21
T H E VfiGAN
MAN
AND
NATURE
B y LESLIE J. CROSS T h e fallowing is an extract from the second part of a talk entitled " A n i m a l Emancipation related to H u m a n P r o g r e s s , " given recently to a G r o u p of T h e Society of Friends.
*Ti E T us consider the second broad aspect of man's relationship with - L ' the world of animals—the aspect by which man affects himself. Now it cannot be denied that when two elements, be they human, animal, vegetable or mineral, have contact, the effect is inescapably mutual. That is, that by virtue of the contact between them, each is affected. According to the nature and intensity of the contact, so is the nature and intensity of the effect. There is no act which does not have some effect, and there is no act involving two or more elements which does not affect each of them. What, then, is the effect upon man of the nature and intensity of his contact with his fellowcreatures? It is, I submit, this: that by the creation and continued employment of a code of behaviour which is cruel, parasitical and selfish, man injures not only those upon whom he inflicts his cruelties, his parasitical practices and his selfishness, but he inflicts restraints upon iris own evolution. By fastening himself as a parasite upon his fellow-creatures he creates an anchor, as it were, at which the upwardaspiring element in his nature drags in vain to be free. In specialised instances, of which the slaughterer is one example, he inflicts upon this element not merely an inhibition: he drags it down in chains. It has been said by witnesses that in the shambles of Chicago it is difficult to believe that the men whose daily work is perpetual killing have the spark of humanity left within them. If that is an extreme example, it is nevertheless a symbol of the depths to which man may sink as the result of fundamentally immoral behaviour. *
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In order to keep our thoughts largely upon the transcendental aspect of the relationship, I do not want to divert much attention to those physical results which, though of relative importance, are in fact incidental. But it does need to be stated that, if one accepts that there is order in the universe, it follows that ethical error cannot be scientific veracity. A number of diseases and ailments are no doubt traceable to ethical error in that they are brought about or intensified by the consumption of foods which have an immoral basis in that their production involves cruelty or violent death, or both. The coarse and heavy protein taken into the human body in the form of animal flesh and animal milk is a source of trouble, and it is significant that the incidence of cancer is highest in those parts of the earth where most animal milk is drunk. Milk-borne diseases are recognised even by those who take no account of the inevitable