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I'm just wondering if being a vegetarian is so undesirable that in order to keep your mind off of eating meat you feel the need to shove sharp objects into your face.
I'm just wondering if being a vegetarian is so undesirable that in order to keep your mind off of eating meat you feel the need to shove sharp objects into your face.
A colourful event held over a nine day period in late September/early October, this celebrates the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind.
O.K.
I don't see the correlation between the knives and peace of mind, nor good health.
Quote:
ceremonies which are held to invoke the gods. Firewalking, body piercing and other acts of self mortification undertaken by participants acting as mediums of the gods, have become more spectacular and daring as each year goes by. Men and women puncture their cheeks with various items including knives, skewers and other household items. It is believed that the Chinese gods will protect such persons from harm, and little blood or scarring results from such mutilation acts.
It's not "because of vegetarianism". If you look at a lot of the festivals over there, they involve infliction of injury on oneself. It's a cultural thing, not something that vegetarianism has caused.
In the article it says that people choose to become vegetarian because of a religious practice they are following.
So, it's the process of being a vegetarian (for some it's temporary, and others long term) along with the religious observance that results in these extreme displays at the festivals.
In Thailand the self mutilation is a cultural practice they are engaging in - however there are vegetarians (and others) in the USA who are also engaging in self mutilation (body piercings, earlobe stretching, tattoos). Is there a religious significance to that also? Does the vegetarianism motivate some people to take it one step further into self mutilation?
In the article it says that people choose to become vegetarian because of a religious practice they are following.
So, it's the process of being a vegetarian (for some it's temporary, and others long term) along with the religious observance that results in these extreme displays at the festivals.
In Thailand the self mutilation is a cultural practice they are engaging in - however there are vegetarians (and others) in the USA who are also engaging in self mutilation (body piercings, earlobe stretching, tattoos). Is there a religious significance to that also? Does the vegetarianism motivate some people to take it one step further into self mutilation?
If you're really interested instead of trying to dismiss people who are not like you, try doing a little research first. Obviously you know nothing about Thailand or Thai culture.
So you don't like vegetarians, etc. Your way of dealing with that, from your postings, is to demonize them.
Buddhists (although this seems to be a Chinese festival) believe in ahimsa (the practice of non-harming). Ahimsa
The body parts pierced do not cause permanent damage. That's easy to research also.
In many SE Asian festivals, piercings are involved. If you cared to read about it, there's a lot of information available on-line.
So, it's the process of being a vegetarian (for some it's temporary, and others long term) along with the religious observance that results in these extreme displays at the festivals.
Utterly faulty logic. What you're saying is:
People participating in this festival self-inflict pain on themselves, +
This festival is about vegetarianism, =
Vegetarianism causes people to self-inflict pain.
Problem with your logic is, correlation does not mean causation. There are many cultures that inflict injury or pain upon themselves that are not vegetarian. There are many vegetarians throughout the world that do not inflict injury or pain upon themselves.
I'd suggest if you actually are interested in learning more about this sort of thing, that you Google for festivals and religious celebrations that include self-torture.
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