Means says that European materialist tradition of despiritualizing the universe is very similar to the mental process which goes into dehumanizing another person. This is also the process of despiritualizing nature so we can plunger her. It is the raison d'etre for objectifying nature in the scientific / technological / industrialist / globalist capitalism supply chain. Means provided some examples:- Soldiers to kill an enemy soldier.
- We do it to eat food
- Murderers do it before killing .
- Nazi SS guards did it to inmates.
- Cops do it to those they arrest.
- Corporation leaders do it to their workers and to the environment
- Politicians do it to everyone
- factory farming takes away the individuality and recognition of each unique, living being and commodities then all by replacing each life by with the genetic label "food" ( author's addition)
- Mean says that for each group doing the Despiritualization, it makes it all right to kill and otherwise destroy other people/species.
- Means further says:
- One of the Christian commandments says, "Thou shalt not kill," at least not humans,
- so the trick is to mentally convert the victims into nonhumans.
- Then you can proclaim violation of your own commandment as a virtue.
- In most indigenous traditions, if not all, prayer is given before a meal.
- Prayer can be seen as a spiritualistion practice that recognizes that we, as participants in life, must take some other life in order to sustain our own
- It is the practice of recognizing the built-in cruelty of life.
- If taking another living beings life is the ultimate transgression, and we must commit that murderous act many times a day in order to survive
meal prayer establishes a direct connection with the individual plant or animall that has made the ultimate sacrifice and has forfeited its life so that we may continue ours.
- meal prayer is therefore, in the context of Deep Humanity practice, a BEing journey of continuous gratitude