I woke up in the morning. In the usual groggy mode I walked to the bathroom, turned on the light and picked up my toothbrush.
I sensed that something was amiss. I was not alone. I turned to my left--never have I gone from a state of being half-awake to full alertness more quickly.
A goat was standing there, staring at me. I politely yielded and tiptoed out of the bathroom. I went to my dad and uttered a statement that I hope to never say again.
"There's a goat in the bathroom!"
"Yes, I know," was his reply.
"WHY!?"
"We're going to slaughter it today," said my dad.
I was most disturbed by his use of "we".
My dad had invited the family of his friend for Eid. They were both going to offer the sacrifice together. Four people were needed for help. We had:
- My father.
- My father's friend.
- The son of the friend who was two years older than me.
So, I was the lucky fourth.
We all entered the bathroom. The bathtub was at the end, the sink was at my right and the door was behind me. Within this cramped space was the goat.
We were all on the floor. My dad and his friend were in charge of the front half of the goat. I was holding the right hind leg, and the other kid was holding the left one--he was sitting to my right.
"Don't let go!" said my lovely dad.
I could only nod.
The moment had arrived. After a few seconds of mumbling, my dad started to slice the throat of the goat. Blood gushed out and the goat thrashed. The kid who was holding the other hind leg immediately let go in horror. He turned around and buried his head in his hands.
"Hold it down!" my dad yelled.
So, I was holding both its hind legs as a fountain of dark red liquid poured out of its neck. Its tongue was sticking out and it made a sickening sound as life slowly left its body.
"Good for nothing," said my dad as he looked at me.
I didn't reply. The other kid was still shivering.
I got up and surveyed the mini-slaughter house. The left side of the bathroom had a pool of blood and a decapitated goat lay in the middle.
My job was done and so I left.
By the way, at the time, I was no more than ten years old.
I'd hope that this isn't a no-shitter, dude. That's kinda freaky. If I found a goat in my bathroom, the last thing I'd do is reach for my toothbrush. I'd be hitting the damn thing in the balls with a frisbee.
ReplyDeleteah yes, Eid
ReplyDeleteIsn't Eid used to hardened young boys? I vaguely remember a story a few years back where the father would let his son play with the goat(Kid)for a few days before the scarfice. Of course the child would grow fond of the kid and then witness the horrifying killing. The same practice would follow the year after, then the year after that, until the young boy killed the goat with nary a thought.
How will the west defeat radical islam?Really, with practices like this? Our children are complete pussies compared to these guys. Islam has much more aggresive members then the PC leftist bitches that represent a majority of the western world.
Hell, even I can't stand watching animals die.. obivously because i've grown up in pacifistic world, where all the killing/brutality is done behind the scenes.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI was gonna say something like that too. It seems to me we, in the West, could actually do with a little more of this kind of thing. While I think the senseless slaughtre of animals is cruel, it seems to me that if we are going to eat meat (and I think we should), then we ought to be willing to kill it ourselves.
But, I guess that's kind of off topic.
The goat market sounds far superior to turning your house in to a butcher's parlor ... where I come from, when sacrifice became a bit awkward, or impossible, prayer was formally substituted.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an admirable moment for a civilizing fatwa.
Bin Baz should have busy with that instead of proclamations that the world is flat, and no one ever went to the moon
One word: "Barbarians!"
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Infidels!
ReplyDeleteDid you see this article?
Cheers - Dinah
Thanks, Dinah. Hope you had a great New Year's Eve.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this post I did on the people in Turkey:
http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2006/12/moloch-is-satiated.html