log man said...
[left]"Do they treat animals poorly due to religion? (yes)". Really, really? I know you want to tie cruelty with Islam but is that a correct correlation, I would have thought Cultural(national) links would be more relevant.[left]
It may be in their culture, but it's in their culture because of Islam, and Islam is used as the justification.. The method is from the middle east, it was spread to Indonesia by Islamization.. Basically Halal is really just traditional instructions for eating meat in the desert which has been adopted as Dogma. It keeps the nomads from eating animals that die of disease or animals found dead which might be full of bacteria.
It makes sure the animal is alive and healthy at the time of death..
Similar reason for the origins of why cows are sacred to Hindus, to stop the villagers eating all their cows when they get hungry..
But of course that might have been good practice back in the day, but there is no need for it anymore, and it persists solely because if you are a Muslim, you have to submit to Allah and he gets really pissed at people not following the Qur'an
Prescribed slaughter..
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabihah
Qur'an said...
"Forbidden for you are carrion, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that which has been slaughtered while proclaiming the name of any other than God, and one killed by strangling, and one killed with blunt weapons, and one which died by falling, and that which was gored by the horns of some animal, and one eaten by a wild beast, except those whom you slaughter; and that which is slaughtered at the altar and that which is distributed by the throwing of arrows [for an omen]; this is an act of sin. "– Al-Maa'idah 5:3
Note the blunt weapon, it is literally a Sin to eat an animal killed with a bolt gun..
Wiki on Qur'an said...
According to Islamic tradition, the animal is brought to the place of slaughter and laid down gently so as to not injure it. The blade must be kept hidden until the very last moment while the jugular of the animal is felt. The conventional method used to slaughter the animal involves cutting the large arteries in the neck along with the esophagus and vertebrate trachea with one swipe of an non-serrated blade. Care must be taken that the nervous system is not damaged, as this may cause the animal to die before exsanguination has taken place. While blood is draining, the animal is not handled until it has died. If any other method is used its meat will not be halal.
This method adheres to Islamic law (it ensures the animal does not die by any of the Haraam methods) and helps to effectively drain blood from the animal. This may be important because the consumption of blood itself is forbidden in Islam,[Qur'an 2:173] however it is not clear that bleeding the animal removes all traces of blood from the carcass, so the meat may remain unclean. In fact it is stated by Islamic authorities that it is only necessary to drain 'most' of the blood from the animal.[7]
Take away Islam, and there is no rational reason to justify any of this S**t..
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Whats with people arguing that this is not important because some kids are being mistreated? using that logic
nothing should be important until every hungry child in Africa has a University degree and a Porsche.. Saving the Rain forests? Why does anybody care about the rain forests when there are children in Africa with no food??? Nothing is important until all the children are fed God damn it!
I find that very inconsistent - so maybe all the loony left will change 
