00:07:14,559 --> 00:07:17,437 to speak to Victoria Moran who I'd met 142 00:07:17,437 --> 00:07:19,772 once years earlier when she spoke 143 00:07:19,772 --> 00:07:21,732 at the Unity church I attended 144 00:07:21,732 --> 00:07:23,276 while living in that beautiful city 145 00:07:23,276 --> 00:07:24,485 that never sleeps. 146 00:07:25,194 --> 00:07:27,155 - I personally don't understand 147 00:07:27,155 --> 00:07:29,907 why some of the people that I admire the most, 148 00:07:29,907 --> 00:07:32,201 people whose words and whose writings 149 00:07:32,201 --> 00:07:37,206 I completely revere, are eating our fellow creatures. 150 00:07:37,415 --> 00:07:39,834 - [Thomas] Victoria Moran is a much sought after speaker, 151 00:07:39,834 --> 00:07:41,377 best selling author, 152 00:07:41,377 --> 00:07:43,963 and host of the Main Street Vegan Podcast. 153 00:07:43,963 --> 00:07:46,757 She's been an animal rights activist and vegan 154 00:07:46,757 --> 00:07:48,259 for over 30 years. 155 00:07:48,259 --> 00:07:51,471 - A great deal of spirituality is about belief. 156 00:07:51,471 --> 00:07:53,514 That's why we call it faith. 157 00:07:53,514 --> 00:07:56,434 I'm a person of faith. I'm a Christian, 158 00:07:56,434 --> 00:08:00,438 a yogic Christian and yet I understand 159 00:08:00,438 --> 00:08:02,190 that there are people who have other 160 00:08:02,190 --> 00:08:05,234 spiritual beliefs and other spiritual views. 161 00:08:05,234 --> 00:08:08,279 So what can bring all spiritual people 162 00:08:08,279 --> 00:08:12,283 together as a whole believing community? 163 00:08:12,283 --> 00:08:14,827 To me that is compassion. 164 00:08:14,869 --> 00:08:17,079 Because compassion is at the center 165 00:08:17,079 --> 00:08:19,248 of the message of Jesus, 166 00:08:19,248 --> 00:08:21,876 it's compassion that got the Jews 167 00:08:21,876 --> 00:08:25,296 out of bondage and to the promised land. 168 00:08:25,379 --> 00:08:28,090 We have all the eastern religions that are 169 00:08:28,090 --> 00:08:30,676 Ahimsa based, non violence based. 170 00:08:30,676 --> 00:08:33,304 So can we all agree that however 171 00:08:33,304 --> 00:08:35,765 we see God, however we see the road 172 00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:40,061 to salvation, being compassionate to one another 173 00:08:40,061 --> 00:08:43,397 and expanding that compassion out to all that has life 174 00:08:43,397 --> 00:08:46,400 is the true essence of spirituality? 175 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,361 What else could it possibly be? 176 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,405 - I think all of the world's religions, 177 00:08:51,405 --> 00:08:53,407 if you distill them, the wisdom down to one sentence 178 00:08:53,407 --> 00:08:54,617 it'd be something like this: 179 00:08:54,617 --> 00:08:56,953 whatever you most want for yourself, 180 00:08:56,953 --> 00:09:00,164 give that to others. That's a basic understanding 181 00:09:00,164 --> 00:09:02,542 to give to others what you would like. 182 00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:05,920 Another way of saying it is whatever you sow, you will reap. 183 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,255 It's also the same thing, 184 00:09:07,255 --> 00:09:09,340 whatever we put out, it'll come back. 185 00:09:09,340 --> 00:09:12,718 - [Thomas] Victoria put me in contact with Dr. Will Tuttle 186 00:09:12,718 --> 00:09:15,638 who's a musician, an international speaker 187 00:09:15,638 --> 00:09:17,139 and the best selling author 188 00:09:17,139 --> 00:09:18,933 of the World Peace Diet. 189 00:09:18,933 --> 00:09:21,477 I sat down with Dr. Tuttle in Ocala 190 00:09:21,477 --> 00:09:23,187 where he and his spouse Madeline 191 00:09:23,187 --> 00:09:25,273 were currently living in the solar powered 192 00:09:25,273 --> 00:09:28,192 RV that they use while traveling around the country, 193 00:09:28,192 --> 00:09:31,362 speaking about animal rights and performing music. 194 00:09:31,946 --> 00:09:33,864 - From the time we were born, 195 00:09:33,864 --> 00:09:35,992 we were forced to participate in mealtime rituals 196 00:09:35,992 --> 00:09:38,411 by our parents and teachers and 197 00:09:38,411 --> 00:09:39,954 everyone in our community 198 00:09:40,496 --> 00:09:43,583 that essentially numb us and disconnect us 199 00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:44,709 so that when we get older, 200 00:09:44,709 --> 00:09:46,377 we take out our wallets and we vote for it 201 00:09:46,377 --> 00:09:48,713 and we don't just vote for it, we then eat it. 202 00:09:48,713 --> 00:09:51,090 So we actually bring it into our body, 203 00:09:51,090 --> 00:09:52,967 we give it to our children. 204 00:09:52,967 --> 00:09:56,178 This is not only toxic from the point of view 205 00:09:56,178 --> 00:09:58,055 of the level of physical heath but 206 00:09:58,055 --> 00:10:01,017 it's toxic from the point of view of our spiritual health, 207 00:10:01,017 --> 00:10:02,727 from the point of view of our cultural health, 208 00:10:02,727 --> 00:10:04,854 from the point of view of our ethical health. 209 00:10:04,854 --> 00:10:07,773 We don't actually hold the knife ourselves, 210 00:10:07,773 --> 00:10:10,526 we don't actually hold the electroshock prod 211 00:10:10,526 --> 00:10:12,695 ourselves, we don't actually hold the 212 00:10:12,695 --> 00:10:15,364 raping sperm gun ourselves and fire it, 213 00:10:15,364 --> 00:10:17,074 but we pay someone else to do that 214 00:10:17,074 --> 00:10:19,201 and so we pay other people to do things 215 00:10:19,201 --> 00:10:21,037 that bring out the worst in them 216 00:10:21,037 --> 00:10:22,705 and yet all we see is something 217 00:10:22,705 --> 00:10:25,291 wrapped in plastic and styrofoam, 218 00:10:25,291 --> 00:10:27,752 very often served with a smile 219 00:10:27,752 --> 00:10:29,879 and so there's this deep disconnection 220 00:10:29,879 --> 00:10:31,297 in our society and I think it's that 221 00:10:31,297 --> 00:10:34,800 deep disconnection that is the greatest 222 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,928 obstacle to authentic spiritual awakening. 223 00:10:37,928 --> 00:10:41,015 The authentic inner spiritual teaching 224 00:10:41,015 --> 00:10:44,602 of all the great religious wisdom traditions 225 00:10:44,602 --> 00:10:46,937 are pointing in the same direction. 226 00:10:46,937 --> 00:10:49,065 Kindness and compassion for all living beings 227 00:10:49,065 --> 00:10:52,234 is the path of awakening for all of us. 228 00:10:52,401 --> 00:10:55,696 (light rock music) 229 00:10:55,696 --> 00:10:58,741 - [Thomas] My next stop was Encinitas, California, 230 00:10:58,741 --> 00:11:00,284 where I would sit down and visit 231 00:11:00,284 --> 00:11:04,121 with Bob Isaacson, Buddhist, dharma teacher 232 00:11:04,121 --> 00:11:08,542 and co-founder and president of Dharma Voices for Animals. 233 00:11:08,542 --> 00:11:11,796 - The teachings of the Buddha regarding compassion 234 00:11:11,796 --> 00:11:14,215 and non harming towards animals, 235 00:11:14,215 --> 00:11:19,220 is not being followed by many many Buddhist practitioners, 236 00:11:19,387 --> 00:11:21,847 teachers, and Buddhist centers. 237 00:11:21,847 --> 00:11:23,641 The Buddha said to his followers 238 00:11:23,849 --> 00:11:27,144 if there is no eater of meat, 239 00:11:27,144 --> 00:11:29,772 there will be no destroyer of life. 240 00:11:29,772 --> 00:11:32,983 Whatever the karmic effect is to the person 241 00:11:32,983 --> 00:11:36,070 eating the animal, the person who has to slaughter 242 00:11:36,070 --> 00:11:37,780 the animal, the person who has 243 00:11:37,780 --> 00:11:40,324 to raise that animal for slaughter 244 00:11:40,324 --> 00:11:45,329 is incurring extremely unwholesome karma. 245 00:11:45,371 --> 00:11:47,957 Oftentimes people who cannot 246 00:11:47,957 --> 00:11:50,793 find other jobs, people who are exploited 247 00:11:50,793 --> 00:11:55,005 terribly in slaughterhouses and factory farming 248 00:11:55,005 --> 00:11:58,300 why should these people incur negative karma, 249 00:11:58,300 --> 00:12:00,928 killing animals and raising animals for slaughter 250 00:12:00,928 --> 00:12:04,098 when all we have to do is eat a plant based diet? 251 00:12:04,098 --> 00:12:06,642 - Compassion is such an important 252 00:12:06,642 --> 00:12:10,062 key part of all traditions, but really 253 00:12:10,062 --> 00:12:12,815 looking at what that meant and how 254 00:12:12,815 --> 00:12:15,860 it extends to all living beings is a really 255 00:12:15,860 --> 00:12:20,364 important piece. {laughs} So I have to say 256 00:12:20,364 --> 00:12:24,368 these two lovely guys they don't get along very well. 257 00:12:25,911 --> 00:12:27,413 - They need a little more compassion. 258 00:12:27,413 --> 00:12:28,372 - Yes, yes. 259 00:12:28,372 --> 00:12:30,624 - [Thomas] I'd left Bob and I traveled north 260 00:12:30,624 --> 00:12:34,587 to the hills of Topanga where I met Lisa Levinson, 261 00:12:34,587 --> 00:12:37,214 the sustainable activism campaign director 262 00:12:37,214 --> 00:12:38,591 for In Defense of Animals 263 00:12:38,591 --> 00:12:40,760 and the founder of Vegan Spirituality. 264 00:12:41,469 --> 00:12:43,721 - I can recall being in a spiritual circle 265 00:12:43,721 --> 00:12:45,723 and raising the energy and doing 266 00:12:45,723 --> 00:12:47,141 some wonderful rituals 267 00:12:47,141 --> 00:12:49,769 and then directly after that we went 268 00:12:49,769 --> 00:12:52,104 to have lunch and the lunch was a barbecue 269 00:12:52,104 --> 00:12:54,190 and I just felt that energy drop 270 00:12:54,190 --> 00:12:57,026 all the way down to the ground and below 271 00:12:57,026 --> 00:12:59,779 because it was just stunning 272 00:12:59,779 --> 00:13:02,156 to me that no one there thought 273 00:13:02,156 --> 00:13:04,283 wow these animals that they're eating 274 00:13:04,283 --> 00:13:06,619 have anything to do with spirituality. 275 00:13:06,619 --> 00:13:08,204 I had had similar experiences 276 00:13:08,204 --> 00:13:09,747 in other spiritual groups 277 00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:12,833 and my friend Sandy had the same experience 278 00:13:12,833 --> 00:13:14,877 and we were both so surprised 279 00:13:14,877 --> 00:13:19,089 that people who consider themselves spiritual 280 00:13:19,089 --> 00:13:23,052 and loving animals would eat animals. 281 00:13:24,345 --> 00:13:26,806 - [Thomas] From Lisa's I headed down to L.A. 282 00:13:26,806 --> 00:13:29,934 to attend my first ever Animal Rights conference. 283 00:13:29,934 --> 00:13:32,645 It was much bigger than I expected 284 00:13:32,645 --> 00:13:36,899 and suddenly I felt a little less lonely as a vegan. 285 00:13:36,899 --> 00:13:39,485 - So the Good Food Institute is focused 286 00:13:39,485 --> 00:13:43,447 on making alternatives to animal products 287 00:13:43,447 --> 00:13:48,452 as delicious, as convenient, and as inexpensive as possible. 288 00:13:48,994 --> 00:13:49,912 (applause) 289 00:13:49,912 --> 00:13:52,206 So if we had been having this conversation 290 00:13:52,206 --> 00:13:56,502 150 years ago, people of faith 291 00:13:56,502 --> 00:13:59,672 would be saying slavery is in the Bible, 292 00:13:59,672 --> 00:14:02,508 women are not chosen by Jesus 293 00:14:02,508 --> 00:14:05,719 to be his disciples and we need to apply 294 00:14:05,719 --> 00:14:07,972 that sort of central organizing principle 295 00:14:07,972 --> 00:14:10,850 to politics. There certainly are many 296 00:14:10,850 --> 00:14:13,310 times in the Bible, slaves obey your masters, 297 00:14:13,310 --> 00:14:16,730 wives obey your husbands, so these concepts 298 00:14:16,730 --> 00:14:19,400 up until 150 years ago 299 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,695 were used to justify things that 300 00:14:22,695 --> 00:14:24,613 pretty much no Christians are going 301 00:14:24,613 --> 00:14:27,992 to continue to attempt to reconcile with their faith. 302 00:14:27,992 --> 00:14:29,827 - What is the core of Christianity? 303 00:14:29,827 --> 00:14:31,203 It's love. 304 00:14:31,203 --> 00:14:34,206 Is what we are doing to other creatures love? 305 00:14:34,206 --> 00:14:35,833 And for what purpose? 306 00:14:35,833 --> 00:14:38,377 Humans have no need to exploit other animals. 307 00:14:38,377 --> 00:14:40,713 Certainly don't need to eat them. 308 00:14:40,713 --> 00:14:42,798 There's simply no way to be part 309 00:14:42,798 --> 00:14:44,925 of any world religion and not 310 00:14:44,925 --> 00:14:47,720 care about the suffering and the premature 311 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:49,096 deaths of other animals. 312 00:14:49,096 --> 00:14:51,056 As a moral philosopher I can say that 313 00:14:51,056 --> 00:14:52,933 ethics teaches that any time there 314 00:14:52,933 --> 00:14:55,352 is suffering, it is morally considerable 315 00:14:55,352 --> 00:14:57,062 and religions agree with that. 316 00:14:57,062 --> 00:14:59,773 So there's simply no way to be indifferent. 317 00:14:59,773 --> 00:15:03,193 - I have asked hundreds of people this simple question. 318 00:15:04,820 --> 00:15:06,864 The question I ask is 319 00:15:06,864 --> 00:15:08,866 would you ever deliberately hurt 320 00:15:08,866 --> 00:15:11,327 an innocent animal unnecessarily? 321 00:15:12,202 --> 00:15:15,915 And so far 100% of the people I've asked 322 00:15:15,915 --> 00:15:18,292 have said, absolutely not! 323 00:15:18,292 --> 00:15:19,335 We would never do that, 324 00:15:19,335 --> 00:15:22,546 so which means that compassion is at the core of our being. 325 00:15:22,546 --> 00:15:24,131 You know that's who we really are. 326 00:15:24,131 --> 00:15:26,550 This is the reason why collectively, 327 00:15:26,550 --> 00:15:28,552 compassion is going to win. 328 00:15:29,303 --> 00:15:31,096 - [Thomas] Sailesh Rao is the founder 329 00:15:31,096 --> 00:15:34,016 and executive director of Climate Healers, 330 00:15:34,308 --> 00:15:36,560 a nonprofit organization whose goal 331 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,437 is to reforest over one sixth 332 00:15:38,437 --> 00:15:41,023 of the ice free land area of the earth. 333 00:15:41,023 --> 00:15:43,150 He is the author of Carbon Dharma and 334 00:15:43,150 --> 00:15:47,279 Carbon Yoga and a co producer for the documentaries 335 00:15:47,279 --> 00:15:49,823 Cowspiracy, What the Health, 336 00:15:49,823 --> 00:15:52,034 and the Human Experiment as well 337 00:15:52,034 --> 00:15:53,786 as the one you're watching now. 338 00:15:54,286 --> 00:15:57,831 - In the Laudato Si that came out last year 339 00:15:57,831 --> 00:16:00,793 Pope Francis said, it is contrary 340 00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:03,837 to human dignity to cause animals 341 00:16:03,837 --> 00:16:07,716 to suffer or die needlessly and then 342 00:16:07,716 --> 00:16:11,553 he visited the U.S. and in New York City 343 00:16:11,553 --> 00:16:15,849 he had a veal and lobster dinner. 344 00:16:17,017 --> 00:16:18,435 So that's when I realized how much 345 00:16:18,435 --> 00:16:20,354 suffering that these religious leaders 346 00:16:20,354 --> 00:16:22,064 are going through, 347 00:16:22,064 --> 00:16:25,109 because when what we say and what we do 348 00:16:25,109 --> 00:16:28,737 are not in alignment, we suffer. 349 00:16:28,737 --> 00:16:30,322 We suffer tremendously. 350 00:16:30,322 --> 00:16:32,658 - Well concern for animals has long been a part 351 00:16:32,658 --> 00:16:35,911 of Unitarianism and Universalism, 352 00:16:35,911 --> 00:16:39,331 Jeremy Bentham was a Unitarian legal scholar 353 00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:42,418 who in the 1860s said that 354 00:16:42,418 --> 00:16:44,336 the morally relevant question about 355 00:16:44,336 --> 00:16:46,463 animals was not whether they could 356 00:16:46,463 --> 00:16:48,632 reason or whether they could talk 357 00:16:48,632 --> 00:16:50,759 but whether they could suffer? 