After some fights and tug-of-wars, and probably thanks to the fact that elections are coming up, the Czech Minister of Agriculture has left in place the current regulation where halal and kosher slaughter is reserved for specialized religious bodies, and where anyone who wants to do it quietly does it anyway. The proposal to make it officially considered normal and common has not passed.
Some see it as a matter of conflict with Islam, and to some extent so do I. But it is also a dispute about the development of the Western world. All definitions of modernity consider that one of the key features of the modern world is that morals have changed. Maybe not across the globe, but certainly in the Western civilization. We have become more oppressive. We no longer burn each other alive or flay each other, and if such a thing happens, it fills us with dread. Well, part of that change is that we don’t want to cause unnecessary suffering to animals either.
In pre-modern times, nobody would have thought to bother. Except maybe some weirdo mystic. Is that why we’re better than our ancestors centuries ago? We’re certainly different. And that doesn’t just apply to a few activists. Of course we have arguments about the treatment of animals. We have different opinions about what causes them suffering and what doesn’t. Other times, we are not sure how far we can go without making food unbearably expensive. But we all agree that, if possible, animals should suffer as little as possible.
Minister Jurecka has been trying to reverse this trend (since 2015). Back to darker times when we could not perceive animal suffering.
My personal opinion is that halal and kosher slaughter should have been abolished long ago, with no exceptions. And religious freedom? With their education and wisdom, the rabbis and teachers could have found a solution long ago that would satisfy God’s requirements while not causing unnecessary suffering to animals.