Twin Cities Celebrate Eid

Power Line’s Scott Johnson writes about the Eid celebration in the Twin Cities, where Muslims have rented the Minnesota Vikings’ stadium for two days for the event. He mentions in passing the following:

Animals will be sacrificed at an undisclosed location off site in connection with the festivities. Animal sacrifice is apparently still a thing in Islam.

It is indeed a thing. Minnesota Public Radio has the following explanation:

The holiday, which commemorates the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son at the command of God, is known as Eid Al-Adha.

Eid Al-Adha, the second Muslim holiday of the year, comes at the end of the pilgrimage. Its name in Arabic means the "festival of sacrifice." Muslims celebrate by sacrificing animals and donating meat to charity.

The DrsC happened to be in Dakar, Senegal, a few days before Eid several years ago. We noticed many obviously temporary pens filled with sheep scattered around the city.

These pens reminded us of temporary Christmas tree lots in our cities. We asked about it and were told each family who can afford to do so buys a live sheep, takes it home, and ritually slaughters it according the rules of halal.

We sacrifice conifers, they sacrifice sheep, not an exact parallel. I wonder (a) if PETA will protest the ritual killing of sheep, and (b) why the Sierra Club doesn’t protest us cutting poor little trees?