358 00:16:50,759 --> 00:16:53,220 And it's so clear now with 359 00:16:53,220 --> 00:16:54,847 today's science as it was clear 360 00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:57,474 then to anyone with common sense 361 00:16:57,474 --> 00:16:59,768 that animals do suffer greatly, 362 00:16:59,768 --> 00:17:02,521 especially those in our food system 363 00:17:02,521 --> 00:17:04,940 as it's been practiced in the last 50 years. 364 00:17:04,982 --> 00:17:07,151 - I was raised vegetarian and went vegan 365 00:17:07,151 --> 00:17:09,069 after I learned about what happens to 366 00:17:09,069 --> 00:17:11,572 dairy cows and egg laying hens 367 00:17:11,572 --> 00:17:13,574 in factory farming and farming at large 368 00:17:13,574 --> 00:17:16,035 so I'm really grateful that I made that decision 369 00:17:16,035 --> 00:17:18,495 now it's also consistent with my Zoroastrian 370 00:17:18,495 --> 00:17:21,081 teachings in that Zoroastrianism teaches 371 00:17:21,081 --> 00:17:23,125 good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, 372 00:17:23,125 --> 00:17:26,378 telling the truth, taking care of the environment, 373 00:17:26,378 --> 00:17:28,881 showing kindness to animals, who are at our mercy 374 00:17:28,881 --> 00:17:31,133 and of course taking care of our body temples as well. 375 00:17:31,133 --> 00:17:35,095 - The concern, a concern is with a capital C, 376 00:17:35,095 --> 00:17:37,806 this is an issue that the spirit has laid upon 377 00:17:37,806 --> 00:17:39,308 the heart of a particular friend 378 00:17:39,308 --> 00:17:42,478 or party of friends. That it... 379 00:17:43,687 --> 00:17:46,023 They feel they're called to speak up about it, 380 00:17:46,023 --> 00:17:47,691 to do something. 381 00:17:47,691 --> 00:17:50,444 To speak truth to power and 382 00:17:50,444 --> 00:17:53,322 this is one of the reasons why friends have offered 383 00:17:53,322 --> 00:17:57,951 leadership in regard to human slavery, 384 00:17:57,951 --> 00:18:01,246 equality of women, prison reform 385 00:18:01,246 --> 00:18:04,792 and things of this sort, so we who 386 00:18:04,792 --> 00:18:06,585 are Quakers who are concerned about 387 00:18:06,585 --> 00:18:08,462 the animals, consider this as a concern 388 00:18:08,462 --> 00:18:10,172 that God has laid upon us. 389 00:18:11,090 --> 00:18:13,884 And if people feel uncomfortable with it 390 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,514 to just relax and try to consider perhaps 391 00:18:18,514 --> 00:18:21,225 this is a legitimate concern, 392 00:18:21,225 --> 00:18:23,102 perhaps the spirit may be speaking 393 00:18:23,102 --> 00:18:25,229 to you through our words. 394 00:18:25,229 --> 00:18:28,732 Just be open to it if you can. 395 00:18:28,732 --> 00:18:33,403 - I have looked at a lot of different religions 396 00:18:33,403 --> 00:18:36,573 over the years and my book, Peace to All Beings 397 00:18:36,573 --> 00:18:38,575 goes into that quite a bit 398 00:18:38,575 --> 00:18:42,412 about looking for the core truth 399 00:18:42,412 --> 00:18:45,082 in each religion and it turns out 400 00:18:45,082 --> 00:18:47,751 as everybody pretty much knows that 401 00:18:47,751 --> 00:18:51,255 love is the core truth of every religion 402 00:18:51,255 --> 00:18:53,882 and then people come along 403 00:18:53,882 --> 00:18:56,593 and try to organize it 404 00:18:56,593 --> 00:19:01,557 and try to put rules on it and twist it around 405 00:19:01,557 --> 00:19:04,726 so it fits a certain mindset 406 00:19:04,726 --> 00:19:08,188 and in many cases the patriarchal 407 00:19:08,188 --> 00:19:10,649 mindset of domination which started 408 00:19:10,649 --> 00:19:15,487 with animal agriculture has affected, infected 409 00:19:15,487 --> 00:19:17,281 a lot of religions. 410 00:19:27,833 --> 00:19:29,793 (laughter) 411 00:19:30,669 --> 00:19:31,962 Sign me up. 412 00:19:32,462 --> 00:19:34,464 - [Thomas] It was during the AR conference 413 00:19:34,464 --> 00:19:35,757 that we had our first meeting 414 00:19:35,757 --> 00:19:38,302 of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition. 415 00:19:38,302 --> 00:19:41,555 Judy Carman, Lisa Levinson, and myself 416 00:19:41,555 --> 00:19:43,599 had started the coalition to provide 417 00:19:43,599 --> 00:19:45,976 faith specific resources and tools 418 00:19:45,976 --> 00:19:48,020 for spiritual and religious individuals 419 00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:50,063 and institutions to help them 420 00:19:50,063 --> 00:19:52,024 widen their circle of compassion 421 00:19:52,024 --> 00:19:54,109 to include all of creation. 422 00:19:54,651 --> 00:19:56,820 (Native American flute music) 423 00:19:56,904 --> 00:19:58,572 - You know I think a lot of people 424 00:19:58,572 --> 00:20:00,657 are under the impression that 425 00:20:00,657 --> 00:20:02,367 all Native American people 426 00:20:02,367 --> 00:20:04,453 ate all meat all the time 427 00:20:04,453 --> 00:20:07,539 and the fact is they actually ate very little meat 428 00:20:07,539 --> 00:20:09,750 depending on the region that they were in. 429 00:20:09,750 --> 00:20:11,293 - [Thomas] After the conference I drove 430 00:20:11,293 --> 00:20:13,503 up the coast to Petaluma, a small city 431 00:20:13,503 --> 00:20:15,297 north of San Francisco. 432 00:20:15,297 --> 00:20:17,633 There I spoke to Linda G. Fisher, 433 00:20:17,633 --> 00:20:20,219 an artist, inter-species communicator 434 00:20:20,219 --> 00:20:22,012 and Native American tribal member 435 00:20:22,012 --> 00:20:23,597 of the Ojibwe nation. 436 00:20:23,597 --> 00:20:26,058 - I had someone say to me 437 00:20:26,058 --> 00:20:27,851 oh gee you know you're vegan, you've 438 00:20:27,851 --> 00:20:30,062 been vegan for so many years, 439 00:20:30,062 --> 00:20:32,981 it must be quite a sacrifice. 440 00:20:34,316 --> 00:20:38,320 And I kind of smiled and said, 441 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:40,364 it's no sacrifice at all 442 00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:42,741 once you know that animals 443 00:20:42,741 --> 00:20:47,371 feel, think, and love, and hurt 444 00:20:47,371 --> 00:20:50,415 and cry and embrace their babies, 445 00:20:50,415 --> 00:20:53,293 you know that it's not a sacrifice at all. 446 00:20:53,293 --> 00:20:54,962 And so I explained that to her. 447 00:20:54,962 --> 00:20:57,172 I said what would be a sacrifice was 448 00:20:57,172 --> 00:20:58,632 if someone forced me to eat meat 449 00:20:58,632 --> 00:21:02,511 to save somebody else - that would be quite a sacrifice. 450 00:21:02,511 --> 00:21:05,013 I think if some of our great chiefs 451 00:21:05,013 --> 00:21:09,101 were alive today they would be horrified 452 00:21:09,101 --> 00:21:12,020 and they would be incredibly heartbroken 453 00:21:12,020 --> 00:21:15,482 because they themselves would never do 454 00:21:15,482 --> 00:21:17,526 what we're doing today. 455 00:21:17,526 --> 00:21:19,861 If they didn't have to hunt, 456 00:21:19,987 --> 00:21:22,572 if they didn't have to kill, I don't believe 457 00:21:22,572 --> 00:21:24,491 there's any way they would've ever done that. 458 00:21:24,741 --> 00:21:27,244 (flute music) 459 00:21:29,246 --> 00:21:31,081 - [Thomas] I wasn't back from California 460 00:21:31,081 --> 00:21:33,000 very long before Melody and I 461 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,711 loaded up our trusty hybrid, Sophia 462 00:21:35,711 --> 00:21:38,338 and left on a road trip down into Florida. 463 00:21:39,548 --> 00:21:43,719 Our first stop was Ocala, where Melody's grandpa Mike 464 00:21:43,719 --> 00:21:46,263 joined us for a potluck at Kindred Spirits 465 00:21:46,263 --> 00:21:48,515 Farm Animal Sanctuary. 466 00:21:48,515 --> 00:21:50,142 - Mike actually was bought as a gag gift 467 00:21:50,142 --> 00:21:51,393 for somebody's wedding 468 00:21:51,393 --> 00:21:52,644 and then after the wedding they just 469 00:21:52,644 --> 00:21:54,521 tied him up outside the church and left. 470 00:21:54,604 --> 00:21:56,481 - [Thomas] The next day, our friend Logan 471 00:21:56,481 --> 00:21:58,650 the director of Kindred Spirits gave 472 00:21:58,650 --> 00:22:00,861 us a private tour of the sanctuary 473 00:22:00,861 --> 00:22:03,322 and introduced us to several of her furry friends. 474 00:22:03,322 --> 00:22:04,948 - Do you want to say hi to her? 475 00:22:04,948 --> 00:22:06,450 You can, she's very nice. 476 00:22:06,450 --> 00:22:09,494 She has a big nose and it's soft. 477 00:22:09,494 --> 00:22:12,497 You can pet her if you want, she's very nice. 478 00:22:12,497 --> 00:22:13,707 - There you go. 479 00:22:13,707 --> 00:22:15,959 Her nose is almost as big as your hand. 480 00:22:18,879 --> 00:22:20,964 That's how she says hi, when she opens 481 00:22:20,964 --> 00:22:23,425 her mouth and she says (pants) 482 00:22:23,425 --> 00:22:26,386 that's how a pig says hi, it's nice to meet you. 483 00:22:26,386 --> 00:22:30,140 So Felicia and Gomer are from a factory farm 484 00:22:30,140 --> 00:22:34,353 in Iowa that flooded back in 2008 and so 485 00:22:34,353 --> 00:22:37,064 the farmers, they evacuated but they 486 00:22:37,064 --> 00:22:39,941 left all their pigs locked up in buildings 487 00:22:39,941 --> 00:22:41,902 so a couple of the pigs were able to 488 00:22:41,902 --> 00:22:45,489 escape and swim to freedom and Felicia and Gomer 489 00:22:45,489 --> 00:22:47,949 and their friend Calypso who's since passed 490 00:22:47,949 --> 00:22:51,328 were part of a group that was rescued by Farm Sanctuary 491 00:22:51,328 --> 00:22:52,537 and then they were placed here 492 00:22:52,537 --> 00:22:54,247 with us a couple years ago. 493 00:22:54,247 --> 00:22:56,583 They both kind of retired to Florida. 494 00:22:56,583 --> 00:22:59,044 They both have pretty severe arthritis 495 00:22:59,044 --> 00:23:01,171 which is pretty common in factory farm pigs 496 00:23:01,171 --> 00:23:03,757 because we bred them to only live about 497 00:23:03,757 --> 00:23:06,259 six months before they're used for food 498 00:23:06,259 --> 00:23:08,470 so they're really not bred to live a long time 499 00:23:08,470 --> 00:23:10,430 and they're bred to get as big as they can 500 00:23:10,430 --> 00:23:12,808 as quick as they can which means that 501 00:23:12,808 --> 00:23:15,727 it puts a lot of pressure on their leg joints. 502 00:23:15,727 --> 00:23:18,730 So these two are both about nine now, 503 00:23:18,730 --> 00:23:21,358 so arthritis is fairly common at that age. 504 00:23:21,358 --> 00:23:22,359 Their friendships are just 505 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:23,568 really deep with each other, 506 00:23:23,568 --> 00:23:25,529 like these guys came out of the factory 507 00:23:25,529 --> 00:23:27,989 together and they've been together ever since. 508 00:23:27,989 --> 00:23:30,409 It's just I think really important 509 00:23:30,409 --> 00:23:32,953 to them to have that kind of connection with each other. 510 00:23:32,953 --> 00:23:34,788 Especially the guys from factories 511 00:23:34,788 --> 00:23:37,290 'cause they kind of start life without 512 00:23:37,290 --> 00:23:39,543 it like they can't touch their moms which is really 513 00:23:39,543 --> 00:23:41,711 important and the only real physical 514 00:23:41,711 --> 00:23:43,338 contact they have with anybody 515 00:23:43,338 --> 00:23:44,923 is a negative. So I think 516 00:23:44,923 --> 00:23:46,758 when they come in a sanctuary it's really 517 00:23:46,758 --> 00:23:48,635 nice for them just to be able to have 518 00:23:48,635 --> 00:23:51,346 time with each other and quality relationships 519 00:23:51,346 --> 00:23:52,222 with each other. 520 00:23:52,222 --> 00:23:54,141 And they grow to like us too, like these two 521 00:23:54,141 --> 00:23:56,852 really like everybody, they love to meet new friends 522 00:23:56,852 --> 00:23:58,937 all the time 'cause now they know it's safe 523 00:23:58,937 --> 00:24:00,480 and nobody's gonna hurt them. 524 00:24:01,481 --> 00:24:04,359 - [Thomas] From Ocala we traveled down to Tampa 525 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,862 where we visited with our friends and I had a 526 00:24:06,862 --> 00:24:10,115 chance to meet and speak with Bawa Jain, 527 00:24:10,115 --> 00:24:14,286 Secretary General of the World Council of Religious Leaders. 528 00:24:14,286 --> 00:24:16,705 A body that brings together the world's preeminent 529 00:24:16,705 --> 00:24:19,499 religious leaders and see if these people can 530 00:24:19,499 --> 00:24:23,378 work together on the issues that impact us most. 531 00:24:23,420 --> 00:24:26,006 Whether that be the environmental challenges, 532 00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:28,258 the issues of poverty, health, 533 00:24:28,258 --> 00:24:30,886 conflict, they’re just harnessing 534 00:24:30,886 --> 00:24:33,597 the power of religion of the global good 535 00:24:33,638 --> 00:24:35,307 of all, not just some. 536 00:24:35,307 --> 00:24:38,477 I come from a tradition, a way of life 537 00:24:38,477 --> 00:24:41,229 called the Jains, it's one of the oldest 538 00:24:41,229 --> 00:24:42,522 way of life in the world. 539 00:24:42,522 --> 00:24:45,150 Live and let live that's what we try and follow. 540 00:24:45,150 --> 00:24:48,195 Why are Jains vegetarian? Let's just understand that. 541 00:24:48,195 --> 00:24:49,946 When you talk about non violence, 542 00:24:49,946 --> 00:24:52,115 in thought action and deed, 543 00:24:52,115 --> 00:24:56,745 how can you be a practitioner of Ahimsa non violence 544 00:24:56,745 --> 00:24:59,331 if you're going to consume any living beings? 545 00:24:59,331 --> 00:25:02,501 My guru came from the tradition where 546 00:25:02,501 --> 00:25:04,085 the Jain monks wear face masks. 547 00:25:04,085 --> 00:25:06,463 They also carry a little broom made out of cloth 548 00:25:06,463 --> 00:25:08,340 that before they sit anywhere they can 549 00:25:08,340 --> 00:25:10,050 brush off any form of life so they 550 00:25:10,050 --> 00:25:13,011 do not commit any form of violence and kill them. 551 00:25:13,011 --> 00:25:15,597 Similarly the mask on the face is also 552 00:25:16,223 --> 00:25:18,725 that even the micro organisms in the atmosphere 553 00:25:18,725 --> 00:25:20,352 should not be killed. 554 00:25:20,352 --> 00:25:22,187 Now it is proven beyond doubt 555 00:25:22,187 --> 00:25:25,398 that if you want to get rid of the greenhouse gases, 556 00:25:26,149 --> 00:25:28,109 get rid of the slaughterhouses. 557 00:25:28,318 --> 00:25:30,028 It's a ticking bomb. 558 00:25:30,862 --> 00:25:33,240 It's a ticking bomb! Do we want 559 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,368 that for our children and our children's children? 560 00:25:36,368 --> 00:25:39,955 How will they judge us at that time? 561 00:25:39,955 --> 00:25:43,083 What karma are we sowing that knowingly 562 00:25:43,250 --> 00:25:45,126 we are not taking any action? 563 00:25:45,126 --> 00:25:47,754 When we know something and we don't 564 00:25:47,754 --> 00:25:51,633 do anything, that also is creating karma 565 00:25:51,633 --> 00:25:52,884 which is negative for us. 566 00:25:54,636 --> 00:25:56,763 - Hey Melody you know where we're going? 567 00:25:56,763 --> 00:25:58,181 - To the Cookie Contest. 568 00:25:58,181 --> 00:26:01,226 - That's right, to the vegan cookie contest. 569 00:26:01,309 --> 00:26:02,811 There's gonna be like what, 570 00:26:02,811 --> 00:26:07,816 1,200 cookies to be eaten tonight 571 00:26:08,108 --> 00:26:10,902 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 572 00:26:12,153 --> 00:26:14,614 Susan Hargreaves, of Animal Hero Kids 573 00:26:14,614 --> 00:26:17,492 invited several local Fort Lauderdale bakeries 574 00:26:17,492 --> 00:26:19,953 to offer up their best vegan cookies 575 00:26:19,953 --> 00:26:22,872 and then everyone there got to eat one of each cookie 576 00:26:22,872 --> 00:26:24,291 and vote for their favorite. 577 00:26:24,291 --> 00:26:26,459 Melody and I thought all the ones we tasted 578 00:26:26,459 --> 00:26:28,169 were yummy but didn't have enough room 579 00:26:28,169 --> 00:26:30,714 in our bellies to try them all. 580 00:26:30,714 --> 00:26:33,341 - In the early 80s, 1980, 581 00:26:33,341 --> 00:26:36,678 I learned how most animals are treated 582 00:26:37,554 --> 00:26:41,725 by visiting stock yards and slaughter houses 583 00:26:41,725 --> 00:26:45,770 and for 34 years now, I have been 584 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:48,356 teaching kids about being kind to all animals. 