Is There A
Cure for Inhumanity?
By Dr. Michael W. Fox
Some healers say that their patients will never be cured until they acknowledge
their illness. So it would seem that the first step in curing the most pervasive and pernicious disease of our species is
for us to acknowledge that cruelty toward others, human and nonhuman, is a symptom of this disease of inhumanity: Be in institutionalized,
as in some biomedical research laboratories and in fur, meat, egg and dairy animal factories (or bioconcentration camps);
or one-on-one as in the many instances of animal abuse, both physical and psychological that sometimes result in prosecution.
In order for the curing to begin, empathy for the suffering animals must be
established. But first the barriers that block empathetic fellow-feeling, especially the distancing mechanism of denial, and
the belief that animals dont really suffer must be broken down. Psychopathic personalities aside, most people are not lacking
in having a conscience, but they seek to avoid shame and guilt in order to save face; and above all to accept responsibility
for, and ultimately feel the suffering, that they have either caused to other sentient beings or support in their consumer
choices.
Confronting ones own sins of omission and commission and examining the truths
we live by takes considerable courage. When we are confronted by others who express their concerns judgmentally and with rage
and hatred, we are likely to react defensively and discount the validity of their concerns by calling them extremists, interfering
foreigners, or ignorant zealots, as the case may be. So it is when some animal rights advocates confront animal exploiters,
making constructive dialog impossibility. But if we who are concerned about animal suffering and liberation are to make progress,
we should be just as concerned about the state of mind of those who condone and participate in cruel forms of animal exploitation
as we are about the animals. I don't mean this in a patronizing way, but in the sense that the animal liberator is also
a human healer, seeking to liberate his or her own kind from their inhumanity toward other sentient beings, or involvement
in institutionalized animal cruelty.
Good healers never cure their patients through hatred and rage or by being
judgmental. The essence of healing is to make whole, especially in realms cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. This is not
to imply that healers should not experience anger, frustration and hatred against those values and motives that people have
incorporated from a society that until recently has condoned all forms of inhumanity against humans and other animals in the
name of necessity, progress, and for the greater good.
It is difficult to separate the act from the actor, especially when the act
is evil or harmful and causes others to suffer. Yet without first making that separation, the perpetrator will be identified
as being wholly evil, or motivated by harmful intentions. Yet in many instances of animal cruelty and suffering, the motive
was not to harm but, as in the case of the animal researcher, to help understand disease processes for the benefit of people
and other animals. Hence, the importance of separating the act from the actor so that the actor may realize the consequences
of his or her actions and be more open to dialog to find less harmful alternative means to achieve the same ends.
This approach is well recognized in dealing with such diseases as alcohol and
drug addiction, and borderline sadistic personality disorders, and by analogy, therefore, with a diseased society that is
addicted to and dependent upon cruel forms of animal exploitation.
In conclusion, I do not with to psychologize the pathology of animal cruelty
and suffering. But I do believe that the orientation and disciplines of clinical and transpersonal psychology and cultural
anthropology are needed and worth consideration and incorporation by the animal rights and liberation movement. This orientation
enables us to better overcome the barriers to empathy and compassionate concern for animals that continue to marginalize them
from the agenda of social responsibility and moral progress.