585 00:26:48,356 --> 00:26:52,277 AnimalHeroKids.org is my baby 586 00:26:52,277 --> 00:26:56,197 because I know from visiting the schools 587 00:26:56,197 --> 00:26:58,658 that the children are naturally compassionate. 588 00:26:58,658 --> 00:27:01,453 They want to help animals. They want 589 00:27:01,453 --> 00:27:03,663 to make sure no one gets harmed. 590 00:27:03,663 --> 00:27:05,248 They're genuine and sincere 591 00:27:05,248 --> 00:27:08,710 and their clear voices hearten me. 592 00:27:08,710 --> 00:27:10,712 - Can you tell me any reason why 593 00:27:10,712 --> 00:27:12,172 you don't want a pet monkey? 594 00:27:12,172 --> 00:27:15,300 Yes I can tell you lots of reasons, they smear their poop, 595 00:27:15,300 --> 00:27:17,510 they urine wash, they masturbate in public, 596 00:27:17,510 --> 00:27:19,095 they will bite your children 597 00:27:19,095 --> 00:27:23,516 and they have big teeth. 598 00:27:23,516 --> 00:27:24,976 I had said that to one woman 599 00:27:24,976 --> 00:27:27,771 she said, "Oh, that sounds like my husband!” 600 00:27:27,937 --> 00:27:29,731 - [Thomas] Our next adventure would take us 601 00:27:29,731 --> 00:27:33,610 to Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Gainesville, Florida 602 00:27:33,610 --> 00:27:35,445 where Kari and her dedicated team 603 00:27:35,445 --> 00:27:36,988 of compassionate caregivers 604 00:27:36,988 --> 00:27:39,074 provide a healthy, happy life to 605 00:27:39,074 --> 00:27:41,660 over 300 primates who are ex pets, 606 00:27:41,660 --> 00:27:43,578 or retired from lab experiments 607 00:27:43,578 --> 00:27:45,955 and others who have suffered exploitation, 608 00:27:45,955 --> 00:27:46,956 abuse, and neglect. 609 00:27:47,290 --> 00:27:49,250 - I talked to a researcher actually 610 00:27:49,250 --> 00:27:53,129 where I said whatever happened with your project? 611 00:27:53,129 --> 00:27:55,173 Did you figure out, and I won't 612 00:27:55,173 --> 00:27:56,591 go into exactly what they were trying 613 00:27:56,591 --> 00:27:59,344 to figure out? And he said, they're never 614 00:27:59,344 --> 00:28:00,887 going to figure it out because 615 00:28:00,887 --> 00:28:02,931 even if they did and they could, 616 00:28:02,931 --> 00:28:05,517 they won't have their jobs and their grant money will end. 617 00:28:05,517 --> 00:28:07,852 So it's just going to always be something 618 00:28:07,852 --> 00:28:10,397 that they're going to be trying to figure out. 619 00:28:10,522 --> 00:28:12,524 They're meant to be in the wild 620 00:28:12,524 --> 00:28:15,276 I mean there's no way you can make it right 621 00:28:15,276 --> 00:28:17,278 with them living like this. 622 00:28:17,278 --> 00:28:19,280 I mean this is wrong I wish none of these guys 623 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:20,907 had to live like this. 624 00:28:20,907 --> 00:28:22,784 - In cages, you want all of them to be free of course. 625 00:28:22,784 --> 00:28:24,619 - I want them to be free, I don't want them 626 00:28:24,619 --> 00:28:25,995 in your living room, I don't want them at the lab, 627 00:28:25,995 --> 00:28:27,497 I don't want them at the zoo and I don't 628 00:28:27,497 --> 00:28:29,749 even want them here but there's no where for them to go 629 00:28:30,709 --> 00:28:32,001 - [Thomas] It was at Jungle Friends 630 00:28:32,001 --> 00:28:34,462 that I reconnected with Maya Barak 631 00:28:34,462 --> 00:28:37,507 a holistic veterinarian from Tel Aviv, Israel 632 00:28:37,507 --> 00:28:40,176 who I had met at the Animal Rights Conference in L.A. 633 00:28:41,094 --> 00:28:43,388 Maya joined Melody and me 634 00:28:43,388 --> 00:28:45,473 for a two week road trip that would take us 635 00:28:45,473 --> 00:28:49,436 through 13 states on our quest of compassion. 636 00:28:49,436 --> 00:28:51,646 Our journey started with a visit to 637 00:28:51,646 --> 00:28:55,358 Rooterville Animal Sanctuary where Maya would 638 00:28:55,358 --> 00:28:58,403 introduce us to her friend, Elaine West, the founder 639 00:28:58,403 --> 00:29:00,947 of Rooterville and a devout Christian. 640 00:29:00,947 --> 00:29:02,824 - You change your diet and you change your life 641 00:29:02,824 --> 00:29:04,325 that's what I love to tell people 642 00:29:04,325 --> 00:29:06,286 because it's true and it's not just your health, 643 00:29:06,286 --> 00:29:09,205 it's physically, emotionally, spiritually, 644 00:29:09,205 --> 00:29:12,167 in every way this will change your life 645 00:29:12,167 --> 00:29:14,794 and it's gonna open you and soften your heart 646 00:29:14,794 --> 00:29:17,005 and we're not supposed to have hard hearts. 647 00:29:17,005 --> 00:29:21,384 Adam was a gardener. God put us in a garden, 648 00:29:21,384 --> 00:29:23,136 that's our first clue. 649 00:29:23,136 --> 00:29:25,638 You know our body is a temple of the Lord, 650 00:29:25,638 --> 00:29:28,475 the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us, 651 00:29:28,475 --> 00:29:31,936 and we treat our bodies like dumpsters, right. 652 00:29:31,936 --> 00:29:34,439 You don't put trash in a temple. 653 00:29:34,439 --> 00:29:37,233 I know a lot of people my age in their 50s 654 00:29:37,233 --> 00:29:40,069 are facing this where they go to the doctor 655 00:29:40,069 --> 00:29:41,738 and all they get are more pills 656 00:29:41,738 --> 00:29:43,823 and told this is the way that you're 657 00:29:43,823 --> 00:29:45,074 gonna live for the rest of your life 658 00:29:45,074 --> 00:29:48,077 and you're gonna just have to manage these diseases. 659 00:29:48,077 --> 00:29:51,831 Well when we choose God's way our body can heal itself 660 00:29:51,873 --> 00:29:53,666 and to me this was amazing. 661 00:29:53,666 --> 00:29:55,752 My arthritis, after three months, 662 00:29:55,752 --> 00:29:58,546 I woke up one morning and I had no more pain 663 00:29:58,546 --> 00:30:00,757 and that was a miracle for me. 664 00:30:00,757 --> 00:30:03,760 And I had lived with an inhaler 665 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:05,261 and on all kinds of medication 666 00:30:05,261 --> 00:30:06,888 because my allergies were so bad. 667 00:30:06,888 --> 00:30:08,848 I had pneumonia twice. They told me 668 00:30:08,848 --> 00:30:11,684 if I had pneumonia again, I could possibly die. 669 00:30:11,684 --> 00:30:12,811 They told me that I would have 670 00:30:12,811 --> 00:30:15,230 to live with that inhaler and my condition 671 00:30:15,230 --> 00:30:16,648 would only get worse and worse. 672 00:30:16,648 --> 00:30:17,816 You know the doctors are quick 673 00:30:17,816 --> 00:30:19,192 to give you more medication. 674 00:30:19,192 --> 00:30:22,111 They're not very quick to give you any hope. 675 00:30:22,111 --> 00:30:24,280 When you share this information 676 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,491 with Christians, it's almost 677 00:30:26,491 --> 00:30:29,536 like - I don't know - like a wall goes up. 678 00:30:29,536 --> 00:30:32,455 That they would rather believe 679 00:30:32,455 --> 00:30:35,750 the world’s system that is pills 680 00:30:35,750 --> 00:30:39,295 and procedures and...you know...medications 681 00:30:39,295 --> 00:30:41,422 and problems your whole life, 682 00:30:42,715 --> 00:30:45,426 they would rather choose that than God's way. 683 00:30:45,426 --> 00:30:47,053 Plants heal our body. 684 00:30:47,053 --> 00:30:49,138 We're digging our graves with our forks 685 00:30:49,138 --> 00:30:51,516 and it's really sad when you see people 686 00:30:51,516 --> 00:30:54,060 that have things like diabetes and heart disease 687 00:30:54,060 --> 00:30:58,982 and cancer even and they're praying for a miracle 688 00:30:58,982 --> 00:31:00,191 while continuing to eat 689 00:31:00,191 --> 00:31:03,027 the western diet, the world's diet. They continue 690 00:31:03,027 --> 00:31:06,948 to put that in their body which is causing the problem. 691 00:31:06,948 --> 00:31:10,285 They don't see that they're killing themselves. 692 00:31:10,285 --> 00:31:13,955 - Genesis 1:29 is part of the first conversation 693 00:31:13,955 --> 00:31:16,374 between God and human beings 694 00:31:16,374 --> 00:31:18,626 recorded in the Bible 695 00:31:18,626 --> 00:31:21,838 and God tells Adam and Eve 696 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:26,342 you are to eat the plants and the seed bearing fruit, period. 697 00:31:26,342 --> 00:31:29,178 And immediately after that, God says 698 00:31:29,762 --> 00:31:32,265 and it was very good, and it's the first time 699 00:31:32,265 --> 00:31:34,350 in the creation story that God 700 00:31:34,350 --> 00:31:37,186 describes creation as very good. 701 00:31:37,604 --> 00:31:38,563 [speaks Hebrew] 702 00:31:39,230 --> 00:31:41,274 Up until that point God just says 703 00:31:41,274 --> 00:31:44,402 it's good, it's good, it's good 704 00:31:44,402 --> 00:31:46,529 but when we get the instructions 705 00:31:46,529 --> 00:31:48,197 to eat a plant based diet, 706 00:31:48,197 --> 00:31:50,658 now creation is very good. 707 00:31:51,784 --> 00:31:54,329 - [Thomas] After Rooterville we drove Sophia 708 00:31:54,329 --> 00:31:56,789 up to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 709 00:31:56,789 --> 00:31:59,000 where we spoke with Jeffery Cohen, 710 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,086 the executive director of Jewish Veg, 711 00:32:02,086 --> 00:32:04,505 whose mission it is to help Jews to embrace 712 00:32:04,505 --> 00:32:07,050 plant based diets as an expression 713 00:32:07,050 --> 00:32:09,052 of the Jewish values of compassion 714 00:32:09,052 --> 00:32:11,721 for animals, concern for health, 715 00:32:11,721 --> 00:32:14,057 and care for the environment. 716 00:32:14,057 --> 00:32:16,893 - Considering what Genesis 1:29 said, 717 00:32:16,893 --> 00:32:19,020 it got me thinking what does 718 00:32:19,020 --> 00:32:21,773 the rest of the Bible say, why aren't 719 00:32:21,773 --> 00:32:25,109 all rabbis and clergy and ministers 720 00:32:25,109 --> 00:32:27,987 vegetarian or vegan if this is what it says 721 00:32:27,987 --> 00:32:31,950 in Genesis 1:29, so I started 722 00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:34,243 reading, researching and to my pleasant 723 00:32:34,243 --> 00:32:36,537 surprise, it's actually a pretty 724 00:32:36,537 --> 00:32:39,290 consistent theme in the Bible 725 00:32:39,290 --> 00:32:42,543 that plant based diet is the ideal, 726 00:32:42,543 --> 00:32:45,421 that meat eating, while permitted, is usually 727 00:32:45,421 --> 00:32:47,590 framed in a fairly negative 728 00:32:47,590 --> 00:32:49,842 and sometimes extraordinarily 729 00:32:49,842 --> 00:32:53,388 negative light and that we're supposed 730 00:32:53,388 --> 00:32:55,431 to be treating animals, not just 731 00:32:55,431 --> 00:32:58,601 with compassion but with exquisite sensitivity. 732 00:32:58,601 --> 00:33:01,312 You know there's a whole slew of 733 00:33:01,312 --> 00:33:04,357 verses in the Bible that command 734 00:33:04,357 --> 00:33:07,610 that we treat animals with such sensitivity. 735 00:33:07,610 --> 00:33:09,988 Collectively these are known in Hebrew, 736 00:33:09,988 --> 00:33:12,699 (speaks Hebrew) which translate to 737 00:33:12,699 --> 00:33:15,201 the prevention of suffering to animals. 738 00:33:15,201 --> 00:33:16,452 And it says in our Talmud 739 00:33:16,452 --> 00:33:19,539 which is the main rabbinic commentary on the Bible 740 00:33:19,539 --> 00:33:21,833 that not only are we to prevent 741 00:33:21,833 --> 00:33:24,669 animal suffering, we are to relieve the suffering 742 00:33:24,669 --> 00:33:26,921 of animals whenever we have occasion to do so. 743 00:33:26,921 --> 00:33:28,589 And on that basis alone, 744 00:33:28,589 --> 00:33:31,050 given how animals are treated today 745 00:33:31,050 --> 00:33:32,927 in modern animal agriculture, there's no way 746 00:33:32,927 --> 00:33:35,096 we should be consuming animal products. 747 00:33:35,096 --> 00:33:37,807 Probably the most misunderstood, 748 00:33:37,807 --> 00:33:41,686 the most distorted verse in all of the Bible 749 00:33:41,686 --> 00:33:45,273 is not Genesis 1:29, it's what comes right before that. 750 00:33:45,273 --> 00:33:48,401 Genesis 1:26, that is the famous 751 00:33:48,401 --> 00:33:50,862 dominion verse. So yes it does 752 00:33:50,862 --> 00:33:53,948 say in Genesis 1:26 that human beings 753 00:33:53,948 --> 00:33:56,200 were granted dominion over the animals 754 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:57,452 but two important things 755 00:33:57,452 --> 00:33:58,911 to consider about that. 756 00:33:58,911 --> 00:34:01,622 Number one is that's part of the exact 757 00:34:01,622 --> 00:34:03,916 same conversation in which 758 00:34:03,916 --> 00:34:07,128 we're instructed to eat plants exclusively. 759 00:34:07,128 --> 00:34:10,298 So clearly dominion, did not give human beings 760 00:34:10,298 --> 00:34:13,551 the right to kill animals for food. 761 00:34:13,551 --> 00:34:16,804 Secondly, that dominion verse is part 762 00:34:16,804 --> 00:34:18,765 of the exact same verse, not just 763 00:34:18,765 --> 00:34:21,392 the same conversation but the same verse, 764 00:34:21,392 --> 00:34:23,478 where we're told that human beings 765 00:34:23,478 --> 00:34:28,483 are created (speaks Hebrew) in the image of God. 766 00:34:28,524 --> 00:34:31,277 Therefore we are to exercise dominion 767 00:34:31,277 --> 00:34:34,030 the way that God exercises dominion 768 00:34:34,030 --> 00:34:35,948 over human beings. 769 00:34:35,948 --> 00:34:39,327 And any rabbi will tell you the primary attributes 770 00:34:39,327 --> 00:34:44,332 of God's dominion are mercy and compassion. 771 00:34:44,665 --> 00:34:46,375 - [Thomas] From Pennsylvania 772 00:34:46,375 --> 00:34:48,711 we headed northeast to Athens, New York 773 00:34:48,711 --> 00:34:50,588 and visited with Frank Hoffman 774 00:34:50,588 --> 00:34:52,340 who serves on the advisory board 775 00:34:52,340 --> 00:34:54,717 of the Christian Vegetarian Association, 776 00:34:54,717 --> 00:34:57,386 and is co founder with his wife Mary 777 00:34:57,386 --> 00:34:58,846 of the Frank and Mary Hoffman 778 00:34:58,846 --> 00:35:01,265 Family Foundation which is dedicated 779 00:35:01,265 --> 00:35:02,809 to cruelty free living through 780 00:35:02,809 --> 00:35:04,102 a vegan lifestyle. 781 00:35:04,268 --> 00:35:06,562 - We became vegan for reasons of compassion. 782 00:35:06,562 --> 00:35:08,815 But the side effect was that 783 00:35:08,815 --> 00:35:10,691 our health improved dramatically. 784 00:35:11,776 --> 00:35:13,277 We had all kinds of problems, 785 00:35:13,277 --> 00:35:17,031 aches and pains and arthritis starting 786 00:35:17,031 --> 00:35:19,700 and coughing and sneezing things, 787 00:35:19,700 --> 00:35:22,703 the head colds, irritable bowel syndrome, 788 00:35:22,703 --> 00:35:24,413 all kinds of things like that 789 00:35:24,413 --> 00:35:27,917 and we found that within about three weeks 790 00:35:27,917 --> 00:35:30,878 of becoming vegan our health improved. 791 00:35:30,878 --> 00:35:32,547 We didn't have these same symptoms. 792 00:35:32,672 --> 00:35:35,800 Both Mary and I are in our late 70s 793 00:35:36,968 --> 00:35:40,012 and we haven't taken medication - I don't know - 794 00:35:40,012 --> 00:35:42,014 it's gotta be at least 25 years now, 795 00:35:42,140 --> 00:35:45,476 But we don't get the chronic diseases that people get. 796 00:35:45,476 --> 00:35:49,105 The Bible tells us that if we're a child 797 00:35:49,105 --> 00:35:51,440 of God we're to be a peace maker 798 00:35:51,524 --> 00:35:54,735 and as peace makers and Paul picks up on this 799 00:35:54,735 --> 00:35:58,072 and he says as peace making children of God, 800 00:35:58,072 --> 00:36:01,200 we're to help free creation from its present corruption. 801 00:36:02,076 --> 00:36:04,620 Well part of that corruption is the way 802 00:36:04,620 --> 00:36:07,748 we live. We've heard people say 803 00:36:07,748 --> 00:36:10,334 when I buy an animal product in the supermarket 804 00:36:10,334 --> 00:36:12,628 I didn't hurt the animal, I'm just 805 00:36:12,628 --> 00:36:14,714 buying the product that's sitting there. 806 00:36:14,714 --> 00:36:17,717 And I'm saying no, you're actually contributing to it. 807 00:36:17,717 --> 00:36:20,803 The first thing you can do 808 00:36:20,803 --> 00:36:23,806 and the most important thing to do 809 00:36:23,806 --> 00:36:25,057 in saving this world 810 00:36:26,517 --> 00:36:28,603 and to living in the heavenly world 811 00:36:28,603 --> 00:36:30,688 of God starts on your dinner plate. 812 00:36:30,730 --> 00:36:35,735 (upbeat mariachi music) 813 00:36:39,155 --> 00:36:40,948 - [Thomas] When we left Frank and Mary’s, 814 00:36:40,948 --> 00:36:42,658 we drove down to New York City 815 00:36:42,658 --> 00:36:45,494 where we parked Sophia and traveled by transit. 816 00:36:46,746 --> 00:36:49,540 Our first stop was on the upper east side 817 00:36:49,540 --> 00:36:51,334 where I had the honor and pleasure 818 00:36:51,334 --> 00:36:53,544 of meeting Pramoda Chitrabhanu, 819 00:36:53,544 --> 00:36:56,422 who is the director of the Jain Meditation International 820 00:36:56,422 --> 00:36:58,841 Center in New York City as well 821 00:36:58,841 --> 00:37:00,718 as on the board of PETA India. 822 00:37:00,718 --> 00:37:02,970 She is the author of several books including 823 00:37:02,970 --> 00:37:07,225 the Book of Compassion and Rainbow Food for the Vegan Palate. 824 00:37:07,225 --> 00:37:10,394 - Only because of the taste buds, 825 00:37:10,394 --> 00:37:12,813 only because of our own greed, 826 00:37:12,813 --> 00:37:16,817 only because of our own satisfaction 827 00:37:16,817 --> 00:37:19,820 of the senses! When are we going 828 00:37:19,820 --> 00:37:21,781 to become sensitive? 829 00:37:21,781 --> 00:37:25,034 When are we going to understand? 830 00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:28,454 Because each and every living being 831 00:37:28,454 --> 00:37:31,207 is given a different instrument 832 00:37:31,207 --> 00:37:33,793 and it's a symphony 833 00:37:33,793 --> 00:37:38,631 and we are creating music out of that instrument 834 00:37:39,131 --> 00:37:41,842 and we forget that each and everyone's 835 00:37:41,842 --> 00:37:44,512 life is intertwined with each other. 836 00:37:44,512 --> 00:37:47,932 How can we disturb one living being? 837 00:37:47,932 --> 00:37:50,101 But when we take the dairy, 838 00:37:51,477 --> 00:37:54,814 the meat industry, the cows, you are 839 00:37:54,814 --> 00:37:59,652 snatching away the five senses of those living beings 840 00:37:59,652 --> 00:38:03,739 who can hear, who can see, who can feel, 841 00:38:03,739 --> 00:38:06,784 who can taste, who can smell. 842 00:38:06,784 --> 00:38:10,413 We have no right to take the life of any living being 843 00:38:10,413 --> 00:38:12,039 even though they are not human beings 844 00:38:12,039 --> 00:38:14,834 but they have already got five senses 845 00:38:15,835 --> 00:38:18,546 and with one shot we destroy that. 846 00:38:20,172 --> 00:38:23,092 Our hearts should really tremble 847 00:38:23,092 --> 00:38:25,928 to do all these things and we don't 848 00:38:25,928 --> 00:38:28,389 have any qualms. But the violence 849 00:38:28,389 --> 00:38:30,474 is not because of the bad people, 850 00:38:32,184 --> 00:38:35,104 it is because of the silence of the good people. 851 00:38:35,938 --> 00:38:39,567 So be a whisper, or be a scream, 852 00:38:39,567 --> 00:38:42,069 just be the voice for the voiceless being. 853 00:38:46,866 --> 00:38:48,409 - [Thomas] After we left Pramoda’s, 854 00:38:48,409 --> 00:38:50,911 we traveled down to Union Square 855 00:38:50,911 --> 00:38:53,039 where we were approached by Mike, 856 00:38:53,039 --> 00:38:55,166 a compassionate wildlife activist 857 00:38:55,166 --> 00:38:57,710 who was out raising awareness about the plight 858 00:38:57,710 --> 00:38:59,754 of the elephants. 859 00:39:06,510 --> 00:39:08,804 - Yeah, just go for it, explain me on it right. 860 00:39:08,804 --> 00:39:10,639 - So a keystone species basically is a species 861 00:39:10,639 --> 00:39:12,892 of animal that has such a disproportionate 862 00:39:12,892 --> 00:39:14,393 effect on the ecosystem that were 863 00:39:14,393 --> 00:39:17,271 they to disappear, things would change very rapidly. 864 00:39:17,271 --> 00:39:19,982 So, elephants are a keystone species, 865 00:39:19,982 --> 00:39:21,609 bees are a keystone species, 866 00:39:21,609 --> 00:39:23,986 even humans are, but in a bad way. 867 00:39:23,986 --> 00:39:25,237 So, like if we all suddenly disappeared 868 00:39:25,237 --> 00:39:27,656 everything would just start getting better. 869 00:39:27,656 --> 00:39:28,866 - Everything would change for sure. 870 00:39:28,866 --> 00:39:29,950 - Yeah it would change exactly. 871 00:39:29,950 --> 00:39:32,328 So, elephants are a keystone species, 872 00:39:32,328 --> 00:39:34,372 chickens are not, you know what I mean. 873 00:39:34,372 --> 00:39:36,248 And that's not to say that they're less important 874 00:39:36,248 --> 00:39:37,708 because they're still very important 875 00:39:37,708 --> 00:39:39,668 and I do think that our meat industry 876 00:39:39,668 --> 00:39:42,671 is really, really messed up, really, really bad 877 00:39:42,671 --> 00:39:44,840 and I would love to see that change. 878 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:46,217 - [Thomas] Can I ask you this question? 879 00:39:46,217 --> 00:39:47,051 - Yeah yeah. 880 00:39:47,051 --> 00:39:48,427 - [Thomas] Did you know that in order 881 00:39:48,427 --> 00:39:50,846 for a cow to produce milk she had to be 882 00:39:50,846 --> 00:39:53,557 impregnated every year and her baby taken away 883 00:39:53,557 --> 00:39:55,518 after the first day of her life 884 00:39:55,518 --> 00:39:58,354 and if it's a male it usually goes to the veal industry, 885 00:39:58,354 --> 00:40:00,064 if it's a female she ends up in there... 886 00:40:00,064 --> 00:40:01,190 within four years of their life 887 00:40:01,190 --> 00:40:02,858 they are slaughtered for meat 888 00:40:02,858 --> 00:40:05,361 and usually they would live 25 years of their life. 889 00:40:05,361 --> 00:40:06,612 Did you know they were taken away? 890 00:40:06,612 --> 00:40:07,947 - No no, I didn't know that. 891 00:40:07,947 --> 00:40:10,282 I mean again I'd have to - 892 00:40:11,534 --> 00:40:14,328 it's very difficult to take the word of somebody, 893 00:40:14,328 --> 00:40:16,664 not to say that I don't think you're informed but-- 894 00:40:16,664 --> 00:40:18,999 - But first of all do you think the cows just make milk? 895 00:40:22,628 --> 00:40:25,714 - I don't know, I don't know enough about them. 896 00:40:25,714 --> 00:40:27,133 That's really what I can-- 897 00:40:27,133 --> 00:40:28,884 - [Thomas] That's the best answer. 898 00:40:28,884 --> 00:40:29,718 - Yeah I don't know. 899 00:40:32,388 --> 00:40:34,932 - [Thomas] While we were in Manhattan we stopped by 900 00:40:34,932 --> 00:40:37,268 to see Victoria who told us about a cow 901 00:40:37,268 --> 00:40:39,562 she met many years ago 902 00:40:39,562 --> 00:40:42,940 during her visit to a slaughterhouse in southern Missouri. 903 00:40:42,940 --> 00:40:44,900 - I meet a lot of people who say 904 00:40:44,900 --> 00:40:47,987 well I only eat humane meat, I only 905 00:40:47,987 --> 00:40:51,240 eat meat from small family farms. 906 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:55,161 Well these cows came from a small family farm, 907 00:40:55,161 --> 00:40:57,872 the farmer drove them in himself. 908 00:40:57,872 --> 00:41:00,708 You could tell that these cows knew people 909 00:41:00,708 --> 00:41:03,919 and trusted them so the first couple 910 00:41:03,919 --> 00:41:07,923 just walked up the chute and onto death 911 00:41:07,923 --> 00:41:11,677 but the third one was not having any of it. 912 00:41:11,677 --> 00:41:14,096 She saw her friends go first, 913 00:41:14,096 --> 00:41:17,892 she heard the screams and she smelled the smells 914 00:41:17,892 --> 00:41:19,727 that I'd been smelling all day. 915 00:41:19,727 --> 00:41:22,855 She was not about to walk up that ramp, 916 00:41:22,855 --> 00:41:26,317 so she just planted herself and stood there. 917 00:41:27,234 --> 00:41:30,654 And the man up at the top of the ramp, 918 00:41:30,654 --> 00:41:33,115 about time to go home, he was ready to 919 00:41:33,115 --> 00:41:36,952 go see his kids, he whistled to her. 920 00:41:38,829 --> 00:41:42,708 He whistled to her the way he'd whistle to his dog 921 00:41:42,708 --> 00:41:45,711 when he went home in 20 minutes. 922 00:41:45,711 --> 00:41:50,716 And this cow seemed to trust him, 923 00:41:50,883 --> 00:41:54,845 she kind of turned her head and looked at him 924 00:41:54,845 --> 00:41:57,598 and it was as if she was deciding whether 925 00:41:57,598 --> 00:42:00,684 or not to override all her instincts, 926 00:42:00,684 --> 00:42:03,395 what she was hearing, what she was smelling 927 00:42:03,395 --> 00:42:06,815 and instead do something that 928 00:42:06,815 --> 00:42:08,901 we pride ourselves as humans 929 00:42:08,901 --> 00:42:13,614 in being able to do, trust another person. 930 00:42:13,614 --> 00:42:17,576 So with this trust, misplaced as it turned out, 931 00:42:17,576 --> 00:42:20,913 she walked to the man who had whistled to her. 932 00:42:21,830 --> 00:42:24,875 He got her with the captive bolt pistol, 933 00:42:24,875 --> 00:42:28,337 she was hoisted up her throat was slit, 934 00:42:28,462 --> 00:42:31,882 her beautiful skin was sliced off her 935 00:42:31,882 --> 00:42:35,886 and into a pile to go for shoes and boots 936 00:42:35,886 --> 00:42:40,766 and belts and handbags and all of a sudden 937 00:42:40,766 --> 00:42:43,269 she was no longer a being, 938 00:42:43,269 --> 00:42:46,438 she was in the process of becoming beef. 939 00:42:47,565 --> 00:42:51,569 Now I knew that in a few days 940 00:42:51,569 --> 00:42:54,780 her parts and pieces would wind up 941 00:42:54,780 --> 00:42:57,658 at a supermarket in St. Louis. 942 00:42:57,658 --> 00:43:00,160 They would be on a styrofoam tray 943 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,288 and cellophane wrapping 944 00:43:02,288 --> 00:43:06,041 and they would be purchased by good people. 945 00:43:06,041 --> 00:43:10,087 They'd be purchased by people who love their children 946 00:43:10,087 --> 00:43:13,507 and give to charity and go to church. 947 00:43:13,507 --> 00:43:15,968 Well they didn't know her. 948 00:43:17,011 --> 00:43:19,638 I did, for just a few minutes 949 00:43:19,638 --> 00:43:21,974 at the very end of her life, 950 00:43:21,974 --> 00:43:26,979 but because I knew her, it's my obligation 951 00:43:27,229 --> 00:43:28,731 to share her story. 952 00:43:30,065 --> 00:43:32,610 - In the Muslim faith we have this really beautiful 953 00:43:32,610 --> 00:43:35,404 saying from the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings 954 00:43:35,404 --> 00:43:38,157 be upon him, in which he says 955 00:43:38,157 --> 00:43:41,785 that none of you truly have attained to faith 956 00:43:41,785 --> 00:43:44,079 until you love for one another 957 00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:45,873 what you love for your own self. 958 00:43:45,873 --> 00:43:47,625 Which is very similar to the golden rule 959 00:43:47,625 --> 00:43:50,711 that was preached by all of the great prophets and sages. 960 00:43:50,711 --> 00:43:53,130 You know I think as time has gone on 961 00:43:53,130 --> 00:43:54,673 the spiritual and ethical tradition 962 00:43:54,673 --> 00:43:56,925 has been able to widen that to not only 963 00:43:56,925 --> 00:44:00,638 humanity but to a lot of the creation of God 964 00:44:00,638 --> 00:44:03,057 both in terms of the environment as well 965 00:44:03,057 --> 00:44:07,019 as the animals and just every living being. 966 00:44:07,019 --> 00:44:08,646 - [Thomas] From Manhattan, we drove 967 00:44:08,646 --> 00:44:13,025 to Princeton, New Jersey to speak with Imam Sohaib Sultan 968 00:44:13,025 --> 00:44:15,986 Princeton University's first Muslim chaplain 969 00:44:15,986 --> 00:44:18,989 and author of the Koran for Dummies, 970 00:44:18,989 --> 00:44:21,867 and the Qur'an and the Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. 971 00:44:21,867 --> 00:44:24,078 - We are living in a time in which 972 00:44:24,078 --> 00:44:27,414 there is a great exploitation of the environment 973 00:44:27,414 --> 00:44:30,584 and of animals and the way that we 974 00:44:30,584 --> 00:44:33,295 see the farming practices evolve 975 00:44:33,295 --> 00:44:35,506 to fit the consumer societies and the materialistic 976 00:44:35,506 --> 00:44:38,550 societies has formed has greatly 977 00:44:38,550 --> 00:44:40,511 harmed the environment and has 978 00:44:40,511 --> 00:44:42,680 greatly affected animals 979 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:46,684 at a level unprecedented in our history as human beings. 980 00:44:46,684 --> 00:44:49,103 One should really consider the mass production 981 00:44:49,103 --> 00:44:52,064 of food and the unethical means by which 982 00:44:52,064 --> 00:44:55,025 that food is produced in our modern age 983 00:44:55,025 --> 00:44:56,485 and we should really consider whether 984 00:44:56,485 --> 00:45:00,364 we want to be part of that evil practice or whether 985 00:45:00,364 --> 00:45:02,282 we want to be part of the solution, 986 00:45:02,282 --> 00:45:04,576 to restore the balance to the environment 987 00:45:04,576 --> 00:45:07,705 to restore the balance to the ecosystem 988 00:45:07,705 --> 00:45:09,748 and to restore the balance to the human beings, 989 00:45:09,748 --> 00:45:11,792 because when the human begins are exploiting 990 00:45:11,792 --> 00:45:14,002 the environment, the environment is going 991 00:45:14,002 --> 00:45:16,714 to turn its wrath against the human beings. 992 00:45:16,714 --> 00:45:18,006 And we're constantly seeing that 993 00:45:18,006 --> 00:45:20,592 from the lack of access to water 994 00:45:20,592 --> 00:45:25,097 to air pollution to scarcity of food, 995 00:45:25,097 --> 00:45:27,057 all of this is being caused by 996 00:45:27,057 --> 00:45:29,727 our mistreatment of God's earth. 997 00:45:29,727 --> 00:45:31,562 You know there's a really important passage 998 00:45:31,562 --> 00:45:34,898 in the Koran that says that oh humanity 999 00:45:34,898 --> 00:45:37,568 your actions are certainly bound 1000 00:45:37,568 --> 00:45:40,821 to rebound against your own selves. 1001 00:45:40,821 --> 00:45:43,490 So there's this idea that whatever we do 1002 00:45:43,490 --> 00:45:45,284 we're going to see its consequences 1003 00:45:45,284 --> 00:45:47,161 both the good and the beautiful, 1004 00:45:47,161 --> 00:45:49,538 and the ugly and the wrong. 1005 00:45:49,538 --> 00:45:52,249 And it's also important as Muslims 1006 00:45:52,249 --> 00:45:54,752 to understand that this idea 1007 00:45:54,793 --> 00:45:57,087 of karma or this idea of our actions 1008 00:45:57,087 --> 00:45:59,715 rebound against our own selves is not only 1009 00:45:59,715 --> 00:46:01,675 limited to this life but there's also an 1010 00:46:01,675 --> 00:46:03,510 afterlife reality to it. 1011 00:46:03,510 --> 00:46:06,013 The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, 1012 00:46:06,013 --> 00:46:08,307 he said that on the day of resurrection 1013 00:46:08,307 --> 00:46:10,184 when people have to answer for their deeds 1014 00:46:10,184 --> 00:46:12,895 before God, one will even have to answer 1015 00:46:12,895 --> 00:46:16,440 for the innocent sparrow that they killed. 1016 00:46:16,940 --> 00:46:20,319 - What is the difference between pity and compassion? 1017 00:46:20,319 --> 00:46:24,156 So pity is, you know, I see the cow, 1018 00:46:24,156 --> 00:46:27,034 they just ran it through a factory farm, 1019 00:46:27,034 --> 00:46:29,495 it lived this awful life, they slaughtered 1020 00:46:29,495 --> 00:46:33,665 it in this awful way and I'm like, “Poor cow, that's bad 1021 00:46:33,665 --> 00:46:35,334 they're torturing all these cows. 1022 00:46:35,334 --> 00:46:38,420 This is terrible. Wow, I'm hungry. 1023 00:46:38,420 --> 00:46:40,881 Where's the closest McDonald’s, you know? 1024 00:46:40,881 --> 00:46:43,967 No link whatsoever, versus compassion 1025 00:46:43,967 --> 00:46:47,471 which is you know they're suffering in this industry, 1026 00:46:47,471 --> 00:46:49,181 they're suffering in the way that 1027 00:46:49,181 --> 00:46:51,308 we treat animals, they're suffering 1028 00:46:51,308 --> 00:46:54,394 in eating suffering from the way 1029 00:46:54,394 --> 00:46:56,480 that this animal was killed. 1030 00:46:56,480 --> 00:47:00,150 I don't want to contribute to the suffering. I quit. 1031 00:47:00,150 --> 00:47:02,361 I'm not gonna contribute to your suffering. 1032 00:47:02,986 --> 00:47:05,697 - [Thomas] It was in Tacoma Park, Maryland where we met 1033 00:47:05,697 --> 00:47:08,784 Nazirahk Amen, a naturopathic doctor, 1034 00:47:08,784 --> 00:47:10,994 a practitioner of Chinese medicine 1035 00:47:10,994 --> 00:47:13,163 and an organic farmer who's been vegan 1036 00:47:13,163 --> 00:47:15,624 for over 25 years. 1037 00:47:15,624 --> 00:47:17,334 - In the beginning I worked actually 1038 00:47:17,334 --> 00:47:20,462 as an EMT. I was an intermediate level medic 1039 00:47:20,462 --> 00:47:22,631 and you know working in the medical system 1040 00:47:22,631 --> 00:47:27,594 while studying to become a doctor at that time 1041 00:47:27,594 --> 00:47:29,805 and just seeing the contradictions. 1042 00:47:29,805 --> 00:47:31,890 It's not focused on prevention, 1043 00:47:31,890 --> 00:47:33,767 it's really focused on these sort of 1044 00:47:33,767 --> 00:47:37,187 quick fix pharmaceutical interventions 1045 00:47:37,187 --> 00:47:39,481 and you know as a provider, you know, 1046 00:47:39,481 --> 00:47:41,942 when someone's having an asthma attack 1047 00:47:41,942 --> 00:47:44,152 and you go in and you give them drugs 1048 00:47:44,152 --> 00:47:47,197 and you know you see that asthma attack break 1049 00:47:47,197 --> 00:47:49,032 and those people can breathe again, 1050 00:47:49,032 --> 00:47:51,827 that's beautiful you know but 1051 00:47:51,827 --> 00:47:55,080 in another four weeks, six weeks, three months 1052 00:47:55,581 --> 00:47:57,791 and you get the same call, 1053 00:47:57,791 --> 00:47:59,918 you know, it sort of takes some of the glamor out 1054 00:47:59,918 --> 00:48:01,753 and you walk into these people's homes 1055 00:48:01,753 --> 00:48:04,214 and you see they're having this asthma attack 1056 00:48:04,214 --> 00:48:06,800 or this sickle cell crisis or whatever other 1057 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:08,594 disease and here, you know, right 1058 00:48:08,594 --> 00:48:11,138 next to the bed, they just got through 1059 00:48:11,138 --> 00:48:13,348 eating a three pack for a dollar 1060 00:48:13,348 --> 00:48:15,058 glow in the dark set of cookies 1061 00:48:15,058 --> 00:48:17,853 with a big glass of cow’s milk 1062 00:48:17,853 --> 00:48:19,771 and you're asking yourself the question, you know, 1063 00:48:19,813 --> 00:48:24,318 do you think that any of what you just ate 1064 00:48:24,318 --> 00:48:25,861 has anything to do with 1065 00:48:25,861 --> 00:48:27,738 how you're feeling right now? 1066 00:48:28,238 --> 00:48:31,116 We don't really get to ask that question. 1067 00:48:31,116 --> 00:48:33,327 You know, I mean, I felt better immediately 1068 00:48:33,327 --> 00:48:37,581 from going vegan, but in a couple years 1069 00:48:37,581 --> 00:48:39,666 after I went vegan I was probably the strongest 1070 00:48:39,666 --> 00:48:42,544 I've ever been in my life and 1071 00:48:42,544 --> 00:48:46,173 you know I maintain that on a day to day basis. 1072 00:48:46,173 --> 00:48:51,178 So, you know, anyway, I'm 95 years old and (laughter). 1073 00:48:53,931 --> 00:48:57,351 - I had this one case I remember this woman very well. 1074 00:48:57,351 --> 00:49:00,103 I said to her, I said your problem 1075 00:49:00,103 --> 00:49:03,523 is not that you have spastic colon. 1076 00:49:03,523 --> 00:49:06,193 I said you're eating foods that are gonna 1077 00:49:06,193 --> 00:49:08,695 make you sick because they contain lactose 1078 00:49:08,695 --> 00:49:09,905 and to my surprise, she said 1079 00:49:09,905 --> 00:49:12,157 “Oh I know that,” and I said, “Well, 1080 00:49:12,157 --> 00:49:13,575 if you know that these foods are gonna 1081 00:49:13,575 --> 00:49:16,036 make you sick, why are you continuing to eat them? 1082 00:49:17,204 --> 00:49:19,581 She said, “Because the government says I have to. 1083 00:49:19,581 --> 00:49:22,167 The U.S. dietary guidelines say that I have 1084 00:49:22,167 --> 00:49:24,962 to include dairy foods in my diet 1085 00:49:24,962 --> 00:49:27,881 in order to be healthy.” And I, of course, 1086 00:49:27,881 --> 00:49:30,550 explained to her that, no, you don’t, 1087 00:49:30,550 --> 00:49:34,638 that you don't need dairy foods for any reason, 1088 00:49:34,638 --> 00:49:36,640 that they're, as I said to her, 1089 00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:38,225 “Cows don't drink milk but there's 1090 00:49:38,225 --> 00:49:39,601 plenty of calcium in their milk 1091 00:49:39,601 --> 00:49:40,852 and it's because they get it from 1092 00:49:40,852 --> 00:49:43,313 the green plants that they eat 1093 00:49:43,313 --> 00:49:45,273 and that if you eat green leafy vegetables, 1094 00:49:45,273 --> 00:49:47,776 you'll get plenty of calcium in your diet.” 1095 00:49:47,776 --> 00:49:52,239 But it really upset me that people were being 1096 00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:55,492 made ill by listening to recommendations 1097 00:49:55,492 --> 00:49:56,535 from the government that were 1098 00:49:56,535 --> 00:49:58,620 not based on science but rather 1099 00:49:58,620 --> 00:50:00,664 were based on marketing. 1100 00:50:01,623 --> 00:50:03,041 - [Thomas] We left Nazirahk's farm 1101 00:50:03,041 --> 00:50:04,960 and crossed over into Virginia 1102 00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:07,963 where we had a conversation with Dr. Milton Mills, who 1103 00:50:08,005 --> 00:50:11,925 practices urgent care medicine in the Washington D.C. area 1104 00:50:11,925 --> 00:50:14,344 and is on the National Advisory Board 1105 00:50:14,344 --> 00:50:17,472 of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. 1106 00:50:17,472 --> 00:50:20,058 He is a practicing Seventh Day Adventist 1107 00:50:20,058 --> 00:50:22,144 which is one of the very rare Protestant 1108 00:50:22,144 --> 00:50:24,021 denominations that recommends 1109 00:50:24,021 --> 00:50:26,565 a vegetarian diet to its members. 1110 00:50:26,565 --> 00:50:29,609 - God designed us and he gave us an owners manual 1111 00:50:29,609 --> 00:50:31,611 and it's called the Bible and in the Bible 1112 00:50:31,611 --> 00:50:34,072 he tells us what we should be eating. 1113 00:50:34,072 --> 00:50:36,825 He tells us what he designed us to eat 1114 00:50:36,825 --> 00:50:40,537 and if we care about ourselves and 1115 00:50:40,537 --> 00:50:42,789 if we care about what God wants then 1116 00:50:42,789 --> 00:50:46,460 we will follow his instructions for a healthy life. 1117 00:50:46,460 --> 00:50:49,296 And when I see people who call themselves Christians 1118 00:50:49,296 --> 00:50:52,049 eating fried chicken and pork chops 1119 00:50:52,049 --> 00:50:54,176 and all this stuff that they know 1120 00:50:54,176 --> 00:50:55,761 are unhealthy and that's 1121 00:50:55,761 --> 00:50:57,262 going to destroy their health 1122 00:50:57,262 --> 00:50:59,598 simply because it tastes good 1123 00:50:59,598 --> 00:51:02,225 then I have to ask, “Do you love 1124 00:51:02,225 --> 00:51:04,394 the pleasure of eating this unhealthy food 1125 00:51:04,394 --> 00:51:06,104 more than you love God? Because 1126 00:51:06,104 --> 00:51:07,689 if you really love God, then you 1127 00:51:07,689 --> 00:51:09,524 would do what he asked us to do 1128 00:51:09,524 --> 00:51:12,360 and that is eat a plant based diet.” 1129 00:51:12,569 --> 00:51:16,239 And when you realize the type 1130 00:51:16,239 --> 00:51:18,700 of misery and pain and suffering that's 1131 00:51:18,700 --> 00:51:20,577 inflicted on other animals 1132 00:51:20,577 --> 00:51:23,789 in order to raise them by the billions 1133 00:51:23,789 --> 00:51:25,999 just so they can be killed and dismembered 1134 00:51:25,999 --> 00:51:28,710 so people can eat them, it's impossible 1135 00:51:28,710 --> 00:51:31,171 for I think a feeling person 1136 00:51:31,171 --> 00:51:33,548 to justify that, particularly someone 1137 00:51:33,548 --> 00:51:35,675 who says that they believe in a loving God. 1138 00:51:35,675 --> 00:51:38,303 It's one thing if it's a matter 1139 00:51:38,303 --> 00:51:41,014 of life, death and necessity but 1140 00:51:41,014 --> 00:51:43,683 in modern life, it's not. 1141 00:51:44,309 --> 00:51:48,105 - [Thomas] The next day we had to say a sad goodbye to Maya 1142 00:51:48,105 --> 00:51:51,399 who was off to a holistic veterinarian conference 1143 00:51:51,399 --> 00:51:54,069 before she headed back to Israel. 1144 00:51:54,069 --> 00:51:56,530 And then Melody and I and Sophia 1145 00:51:56,530 --> 00:51:59,908 made our way back to the sacred woods of North Florida. 1146 00:52:00,534 --> 00:52:02,494 - Abra cadabra. 1147 00:52:04,079 --> 00:52:06,206 - The environmental crisis is not a crisis 1148 00:52:06,206 --> 00:52:07,749 of the bees and the birds 1149 00:52:07,749 --> 00:52:10,085 or the trees and the toads, it's a crisis of 1150 00:52:10,127 --> 00:52:14,756 how we live as spiritual beings in a physical reality. 1151 00:52:14,756 --> 00:52:17,676 Therefore in order to address this crisis we're 1152 00:52:17,676 --> 00:52:20,929 going to need to address the spiritual roots. 1153 00:52:20,929 --> 00:52:22,639 - [Thomas] Just a few days after Melody's 1154 00:52:22,639 --> 00:52:24,850 fourth birthday, I found myself 1155 00:52:24,850 --> 00:52:27,894 on an airplane headed to Marrakesh, Morocco 1156 00:52:27,894 --> 00:52:30,772 to join our producer Sailesh who'd invited 1157 00:52:30,772 --> 00:52:33,525 me to attend the 22nd United Nations 1158 00:52:33,525 --> 00:52:36,611 Climate Change Conference - COP22, 1159 00:52:36,611 --> 00:52:38,488 where people from all over the world 1160 00:52:38,488 --> 00:52:40,824 come together to work on finding solutions 1161 00:52:40,866 --> 00:52:42,492 to the climate crisis that is 1162 00:52:42,492 --> 00:52:45,036 threatening the future of life on our planet. 1163 00:52:45,036 --> 00:52:47,956 - What are some of those spiritual roots? 1164 00:52:47,956 --> 00:52:51,126 This includes the desire for instant 1165 00:52:51,126 --> 00:52:54,004 self gratification, consumerism. 1166 00:52:54,004 --> 00:52:59,009 We are facing a climate crisis, a planetary emergency 1167 00:53:00,010 --> 00:53:01,720 which is really messaging to us 1168 00:53:01,720 --> 00:53:04,723 that the human way of living is out of balance. 1169 00:53:04,723 --> 00:53:08,101 By the end of this 21st century, human beings 1170 00:53:08,101 --> 00:53:10,896 are likely to extinct five million 1171 00:53:10,896 --> 00:53:13,440 of the ten million species on this planet. 1172 00:53:13,690 --> 00:53:17,027 And so, according to the Jewish tradition, 1173 00:53:17,027 --> 00:53:19,154 it is forbidden to extinct a species. 1174 00:53:19,154 --> 00:53:23,408 We have a mandate to be stewards, to care 1175 00:53:23,408 --> 00:53:24,784 for the creation that God 1176 00:53:24,784 --> 00:53:27,621 has entrusted to us, to be righteous, 1177 00:53:27,621 --> 00:53:30,081 to be mindful and that comes 1178 00:53:30,081 --> 00:53:34,169 down to the smallest level of human consumption. 1179 00:53:34,169 --> 00:53:37,130 Everything that we consume, we need to think, 1180 00:53:37,130 --> 00:53:40,550 “Am I elevating this object in the highest way? 1181 00:53:40,550 --> 00:53:44,221 Am I using it in holiness? Am I reusing it? 1182 00:53:44,221 --> 00:53:45,972 Do I actually need this? 1183 00:53:45,972 --> 00:53:48,642 If we do that, then we're living at a higher 1184 00:53:48,642 --> 00:53:50,185 vibrational frequency. We're living in resonance 1185 00:53:50,185 --> 00:53:54,356 with the divine. We're living in resonance 1186 00:53:54,356 --> 00:53:57,651 with the planet that God has given us. 1187 00:53:57,651 --> 00:54:01,112 - We know that of all the energy 1188 00:54:01,112 --> 00:54:03,323 that human beings are putting into the climate 1189 00:54:03,323 --> 00:54:06,243 system via the greenhouse gases, 1190 00:54:06,243 --> 00:54:09,913 93% of that is ending up in the ocean. 1191 00:54:09,913 --> 00:54:13,959 This has led to an increased acidification 1192 00:54:13,959 --> 00:54:16,002 of the ocean. The acidity 1193 00:54:16,002 --> 00:54:18,046 makes it very difficult for shelled 1194 00:54:18,046 --> 00:54:20,882 animals to continue to fabricate 1195 00:54:20,882 --> 00:54:22,968 their shells and so we're beginning 1196 00:54:22,968 --> 00:54:25,845 to see threats to coral reefs. 1197 00:54:25,845 --> 00:54:28,515 We're beginning to see threats to 1198 00:54:28,515 --> 00:54:30,642 shelled animals, in general. 1199 00:54:30,642 --> 00:54:32,227 And the most important ones are the little 1200 00:54:32,227 --> 00:54:34,521 coccolithophores, part of the plankton 1201 00:54:34,521 --> 00:54:36,815 population and if their shells 1202 00:54:36,815 --> 00:54:39,234 are compromised, they can't live 1203 00:54:39,234 --> 00:54:42,529 and the danger will be that...these are the guys, 1204 00:54:42,529 --> 00:54:44,781 the plankton are the ones that are actually 1205 00:54:44,781 --> 00:54:47,993 manufacturing the oxygen in the atmosphere 1206 00:54:47,993 --> 00:54:51,538 that we breathe a few weeks after it leaves the ocean. 1207 00:54:51,538 --> 00:54:55,583 So ocean acidification is a 1208 00:54:55,583 --> 00:54:59,462 global issue that affects absolutely everybody 1209 00:54:59,462 --> 00:55:01,506 and all of the living things in the ocean. 1210 00:55:01,589 --> 00:55:05,302 It's my belief that societies in which 1211 00:55:05,302 --> 00:55:07,053 people care for each other 1212 00:55:07,762 --> 00:55:09,639 are societies that will also take 1213 00:55:09,639 --> 00:55:12,392 care of the environment and so there's 1214 00:55:12,392 --> 00:55:16,229 a relationship between our human compassion 1215 00:55:16,229 --> 00:55:18,857 and our compassion for nature 1216 00:55:18,857 --> 00:55:21,693 and now both are needed to assure 1217 00:55:21,693 --> 00:55:25,030 the survival of our civilization. 1218 00:55:25,030 --> 00:55:27,490 - I would say that compassion is central 1219 00:55:27,490 --> 00:55:29,743 to our religious tradition within Islam 1220 00:55:29,743 --> 00:55:31,870 and as a Muslim trying to be faithful 1221 00:55:31,870 --> 00:55:35,874 to its teachings, I have to strive to become 1222 00:55:35,874 --> 00:55:37,584 more compassionate in my life. 1223 00:55:37,584 --> 00:55:40,879 As an example, every chapter of the holy Koran's 1224 00:55:40,879 --> 00:55:44,841 114 chapters begins with (speaks Arabic) 1225 00:55:44,841 --> 00:55:46,718 which means in the name of God, 1226 00:55:46,718 --> 00:55:49,220 most compassionate, most merciful. 1227 00:55:49,220 --> 00:55:51,264 A small chick fell out of its nest 1228 00:55:51,264 --> 00:55:52,807 in the tree onto the ground 1229 00:55:52,807 --> 00:55:54,392 and one of the Prophet's companions 1230 00:55:54,392 --> 00:55:58,063 was playing with it in quite a ruthless manner, a ruthless way. 1231 00:55:58,063 --> 00:55:59,647 When the Prophet came upon him, 1232 00:55:59,647 --> 00:56:02,108 he became very stern and angry 1233 00:56:02,108 --> 00:56:03,985 and he said, “What are you doing?” 1234 00:56:03,985 --> 00:56:07,155 He said, “Amusing myself.” He said, 1235 00:56:07,155 --> 00:56:08,948 “How can you amuse yourself 1236 00:56:08,948 --> 00:56:12,410 with the child of someone else that's 1237 00:56:12,410 --> 00:56:15,914 not your child? Return the child to its mother.” 1238 00:56:15,914 --> 00:56:17,665 And what's very interesting is 1239 00:56:17,665 --> 00:56:19,084 in the Arabic language they have 1240 00:56:19,084 --> 00:56:20,960 two words, the word normally used 1241 00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:23,004 for baby chick is one word. 1242 00:56:23,004 --> 00:56:25,507 The word that is used for child 1243 00:56:25,507 --> 00:56:28,718 which is exclusively used in the human sense 1244 00:56:28,718 --> 00:56:30,762 which means (speaks Arabic) 1245 00:56:30,762 --> 00:56:33,181 is the term that he used for this chick. 1246 00:56:33,181 --> 00:56:35,642 So, in other words, its relation to its mother 1247 00:56:35,642 --> 00:56:37,477 is the same as the relationship 1248 00:56:37,477 --> 00:56:39,729 of a human mother to her own child. 1249 00:58:17,076 --> 00:58:19,496 - Last year in the run up to the Paris 1250 00:58:19,496 --> 00:58:22,040 climate talks, a number of religious 1251 00:58:22,040 --> 00:58:24,792 organizations issued statements on climate change 1252 00:58:24,792 --> 00:58:26,586 and so our organization issued 1253 00:58:26,586 --> 00:58:29,797 the Hindu Declaration on Climate Change for 2016 1254 00:58:30,131 --> 00:58:32,175 and that was signed by over 60 Hindu leaders 1255 00:58:32,175 --> 00:58:34,469 and organizations from across the world. 1256 00:58:34,469 --> 00:58:36,137 And within that, we put forward 1257 00:58:36,137 --> 00:58:38,765 the case for why Hindus should be concerned 1258 00:58:38,765 --> 00:58:41,226 about climate change and what Hindus 1259 00:58:41,226 --> 00:58:44,103 should and could be doing to address climate change. 1260 00:58:44,103 --> 00:58:46,147 And within that, one of the key things 1261 00:58:46,147 --> 00:58:48,316 we spoke about was diet 1262 00:58:48,316 --> 00:58:51,152 and to live a lifestyle which minimizes harm 1263 00:58:51,152 --> 00:58:54,113 on the environment, on animals, and on other people. 1264 00:58:54,113 --> 00:58:56,115 And so within that, the advocation 1265 00:58:56,115 --> 00:58:58,535 of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle 1266 00:58:58,535 --> 00:58:59,994 was something that we strongly said 1267 00:58:59,994 --> 00:59:01,913 that Hindus, actually not just Hindus, 1268 00:59:01,996 --> 00:59:03,873 all concerned people of the world 1269 00:59:03,873 --> 00:59:05,208 should take very seriously. 1270 00:59:06,334 --> 00:59:08,545 If we want to create a world which is full of compassion 1271 00:59:08,545 --> 00:59:10,964 which is full of love, which is full of peace, 1272 00:59:10,964 --> 00:59:12,882 then we have to imbibe that and live that 1273 00:59:12,882 --> 00:59:14,968 within our own hearts and minds. 1274 00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:18,179 - Because we have a system, a socioeconomic system 1275 00:59:18,179 --> 00:59:21,891 that's growth oriented and that's based 1276 00:59:21,891 --> 00:59:24,811 on consumption as an organizing value, 1277 00:59:24,811 --> 00:59:27,647 and competition as an organizing principle. 1278 00:59:27,647 --> 00:59:30,066 And because it's growth oriented, 1279 00:59:30,066 --> 00:59:32,569 we have been growing our population 1280 00:59:32,569 --> 00:59:36,197 and our livestock, continuously. 1281 00:59:36,197 --> 00:59:37,782 See, if you look at what has happened 1282 00:59:37,782 --> 00:59:40,618 to the biomass distribution of the planet, 1283 00:59:40,618 --> 00:59:42,203 our weight is now double the weight 1284 00:59:42,203 --> 00:59:45,582 of all the wildlife from ten thousand years ago, 1285 00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:47,584 and our livestock is two and a half 1286 00:59:47,584 --> 00:59:50,420 times our weight and what is worse 1287 00:59:50,420 --> 00:59:51,879 is that our livestock eat 1288 00:59:51,879 --> 00:59:54,007 five times as much food as we do 1289 00:59:54,007 --> 00:59:56,175 because they are mostly young animals 1290 00:59:56,175 --> 00:59:58,970 and they're eating a lot in order to grow. 1291 00:59:58,970 --> 01:00:00,680 So, it's as if you have a bunch of weight lifters 1292 01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:03,057 who are lifting five times their weight 1293 01:00:03,057 --> 01:00:04,851 and they discover that they are on quicksand 1294 01:00:04,851 --> 01:00:06,519 and they're sinking. 1295 01:00:06,519 --> 01:00:08,229 So what is the first thing they should do 1296 01:00:08,229 --> 01:00:09,814 with the weight they're lifting? 1297 01:00:10,773 --> 01:00:12,942 Should we not drop those weights 1298 01:00:12,942 --> 01:00:15,820 or should we continue to hold on to them? 1299 01:00:15,820 --> 01:00:18,239 That's the situation we are in at the moment. 1300 01:00:18,239 --> 01:00:20,450 But we are in a society where we are taught 1301 01:00:20,450 --> 01:00:23,620 to look outside for happiness. We are taught, you know, 1302 01:00:23,620 --> 01:00:26,831 that's where it is, and the entire socioeconomic system 1303 01:00:26,831 --> 01:00:28,708 depends on us believing this. 1304 01:00:28,708 --> 01:00:30,627 That the happiness is outside us. 1305 01:00:30,627 --> 01:00:33,796 So we really are at a position where 1306 01:00:33,796 --> 01:00:36,507 we have to change our socioeconomic system. 1307 01:00:36,507 --> 01:00:38,468 We have to change it so that 1308 01:00:38,468 --> 01:00:40,261 we are looking for happiness inside, 1309 01:00:40,261 --> 01:00:42,430 all of us, so that we are reducing 1310 01:00:42,430 --> 01:00:45,433 our demands on the earth and therefore 1311 01:00:45,433 --> 01:00:46,809 allowing the earth to come back, 1312 01:00:46,809 --> 01:00:48,478 you know, to regenerate again. 1313 01:00:48,603 --> 01:00:50,730 Veganism is a way of living where 1314 01:00:50,730 --> 01:00:53,107 we seek to never deliberately hurt 1315 01:00:53,107 --> 01:00:55,193 an innocent animal unnecessarily. 1316 01:00:55,193 --> 01:00:57,737 No longer is it necessary to eat animal foods. 1317 01:00:57,737 --> 01:01:00,406 So knowing that, we can now get in alignment 1318 01:01:00,406 --> 01:01:02,742 with who we really are, because all of us 1319 01:01:02,742 --> 01:01:04,994 want to be compassionate to all life 1320 01:01:04,994 --> 01:01:06,371 because that's who we are. 1321 01:01:06,371 --> 01:01:08,247 So the most important step that an individual 1322 01:01:08,247 --> 01:01:12,794 can do today to address environmental destruction 1323 01:01:12,794 --> 01:01:14,712 is to adopt a plant based diet 1324 01:01:14,712 --> 01:01:16,881 which is as local as possible, 1325 01:01:16,881 --> 01:01:18,966 which is as organic as possible. 1326 01:01:18,966 --> 01:01:23,554 So it's Local Organic Vegan Eating - that’s L.O.V.E. 1327 01:01:24,597 --> 01:01:26,391 - [Thomas] The day before I left Morocco, 1328 01:01:26,391 --> 01:01:28,351 I joined thousands of environmental 1329 01:01:28,351 --> 01:01:30,728 activists from all over the world 1330 01:01:30,728 --> 01:01:33,189 as we took to the streets of Marrakesh 1331 01:01:33,189 --> 01:01:35,566 in a march for climate justice, 1332 01:01:35,566 --> 01:01:37,944 hoping one day that these marches 1333 01:01:37,944 --> 01:01:41,656 will include justice for animals as well. 1334 01:01:41,656 --> 01:01:46,202 - I am a ladybug from the forest. 1335 01:01:46,202 --> 01:01:50,248 Do you like to ask some questions? 1336 01:01:50,248 --> 01:01:52,709 - How does India have the largest export 1337 01:01:52,709 --> 01:01:54,877 of leather products in the world 1338 01:01:54,877 --> 01:01:57,630 and can still be a cow friendly country? 1339 01:01:57,630 --> 01:02:00,425 - [Thomas] On the second day of 2017 1340 01:02:00,425 --> 01:02:04,137 I once again found myself flying over the ocean. 1341 01:02:04,137 --> 01:02:07,724 Holger Eick, one of our producers who lives in Hong Kong, 1342 01:02:07,724 --> 01:02:10,143 had invited me to join him in India 1343 01:02:10,143 --> 01:02:11,519 where we would explore 1344 01:02:11,519 --> 01:02:13,896 the teachings of compassion in some of 1345 01:02:13,896 --> 01:02:16,858 the world's most ancient spiritual traditions. 1346 01:02:16,858 --> 01:02:20,194 We would start our journey in the city of Mumbai 1347 01:02:20,194 --> 01:02:23,531 where we spoke to Nithya Shanti who lived six years 1348 01:02:23,531 --> 01:02:26,868 as a Buddhist monk and now travels internationally, 1349 01:02:26,868 --> 01:02:28,828 sharing practical wisdom teachings 1350 01:02:28,828 --> 01:02:30,955 for happiness and enlightenment. 1351 01:02:30,955 --> 01:02:32,123 - I used to think for a long time 1352 01:02:32,123 --> 01:02:33,249 I need to be like the Buddha, 1353 01:02:33,249 --> 01:02:34,250 I'm not enough like the Buddha 1354 01:02:34,250 --> 01:02:35,668 I need to be more like the Buddha. 1355 01:02:35,668 --> 01:02:37,003 Then one day, it settled on me 1356 01:02:37,003 --> 01:02:39,338 that I'm not the Buddha. I'm not the Buddha. 1357 01:02:39,338 --> 01:02:40,631 Even if I tried my very best, 1358 01:02:40,631 --> 01:02:42,383 I'll be a second rate Buddha. 1359 01:02:42,467 --> 01:02:44,844 But my eyes shone when I realized 1360 01:02:44,844 --> 01:02:46,262 even if the Buddha tries his best 1361 01:02:46,262 --> 01:02:49,223 he'll be a second rate Nithya Shanti. 1362 01:02:49,223 --> 01:02:51,642 In the Buddhist tradition, the word 1363 01:02:51,642 --> 01:02:53,978 for compassion is Karuna. And Karuna 1364 01:02:53,978 --> 01:02:56,063 is known as one of the noblest states 1365 01:02:56,063 --> 01:02:57,482 we can experience as a human being. 1366 01:02:57,482 --> 01:03:00,610 One of the most noble qualities... 1367 01:03:00,610 --> 01:03:03,112 It's called actually a boundless state. 1368 01:03:03,112 --> 01:03:04,614 When your mind is in unbalanced 1369 01:03:04,614 --> 01:03:05,990 all you are concerned about is about me and my little world 1370 01:03:05,990 --> 01:03:07,825 and at most the people around me. 1371 01:03:07,825 --> 01:03:09,285 But as your mind gets more and more balanced 1372 01:03:09,285 --> 01:03:11,829 you realize - all beings we're in the same boat, 1373 01:03:11,829 --> 01:03:14,415 we all seek to be free from suffering. 1374 01:03:14,457 --> 01:03:16,209 And so the response of 1375 01:03:16,209 --> 01:03:17,919 a balanced mind to suffering 1376 01:03:17,919 --> 01:03:19,420 is compassion, is a desire 1377 01:03:19,420 --> 01:03:21,464 to alleviate that suffering in whatever 1378 01:03:21,464 --> 01:03:23,925 way they possibly can and that's compassion. 1379 01:03:24,383 --> 01:03:28,012 - Vedanta is Indian philosophy which 1380 01:03:28,012 --> 01:03:30,765 originated in the Vedas but 1381 01:03:30,765 --> 01:03:32,809 it is simply knowledge of yourself. 1382 01:03:32,809 --> 01:03:35,436 Vedanta says there are three distinct 1383 01:03:35,436 --> 01:03:38,064 types of thoughts in a human being. 1384 01:03:38,940 --> 01:03:42,902 The highest is sattva which is called pure thoughts 1385 01:03:42,902 --> 01:03:46,113 and unselfish thoughts, compassionate thoughts, 1386 01:03:46,113 --> 01:03:48,950 loving thoughts, thoughts that contemplate 1387 01:03:48,950 --> 01:03:51,077 on the higher, the transcendental. 1388 01:03:51,118 --> 01:03:53,996 A person who is in sattva, pure thought 1389 01:03:54,038 --> 01:03:58,084 will not do anything that harms others 1390 01:03:59,252 --> 01:04:03,130 and to eat the flesh of another creature 1391 01:04:03,130 --> 01:04:06,050 because you find it tasty or even 1392 01:04:06,050 --> 01:04:07,552 if you think it's nutritious 1393 01:04:08,469 --> 01:04:12,265 is abhorrent to a person with pure thoughts. 1394 01:04:12,473 --> 01:04:16,853 Vedanta says at all times in your life 1395 01:04:16,853 --> 01:04:20,314 you must have an attitude of not wanting 1396 01:04:20,314 --> 01:04:24,861 to injure, hurt, or be nasty 1397 01:04:24,861 --> 01:04:28,364 to anyone in thought, word, or deed. 1398 01:04:31,117 --> 01:04:32,743 - [Thomas] While in Mumbai, 1399 01:04:32,743 --> 01:04:35,371 we had the wonderful opportunity to visit a 1400 01:04:35,371 --> 01:04:37,665 beautiful, world renowned Jain temple, 1401 01:04:37,957 --> 01:04:39,959 where we had the pleasure of speaking 1402 01:04:39,959 --> 01:04:42,253 with Urvi Shah, a devout Jain 1403 01:04:42,253 --> 01:04:44,672 who gave us a tour of the temple. 1404 01:06:07,672 --> 01:06:10,758 - Often I ask my patient, do you take milk 1405 01:06:10,758 --> 01:06:12,635 and they say oh no no, I hardly take milk, 1406 01:06:12,635 --> 01:06:14,595 I don't take milk, and then 1407 01:06:14,595 --> 01:06:16,180 we sit down and start writing down 1408 01:06:16,180 --> 01:06:20,434 chai, yes, curd, yes, maybe ice cream yes, 1409 01:06:20,476 --> 01:06:23,062 maybe paneer yes, maybe ghee yes, 1410 01:06:23,062 --> 01:06:25,356 and it can be literally like half a liter 1411 01:06:25,356 --> 01:06:28,275 of milk every day, so you do consume milk. 1412 01:06:28,275 --> 01:06:30,695 If you have just consumed one slice of cheese 1413 01:06:30,695 --> 01:06:33,155 you have already consumed 16 ounces of milk. 1414 01:06:33,155 --> 01:06:35,366 The Indian subcontinent in Asia 1415 01:06:35,366 --> 01:06:37,868 is very obsessed with dairy products 1416 01:06:37,868 --> 01:06:39,662 because it's so deeply ingrained 1417 01:06:39,662 --> 01:06:40,997 that they think it's vegetarian. 1418 01:06:40,997 --> 01:06:42,832 Milk production is very high, 1419 01:06:42,832 --> 01:06:44,458 it's highest in the world. In fact, 1420 01:06:44,458 --> 01:06:47,503 India is one of the largest exporters of beef 1421 01:06:47,503 --> 01:06:50,214 in the world, thanks to the dairy industry, 1422 01:06:50,214 --> 01:06:55,136 because after repeated artificial insemination, 1423 01:06:55,136 --> 01:06:58,556 three or four times, about six or seven 1424 01:06:58,556 --> 01:07:01,225 year of age, now cow is spent. 1425 01:07:01,225 --> 01:07:04,186 She's of no use. Also, the young calf, 1426 01:07:04,186 --> 01:07:06,981 you know, the baby male cow is allowed 1427 01:07:06,981 --> 01:07:09,734 to just die and so the veal is produced 1428 01:07:09,734 --> 01:07:12,278 because there's no use of male cow 1429 01:07:12,278 --> 01:07:14,238 anywhere in any industry. 1430 01:07:14,613 --> 01:07:16,866 From the times of Lord Krishna, 1431 01:07:16,866 --> 01:07:19,326 we consume so much dairy, it's there 1432 01:07:19,326 --> 01:07:21,162 in our temples as prasad. 1433 01:07:21,328 --> 01:07:23,205 It's there at any good occasion, 1434 01:07:23,205 --> 01:07:25,541 marriage, everything's made from dairy. 1435 01:07:25,541 --> 01:07:27,960 Ghee, particularly, is used a lot 1436 01:07:27,960 --> 01:07:30,629 so it just doesn't go out of the psyche 1437 01:07:30,629 --> 01:07:32,882 of the Indian mind. So, I had to write a book 1438 01:07:32,882 --> 01:07:34,341 on dairy alternatives 1439 01:07:34,341 --> 01:07:36,927 and show them the way that you can make 1440 01:07:36,927 --> 01:07:38,846 butter milk, you can make yogurt 1441 01:07:38,846 --> 01:07:41,098 you can make ice creams, you can make 1442 01:07:41,098 --> 01:07:43,684 all the Indian sweets same way, exactly 1443 01:07:43,684 --> 01:07:47,188 same, tasting even much better and healthier. 1444 01:07:47,354 --> 01:07:49,857 - One of the first patients I remember 1445 01:07:49,857 --> 01:07:53,402 was a man who had diabetes but that's 1446 01:07:53,402 --> 01:07:56,072 not why he came to me. He had diabetes 1447 01:07:56,072 --> 01:07:58,115 and he was being given medicines 1448 01:07:58,115 --> 01:08:00,117 and the blood sugar wouldn't come under control 1449 01:08:00,117 --> 01:08:01,744 but he came to me because he had 1450 01:08:01,744 --> 01:08:03,537 the complications of diabetes, 1451 01:08:03,537 --> 01:08:05,164 he was losing his eyesight. 1452 01:08:05,164 --> 01:08:07,166 And when I suggested to him 1453 01:08:07,166 --> 01:08:10,795 to stop all the dairy, within two weeks 1454 01:08:10,795 --> 01:08:12,213 his blood sugar came down 1455 01:08:12,254 --> 01:08:14,006 and his eyesight came back. 1456 01:08:14,340 --> 01:08:16,717 It was just so amazing and then over 1457 01:08:16,717 --> 01:08:18,219 a period of time he went on a 1458 01:08:18,219 --> 01:08:21,514 whole plant based diet and improved even further. 1459 01:08:21,514 --> 01:08:24,350 So, this was one of my early cases which 1460 01:08:24,350 --> 01:08:27,645 brought to my mind how much changing 1461 01:08:27,686 --> 01:08:30,481 our diet really helps because our body 1462 01:08:30,481 --> 01:08:31,941 always works to heal. 1463 01:08:32,483 --> 01:08:34,485 I actually realized that medicines 1464 01:08:34,485 --> 01:08:36,946 come in the way of healing. 1465 01:08:36,946 --> 01:08:40,741 In fact medicines never cure, but the body heals. 1466 01:08:40,866 --> 01:08:45,329 I also run a 21 day residential program 1467 01:08:45,454 --> 01:08:47,832 where we have people coming in 1468 01:08:47,873 --> 01:08:49,416 with all kinds of diseases 1469 01:08:49,458 --> 01:08:51,836 and we do all the lab reports at the beginning 1470 01:08:51,836 --> 01:08:54,588 and as they get better, we take off 1471 01:08:54,588 --> 01:08:57,174 medications and they're given buffet meals. 1472 01:08:57,216 --> 01:09:00,302 We have cooking classes every day, we have yoga, 1473 01:09:00,302 --> 01:09:04,098 meditation, and within 21 days, 1474 01:09:04,098 --> 01:09:08,435 most of them get off at least 70% of the medication. 1475 01:09:08,435 --> 01:09:11,397 Many of them are off all their medications 1476 01:09:11,981 --> 01:09:13,482 and they have more energy than 1477 01:09:13,524 --> 01:09:15,109 they ever had before and we do 1478 01:09:15,151 --> 01:09:17,862 lab reports all over at the end 1479 01:09:17,945 --> 01:09:20,030 so that they can actually see the difference 1480 01:09:20,030 --> 01:09:23,492 between the two reports and even I'm amazed. 1481 01:09:23,492 --> 01:09:25,661 Not only they are amazed but I'm amazed 1482 01:09:25,661 --> 01:09:28,831 every time, how fast the body can actually 1483 01:09:28,831 --> 01:09:32,626 heal if we take away all the things that make it sick. 1484 01:09:34,420 --> 01:09:36,964 - [Thomas] Holger and I left Mumbai and flew 1485 01:09:36,964 --> 01:09:40,593 over to Udaipur where we met up with Sailesh 1486 01:09:40,593 --> 01:09:43,429 and I ran into Dharmada, a friend I had made 1487 01:09:43,429 --> 01:09:46,015 during the Animal Rights conference in L.A. 1488 01:09:46,015 --> 01:09:48,767 She introduced us to her friend, Ashutosh, 1489 01:09:48,767 --> 01:09:51,896 and together we all traveled out to Animal Aid Rescue 1490 01:09:52,229 --> 01:09:54,523 where we met the founder, Jim Meyers, 1491 01:09:54,523 --> 01:09:56,525 who along with his wife, daughter, 1492 01:09:56,525 --> 01:09:59,737 and 50 full time staff members and volunteers 1493 01:09:59,737 --> 01:10:01,030 from around the world, have rescued 1494 01:10:01,030 --> 01:10:04,617 over 65,000 injured and ill street animals 1495 01:10:04,617 --> 01:10:08,245 including dogs, cows, camels, and donkeys, 1496 01:10:08,245 --> 01:10:12,833 just to name a few, since they opened their gates in 2003. 1497 01:10:12,917 --> 01:10:16,337 - In the state of Rajasthan, it is not legal 1498 01:10:16,337 --> 01:10:18,214 to euthanize a cow. 1499 01:10:18,756 --> 01:10:20,966 Any of the other animals you see here, 1500 01:10:20,966 --> 01:10:24,553 the monkey, the blind dogs, the 1501 01:10:24,553 --> 01:10:28,265 handicapped dogs, all can be euthanized 1502 01:10:28,265 --> 01:10:31,810 but the cow is given this special protection. 1503 01:10:31,810 --> 01:10:33,520 A dairy in the city, 1504 01:10:33,520 --> 01:10:36,982 somebody, that cow, there, this one, that one 1505 01:10:36,982 --> 01:10:39,818 stopped giving milk and at night, 1506 01:10:39,818 --> 01:10:42,154 it was pushed out into the street. 1507 01:10:42,154 --> 01:10:44,448 And cruelly, the same one that you say, 1508 01:10:44,448 --> 01:10:47,493 is so holy, we aren't even going to euthanize them, 1509 01:10:47,493 --> 01:10:50,412 we're so enraptured with their 1510 01:10:50,412 --> 01:10:52,873 spirit to keep it alive, every single 1511 01:10:52,873 --> 01:10:56,001 cow represents an abandonment that it was 1512 01:10:56,001 --> 01:10:59,922 not profitable to feed that cow anymore, to do anymore 1513 01:10:59,922 --> 01:11:03,425 with it so you've removed it and you've broken a law. 1514 01:11:03,425 --> 01:11:05,427 This animal at night 1515 01:11:05,427 --> 01:11:08,305 would be eaten out by dogs and pigs 1516 01:11:08,305 --> 01:11:10,808 alive in the street, 1517 01:11:10,808 --> 01:11:15,771 with no medicine to alleviate pain, no one 1518 01:11:15,771 --> 01:11:19,817 to shelter its eyes in a 49 degree Celsius day, 1519 01:11:19,817 --> 01:11:23,988 to move the flies away and here it was 1520 01:11:23,988 --> 01:11:27,241 the only way I could get, not happy, 1521 01:11:27,241 --> 01:11:29,660 because it's nothing to be happy about, 1522 01:11:29,660 --> 01:11:31,787 but I could get satisfied 1523 01:11:31,787 --> 01:11:34,540 that some justice was being done 1524 01:11:34,540 --> 01:11:38,043 so that this cow which this dear lady 1525 01:11:38,043 --> 01:11:41,213 is helping us with, this cow 1526 01:11:41,213 --> 01:11:43,882 is going to die in a few days. It's not gonna be, 1527 01:11:43,882 --> 01:11:45,426 it's legs aren't gonna get stronger 1528 01:11:45,426 --> 01:11:47,177 and get better and return to the city, 1529 01:11:47,177 --> 01:11:50,014 find its long lost brothers and sisters. 1530 01:11:50,222 --> 01:11:53,559 The least favorite question a serious 1531 01:11:53,600 --> 01:11:55,769 politician in India wants to hear 1532 01:11:55,769 --> 01:11:58,605 is, “What happens to the male cows?” 1533 01:11:58,605 --> 01:12:01,150 And so that story has to be suppressed 1534 01:12:01,150 --> 01:12:03,902 if you're gonna keep up all the sensitivity. 1535 01:12:03,902 --> 01:12:05,988 So, no one shows the links. 1536 01:14:18,579 --> 01:14:21,081 - [Thomas] After visiting the royal palace 1537 01:14:21,081 --> 01:14:25,252 and two Hindu temples, the Jagdish and the 1538 01:14:25,252 --> 01:14:28,964 Karni Mata, I had to say goodbye to Holger 1539 01:14:28,964 --> 01:14:31,049 as he flew home to Hong Kong 1540 01:14:31,049 --> 01:14:33,594 and I journeyed forward to New Delhi 1541 01:14:33,594 --> 01:14:35,512 where I would have the unique opportunity 1542 01:14:35,512 --> 01:14:38,140 to speak to two Digambara Jain sadhus, 1543 01:14:38,182 --> 01:14:41,435 sky clad Jain saints who have freed 1544 01:14:41,435 --> 01:14:44,605 themselves of all attachments and worldly possessions, 1545 01:14:44,605 --> 01:14:49,026 including clothing, money and even dishes and silverware. 1546 01:15:06,084 --> 01:15:09,671 The Jain religion is said to be around 5,000 years old 1547 01:15:09,671 --> 01:15:13,675 and it has a rich history of non violence and vegetarianism. 1548 01:15:13,675 --> 01:15:16,261 It has libraries filled with their collective 1549 01:15:16,261 --> 01:15:19,014 knowledge and wisdom, yet there was really 1550 01:15:19,014 --> 01:15:21,558 only one question I wanted to ask 1551 01:15:21,558 --> 01:15:24,102 these holy saints of Ahimsa. 1552 01:15:25,479 --> 01:15:29,316 - (foreign language speaking) 1553 01:15:47,834 --> 01:15:51,672 - (foreign language speaking) 1554 01:16:00,305 --> 01:16:03,141 As much as I loved and felt at home in India, 1555 01:16:03,225 --> 01:16:05,644 two weeks was as long as I could keep 1556 01:16:05,644 --> 01:16:09,314 myself away from Melody and our sanctuary in the woods. 1557 01:16:09,481 --> 01:16:12,025 - When you were a kid did you get really dirty 1558 01:16:12,025 --> 01:16:13,610 and your mom get mad? 1559 01:16:14,945 --> 01:16:16,655 - I did get really dirty but you know 1560 01:16:16,655 --> 01:16:18,115 I had a pretty cool mom. I don't think 1561 01:16:18,115 --> 01:16:19,449 she got mad about it. 1562 01:16:19,616 --> 01:16:21,285 - How old are you now? 1563 01:16:21,785 --> 01:16:24,955 - I will be 50 in a few weeks. 1564 01:16:25,080 --> 01:16:27,207 - Aaahhh, I forgot. 1565 01:16:27,249 --> 01:16:29,918 - One of the great Hasidic rabbis, Rabbi Nachman, taught 1566 01:16:29,918 --> 01:16:31,461 that the day you were born 1567 01:16:31,461 --> 01:16:33,547 was the day that God decided the world 1568 01:16:33,547 --> 01:16:35,507 could not exist without you, 1569 01:16:36,091 --> 01:16:38,218 and that is true for every being, 1570 01:16:38,218 --> 01:16:40,762 that every being that has breath 1571 01:16:40,762 --> 01:16:42,556 God has said the world cannot 1572 01:16:42,556 --> 01:16:45,809 exist without them. And to honor 1573 01:16:45,809 --> 01:16:48,103 God is to honor the holy breath 1574 01:16:48,103 --> 01:16:50,480 of every being and to see 1575 01:16:50,480 --> 01:16:54,276 that the world needs each of us. 1576 01:16:54,484 --> 01:16:56,153 - [Thomas] I was very excited to have 1577 01:16:56,153 --> 01:16:57,738 the honor and delight of sitting down 1578 01:16:57,738 --> 01:16:59,656 with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz 1579 01:16:59,948 --> 01:17:02,284 while he was attending a rabbinical conference 1580 01:17:02,284 --> 01:17:04,119 in Atlanta, Georgia. 1581 01:17:04,119 --> 01:17:06,788 Rabbi Yanklowitz is a social justice activist, 1582 01:17:06,788 --> 01:17:08,498 a sought after educational 1583 01:17:08,498 --> 01:17:10,959 and motivational speaker and the author 1584 01:17:10,959 --> 01:17:14,421 of seven books on Jewish spirituality and ethics. 1585 01:17:14,588 --> 01:17:18,050 He is the founder of the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute, 1586 01:17:18,050 --> 01:17:20,844 a graduate of both Harvard and Columbia 1587 01:17:20,844 --> 01:17:22,971 and the only person I've personally met 1588 01:17:22,971 --> 01:17:25,724 who's donated one of his kidneys to a stranger. 1589 01:17:26,016 --> 01:17:27,768 - The book of Psalms teaches 1590 01:17:27,768 --> 01:17:30,854 that the world is built through kindness. 1591 01:17:30,854 --> 01:17:34,524 We bring heaven down to earth by perpetuating kindness. 1592 01:17:34,650 --> 01:17:37,402 In every interaction, in every act 1593 01:17:37,402 --> 01:17:40,656 of food consumption, in every choice we make, 1594 01:17:40,656 --> 01:17:43,033 we have the opportunity to elevate 1595 01:17:43,033 --> 01:17:46,495 the sparks of holiness in whatever we encounter. 1596 01:17:46,495 --> 01:17:49,456 We have the opportunity to objectify 1597 01:17:49,456 --> 01:17:52,751 and abuse or we have the opportunity 1598 01:17:52,751 --> 01:17:55,003 to see the holiness in everything. 1599 01:17:55,003 --> 01:17:56,797 When my children were born 1600 01:17:56,797 --> 01:17:58,840 and I held them for the first time, 1601 01:17:58,840 --> 01:18:02,552 the level of love I felt was so infinite! 1602 01:18:02,552 --> 01:18:06,890 This is how God experiences all of God's creatures. 1603 01:18:06,890 --> 01:18:10,894 Each creature is held with infinite love 1604 01:18:10,894 --> 01:18:12,979 and to take the Godly perspective 1605 01:18:12,979 --> 01:18:17,401 of the universe is to treat every being with love, 1606 01:18:17,401 --> 01:18:21,405 to treat every being as an end in themselves. 1607 01:18:21,405 --> 01:18:24,324 All of our religions teach this, 1608 01:18:24,324 --> 01:18:25,867 in their purest form. 1609 01:18:26,326 --> 01:18:27,786 So the most central question we can 1610 01:18:27,786 --> 01:18:29,621 ask ourselves every day is 1611 01:18:29,621 --> 01:18:32,457 how can I increase compassion in the world today, 1612 01:18:32,457 --> 01:18:34,292 through my every choice? 1613 01:18:35,335 --> 01:18:37,129 - I long ago started just saying 1614 01:18:37,129 --> 01:18:38,755 I'm a follower of Jesus Christ 1615 01:18:38,755 --> 01:18:40,632 because even if you are not a Christian 1616 01:18:40,632 --> 01:18:42,134 coming into that conversation 1617 01:18:42,134 --> 01:18:44,302 you know enough about Jesus to think that you're gonna 1618 01:18:44,302 --> 01:18:45,512 generally agree with most stuff 1619 01:18:45,512 --> 01:18:47,889 Jesus says. I mean turning the other cheek 1620 01:18:47,889 --> 01:18:49,683 and forgiveness and goodness. 1621 01:18:49,683 --> 01:18:51,893 I mean most people agree that Jesus 1622 01:18:51,893 --> 01:18:54,604 was teaching the right values 1623 01:18:54,604 --> 01:18:56,356 even if they're not Christians. And it's because 1624 01:18:56,356 --> 01:18:59,109 I love Jesus so much that I'm a vegan. 1625 01:18:59,109 --> 01:19:03,530 I'm not a vegan who also coincidentally 1626 01:19:03,530 --> 01:19:07,492 is a Christian. I am, full on, 1627 01:19:07,492 --> 01:19:11,371 a vegan because I love Jesus Christ. 1628 01:19:12,038 --> 01:19:14,249 - [Thomas] Although I'd already shot several hundred hours 1629 01:19:14,249 --> 01:19:16,376 of footage and I was a quarter way 1630 01:19:16,376 --> 01:19:18,712 through the rough cut, I couldn't pass up 1631 01:19:18,712 --> 01:19:20,964 the amazing opportunity to travel back 1632 01:19:20,964 --> 01:19:24,384 to Manhattan and speak to Suzy Welch, 1633 01:19:24,384 --> 01:19:26,803 who is a business journalist, bestselling 1634 01:19:26,803 --> 01:19:30,056 author and a regular contributor on the Today Show. 1635 01:19:30,682 --> 01:19:33,185 She's a devout, evangelical Christian 1636 01:19:33,185 --> 01:19:35,228 and an Animal Rights activist, 1637 01:19:35,270 --> 01:19:37,355 who currently sits on the advisory board 1638 01:19:37,355 --> 01:19:39,191 of the Good Food Institute. 1639 01:19:39,191 --> 01:19:41,359 - Jesus' earliest followers, many of them 1640 01:19:41,359 --> 01:19:43,278 were vegan because they got it. 1641 01:19:43,278 --> 01:19:45,155 They got that Jesus was about mercy, compassion 1642 01:19:45,155 --> 01:19:47,115 and love, and life. 1643 01:19:47,115 --> 01:19:51,119 Choose life, give life, stop killing, 1644 01:19:51,119 --> 01:19:53,163 show kindness to everything and so 1645 01:19:53,163 --> 01:19:56,875 Jesus' earliest fanatical followers were vegans. 1646 01:19:56,958 --> 01:19:59,711 And at one point, in Acts, Paul, frustrated with them, 1647 01:19:59,711 --> 01:20:01,963 says, “Stop talking about what you're eating. 1648 01:20:01,963 --> 01:20:03,298 You're sort of taking up all of our time 1649 01:20:03,298 --> 01:20:04,674 with your vegan diet 1650 01:20:04,674 --> 01:20:06,009 and let's pay attention to other things. 1651 01:20:06,009 --> 01:20:07,511 He had bigger sort of philosophical issues 1652 01:20:07,552 --> 01:20:09,387 that he wanted everybody paying attention to, 1653 01:20:09,387 --> 01:20:11,932 but we know historically 1654 01:20:11,932 --> 01:20:14,184 that Jesus' earliest followers, 1655 01:20:14,184 --> 01:20:16,436 the people sort of closest to his message, 1656 01:20:16,436 --> 01:20:20,106 were vegan because of him. So it's not like 1657 01:20:20,106 --> 01:20:22,359 I invented this, that I am just 1658 01:20:22,359 --> 01:20:25,195 following the tradition of Christians 1659 01:20:25,195 --> 01:20:27,364 all along who got that connection 1660 01:20:27,364 --> 01:20:29,658 but the connection's been buried. It's been buried 1661 01:20:29,658 --> 01:20:32,786 for a long time for cultural reasons, for cultural reasons. 1662 01:20:32,786 --> 01:20:35,413 But then people come back to this concept of dominion, 1663 01:20:35,413 --> 01:20:37,040 that's the big one for Christians. 1664 01:20:37,040 --> 01:20:40,085 Well God gave us dominion over all of His creation. 1665 01:20:40,085 --> 01:20:42,212 Well then, you have to think about 1666 01:20:42,212 --> 01:20:44,339 what dominion means. Well, God 1667 01:20:44,339 --> 01:20:46,341 has dominion over us. What does that mean, 1668 01:20:46,341 --> 01:20:48,885 God's dominion over us? He tells us exactly 1669 01:20:48,885 --> 01:20:50,470 what dominion means. People like 1670 01:20:50,470 --> 01:20:51,805 to debate what dominion means 1671 01:20:51,805 --> 01:20:53,223 but God tells us what dominion means. 1672 01:20:53,223 --> 01:20:57,310 It means loving, nurturing, life filled, 1673 01:20:57,310 --> 01:21:01,314 hope filled, compassionate, merciful, 1674 01:21:01,314 --> 01:21:05,110 tender, love! Okay and if that's 1675 01:21:05,110 --> 01:21:07,362 what dominion means and God's demonstrating 1676 01:21:07,362 --> 01:21:10,115 it towards us, which he is, 1677 01:21:10,115 --> 01:21:13,243 then it's our turn to use that 1678 01:21:13,243 --> 01:21:15,245 exact same exact bunch of words 1679 01:21:15,245 --> 01:21:17,873 in how we treat God's creation. 1680 01:21:17,873 --> 01:21:19,958 And, I don't know, slaughter houses 1681 01:21:19,958 --> 01:21:21,293 are not included in that. 1682 01:21:21,293 --> 01:21:24,629 And so for me, well yeah, bring up dominion, 1683 01:21:24,629 --> 01:21:27,132 bring it, because the Bible tells us what dominion is 1684 01:21:27,132 --> 01:21:29,426 and if you believe that dominion 1685 01:21:29,426 --> 01:21:31,052 is what God tells us it is, 1686 01:21:31,052 --> 01:21:34,264 then you have to stop eating animals. 1687 01:21:34,764 --> 01:21:36,474 - So Roman Catholics take scripture 1688 01:21:36,474 --> 01:21:38,310 very seriously, but we always 1689 01:21:38,310 --> 01:21:39,936 pair it with tradition saying that 1690 01:21:39,936 --> 01:21:41,605 we can't really even interpret scripture 1691 01:21:41,605 --> 01:21:43,273 without the tradition as well, 1692 01:21:43,273 --> 01:21:45,317 and the tradition on animals 1693 01:21:45,317 --> 01:21:47,736 all the way to the catechism of the Catholic church, 1694 01:21:47,736 --> 01:21:49,279 the official teaching of the Catholic Church 1695 01:21:49,279 --> 01:21:51,615 through the catechism, is so interesting 1696 01:21:51,615 --> 01:21:54,993 on animals, including an almost justice 1697 01:21:54,993 --> 01:21:59,414 like command saying that we owe animals kindness. 1698 01:21:59,414 --> 01:22:01,666 Often, in moral theology, we think 1699 01:22:01,666 --> 01:22:03,752 about justice as being what we owe 1700 01:22:03,752 --> 01:22:06,296 other people and the language of justice 1701 01:22:06,296 --> 01:22:08,965 is used in the catechism of the Catholic Church. 1702 01:22:08,965 --> 01:22:11,384 We owe animals kindness, that's unambiguous. 1703 01:22:11,384 --> 01:22:14,429 And so much of what we do today, 1704 01:22:14,429 --> 01:22:16,306 of course, is inconsistent with that 1705 01:22:16,306 --> 01:22:18,600 and Catholics have to ask those questions. 1706 01:22:19,434 --> 01:22:21,061 - [Thomas] While in New York City, 1707 01:22:21,061 --> 01:22:23,104 Victoria and I visited the beautiful 1708 01:22:23,104 --> 01:22:25,523 campus at Fordham University 1709 01:22:25,523 --> 01:22:27,359 which was founded by the Catholic 1710 01:22:27,359 --> 01:22:30,528 Diocese of New York in 1841. 1711 01:22:30,528 --> 01:22:33,573 There we spoke with Charles Camosy, 1712 01:22:33,573 --> 01:22:35,617 an Associate Professor of Theology 1713 01:22:35,617 --> 01:22:37,702 and Social Ethics and an author 1714 01:22:37,702 --> 01:22:40,705 whose books include, For Love of Animals, 1715 01:22:40,705 --> 01:22:43,249 and Peter Singer and Christian Ethics. 1716 01:22:43,375 --> 01:22:46,294 - I think so much of where injustice 1717 01:22:46,294 --> 01:22:49,130 comes from is our refusing to apply our principles 1718 01:22:49,130 --> 01:22:52,300 consistently. So we say we believe this 1719 01:22:52,300 --> 01:22:54,761 but then when it comes to his other thing 1720 01:22:54,761 --> 01:22:56,972 where it looks like we have to act 1721 01:22:56,972 --> 01:22:59,057 in a way contrary to the way we're currently acting 1722 01:22:59,057 --> 01:23:01,559 if we want to follow that principle seriously, 1723 01:23:01,559 --> 01:23:03,353 we kind of abandon the principle. 1724 01:23:03,436 --> 01:23:05,730 I use the analogy in my classes, 1725 01:23:05,730 --> 01:23:07,524 arguments and principles are like buses, 1726 01:23:07,524 --> 01:23:09,025 they're not like taxis. So if you 1727 01:23:09,025 --> 01:23:10,568 have a principle you have to follow it 1728 01:23:10,568 --> 01:23:12,612 wherever it goes or you gotta 1729 01:23:12,612 --> 01:23:14,364 get on a different bus. You can't 1730 01:23:14,364 --> 01:23:16,032 just tell your principle wherever 1731 01:23:16,032 --> 01:23:17,701 it's gonna end up, that's just being irrational. 1732 01:23:17,701 --> 01:23:19,953 So and so much injustice has come 1733 01:23:19,953 --> 01:23:21,621 from that kind of irrationality. 1734 01:23:21,621 --> 01:23:24,165 We believe in the divinity of the human person 1735 01:23:24,165 --> 01:23:26,626 except in slavery. We believe in non violence 1736 01:23:26,626 --> 01:23:28,962 except when we perpetuate war in the Crusades. 1737 01:23:28,962 --> 01:23:31,339 We believe in the most vulnerable, 1738 01:23:31,339 --> 01:23:34,134 except when it comes to how we eat. 1739 01:23:34,134 --> 01:23:36,428 And so in the book I'm trying to call out 1740 01:23:36,469 --> 01:23:38,304 all Christians to say, 1741 01:23:38,304 --> 01:23:40,974 if we really claim to believe these things, 1742 01:23:41,099 --> 01:23:43,268 we ought to change our whole lives 1743 01:23:43,268 --> 01:23:45,437 or let's not claim to believe these things. 1744 01:23:45,437 --> 01:23:47,522 Because if we just pick and choose 1745 01:23:47,522 --> 01:23:49,149 where we end up as a result of these principles, 1746 01:23:49,149 --> 01:23:52,110 we don't actually really believe the principles are true. 1747 01:23:52,110 --> 01:23:54,612 And to me that's just what it means 1748 01:23:54,612 --> 01:23:56,072 to be a Christian, it means following 1749 01:23:56,072 --> 01:23:57,824 Christ in every aspect of your life, 1750 01:23:57,824 --> 01:24:00,118 not just picking and choosing where you do that. 1751 01:24:00,410 --> 01:24:02,662 - Charles and Myrtle Fillmore the founders of Unity, 1752 01:24:02,662 --> 01:24:05,665 were staunch vegetarians all their lives, 1753 01:24:05,665 --> 01:24:07,208 talked about it a lot. 1754 01:24:07,208 --> 01:24:10,003 I think the Archives has 135 talks 1755 01:24:10,003 --> 01:24:13,173 from Charles Fillmore about being vegetarian. 1756 01:24:13,173 --> 01:24:15,341 They wrote about it in their publications, 1757 01:24:15,341 --> 01:24:18,344 and so having been to seminary 1758 01:24:18,344 --> 01:24:19,846 and knowing Unity's history, 1759 01:24:19,846 --> 01:24:21,890 I knew they were vegetarian. 1760 01:24:22,223 --> 01:24:24,684 I didn't know quite how ferociously 1761 01:24:24,684 --> 01:24:28,980 they were until I became vegan 1762 01:24:28,980 --> 01:24:31,066 and started reading more about it. 1763 01:24:31,608 --> 01:24:33,610 - [Thomas] So it turns out the founders of Unity, 1764 01:24:33,610 --> 01:24:34,903 the church I was attending 1765 01:24:34,903 --> 01:24:36,488 when I became vegan 1766 01:24:36,488 --> 01:24:39,449 were vegetarians in the late 1800s and 1767 01:24:39,449 --> 01:24:41,701 even included it in their statement of faith, 1768 01:24:41,701 --> 01:24:44,245 until it was removed in 1939. 1769 01:24:44,537 --> 01:24:47,165 So I joined Victoria at Unity village 1770 01:24:47,165 --> 01:24:49,793 in Missouri where she arranged an interview 1771 01:24:49,793 --> 01:24:52,587 with her friend, Reverend Ellen Debenport, 1772 01:24:52,670 --> 01:24:55,882 Unity's Vice President of content and media, 1773 01:24:55,882 --> 01:24:57,342 to ask why no one at Unity 1774 01:24:57,342 --> 01:24:59,052 had ever told me about this 1775 01:24:59,052 --> 01:25:01,137 and to discuss how Unity could be 1776 01:25:01,137 --> 01:25:03,973 more proactive in sharing Charles' teachings 1777 01:25:03,973 --> 01:25:05,683 about not eating animals. 1778 01:25:05,934 --> 01:25:07,894 - A lot of people find Unity 1779 01:25:07,894 --> 01:25:10,897 as refugees from rigid religions 1780 01:25:10,897 --> 01:25:12,565 and so they're hyper sensitive 1781 01:25:12,565 --> 01:25:14,275 to being told what to do, 1782 01:25:14,275 --> 01:25:16,444 or being told they're wrong or bad 1783 01:25:16,444 --> 01:25:19,697 and so Unity's leaders including me 1784 01:25:19,697 --> 01:25:22,367 are probably pretty hesitant 1785 01:25:22,367 --> 01:25:24,828 to talk about, there is this other 1786 01:25:24,828 --> 01:25:28,081 way to eat that you might find 1787 01:25:28,081 --> 01:25:31,084 would enhance your spiritual journey. 1788 01:25:31,167 --> 01:25:33,378 We may be moving in that direction. 1789 01:25:33,378 --> 01:25:34,963 We have more and more ministers who 1790 01:25:34,963 --> 01:25:36,714 are talking about it and who 1791 01:25:36,714 --> 01:25:39,134 think Unity really should insist on it 1792 01:25:39,134 --> 01:25:41,803 from World Headquarters, which 1793 01:25:41,803 --> 01:25:43,888 isn't going to happen any time soon, 1794 01:25:43,972 --> 01:25:46,266 because we don't want to tell people 1795 01:25:46,266 --> 01:25:50,520 what to do, but we can talk about it 1796 01:25:50,520 --> 01:25:53,898 and we can revive the idea that the Fillmores 1797 01:25:53,898 --> 01:25:58,736 preached vegetarianism and saw it as a spiritual practice. 1798 01:26:00,405 --> 01:26:01,906 - [PODCAST] Learn how to eat better, 1799 01:26:01,906 --> 01:26:04,284 get healthy and help animals. Welcome 1800 01:26:04,284 --> 01:26:08,580 to Main Street Vegan with your host, Victoria Moran. 1801 01:26:09,873 --> 01:26:11,541 - [Thomas] The Main Street Vegan podcast 1802 01:26:11,541 --> 01:26:13,877 on Unity radio is one of the ways 1803 01:26:13,877 --> 01:26:15,503 Unity has begun moving back 1804 01:26:15,503 --> 01:26:17,630 toward their vegetarian roots, 1805 01:26:17,839 --> 01:26:19,591 and after speaking with Ellen, 1806 01:26:19,591 --> 01:26:21,259 I look forward to seeing what other 1807 01:26:21,259 --> 01:26:23,469 ways they'll find to honor Charles and Myrtle's 1808 01:26:23,469 --> 01:26:25,805 original teachings about not eating 1809 01:26:25,805 --> 01:26:28,057 or wearing our fellow earthlings. 1810 01:26:30,560 --> 01:26:32,979 Over 74 billion farmed animals 1811 01:26:32,979 --> 01:26:35,440 are bred and slaughtered every year, 1812 01:26:35,481 --> 01:26:38,693 most of them while they're still just babies 1813 01:26:39,402 --> 01:26:41,613 and in the United States they eat 1814 01:26:41,613 --> 01:26:43,781 nearly 70% of the grain we grow 1815 01:26:43,823 --> 01:26:47,493 and raising them uses over 80% of our water 1816 01:26:47,493 --> 01:26:49,621 and almost half of our land 1817 01:26:49,996 --> 01:26:51,664 and it's also the number one cause 1818 01:26:51,664 --> 01:26:54,667 of water and air pollution as well 1819 01:26:54,667 --> 01:26:58,379 as deforestation, species extinction, 1820 01:26:58,379 --> 01:27:00,048 and ocean dead zones. 1821 01:27:01,925 --> 01:27:04,052 How long can we continue to try 1822 01:27:04,052 --> 01:27:05,553 and justify this? 1823 01:27:07,555 --> 01:27:10,266 All of the great spiritual traditions agree 1824 01:27:10,266 --> 01:27:12,143 that along with life's joys, 1825 01:27:12,143 --> 01:27:14,270 there will also be suffering 1826 01:27:14,520 --> 01:27:16,231 but so much of the suffering I see 1827 01:27:16,231 --> 01:27:18,942 in the world around me is unnecessary 1828 01:27:18,942 --> 01:27:21,778 and caused by the choices we make every day. 1829 01:27:22,111 --> 01:27:24,322 Those choices are having a devastating 1830 01:27:24,322 --> 01:27:26,157 effect on our individual 1831 01:27:26,157 --> 01:27:29,619 and collective karma and health 1832 01:27:29,619 --> 01:27:32,163 and they're threatening the future of our children. 1833 01:27:32,664 --> 01:27:35,750 (Native American flute music) 1834 01:27:36,584 --> 01:27:38,836 My prayer is that each of us 1835 01:27:38,836 --> 01:27:41,798 will challenge ourselves to be more kind 1836 01:27:41,798 --> 01:27:45,093 and compassionate with our thoughts, words and actions, 1837 01:27:45,426 --> 01:27:47,595 to vote wisely with our dollars 1838 01:27:47,595 --> 01:27:49,222 and to take better care 1839 01:27:49,222 --> 01:27:53,601 of all of creation including our body temples 1840 01:27:53,601 --> 01:27:55,311 and to take the time each day 1841 01:27:55,353 --> 01:27:58,648 to go within and ask some version of what 1842 01:27:58,648 --> 01:28:01,109 can I do to make the world better 1843 01:28:01,109 --> 01:28:02,360 for those yet to come 1844 01:28:03,987 --> 01:28:06,364 and then listen carefully for that 1845 01:28:06,364 --> 01:28:10,493 still quiet voice to answer. 1846 01:28:10,660 --> 01:28:13,621 ♪ All around this great big world ♪ 1847 01:28:13,621 --> 01:28:16,582 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1848 01:28:16,582 --> 01:28:19,419 ♪ All around this great big world ♪ 1849 01:28:19,419 --> 01:28:21,671 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1850 01:28:21,671 --> 01:28:24,590 ♪ All around this great big world ♪ 1851 01:28:24,590 --> 01:28:26,926 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1852 01:28:26,926 --> 01:28:31,931 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1853 01:28:33,766 --> 01:28:38,313 - Eating fruit is help your brain like mine. 1854 01:28:39,605 --> 01:28:42,150 ♪ This little light of mine, ♪ 1855 01:28:42,150 --> 01:28:45,194 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1856 01:28:45,194 --> 01:28:48,281 ♪ ♪ This little light of mine, ♪ 1857 01:28:48,281 --> 01:28:51,326 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1858 01:28:51,326 --> 01:28:54,329 ♪ This little light of mine, ♪ 1859 01:28:54,329 --> 01:28:56,622 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1860 01:28:56,622 --> 01:29:01,627 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1861 01:29:01,836 --> 01:29:04,130 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 1862 01:29:04,505 --> 01:29:07,508 (upbeat jazz music) 1863 01:29:13,097 --> 01:29:15,224 ♪ Namaste ♪ 1864 01:29:25,985 --> 01:29:29,572 ♪ I ain't gonna hide it under no bushel, no ♪ 1865 01:29:29,572 --> 01:29:32,200 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1866 01:29:32,200 --> 01:29:35,661 ♪ Ain't gonna hide it under no bushel, no ♪ 1867 01:29:35,661 --> 01:29:37,997 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1868 01:29:37,997 --> 01:29:41,376 ♪ Ain't gonna hide it under no bushel, no ♪ 1869 01:29:41,376 --> 01:29:43,795 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, ♪ 1870 01:29:43,795 --> 01:29:48,800 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1871 01:29:50,510 --> 01:29:53,429 ♪ Everywhere I go ♪ 1872 01:29:53,429 --> 01:29:56,182 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1873 01:29:56,182 --> 01:29:58,726 ♪ To everyone I know ♪ 1874 01:29:58,726 --> 01:30:01,896 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1875 01:30:01,896 --> 01:30:04,607 ♪ Everywhere I go ♪ 1876 01:30:04,607 --> 01:30:07,318 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1877 01:30:07,318 --> 01:30:12,281 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1878 01:30:12,448 --> 01:30:15,451 (upbeat jazz music) 1879 01:30:17,161 --> 01:30:22,166 ♪ Let it shine now ♪ 1880 01:30:22,750 --> 01:30:27,755 ♪ Everywhere you go now ♪ 1881 01:30:28,840 --> 01:30:30,550 ♪ To everyone you know ♪ 1882 01:30:30,550 --> 01:30:35,555 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1883 01:30:36,931 --> 01:30:39,434 ♪ This little light of mine ♪ 1884 01:30:39,434 --> 01:30:42,895 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, lord ♪ 1885 01:30:42,895 --> 01:30:45,690 ♪ This little light of mine ♪ 1886 01:30:45,690 --> 01:30:48,401 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1887 01:30:48,401 --> 01:30:51,571 ♪ This little light of mine ♪ 1888 01:30:51,571 --> 01:30:53,698 ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ 1889 01:30:53,698 --> 01:30:58,661 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1890 01:30:58,953 --> 01:31:03,583 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 1891 01:31:03,583 --> 01:31:08,588 ♪ Namaste now ♪ 1892 01:31:09,255 --> 01:31:14,260 ♪ Don't forget to pray now ♪ 1893 01:31:14,469 --> 01:31:16,387 ♪ And everywhere you go ♪ 1894 01:31:16,387 --> 01:31:21,142 ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ 1895 01:31:29,358 --> 01:31:31,486 Ladies and gentlemen put your hands 1896 01:31:31,486 --> 01:31:34,363 together for the Village Brass Band. 1897 01:31:36,824 --> 01:31:39,577 Good night, drive safely and God bless.