Witchy Woman

I don't belong to a sect that practices animal sacrifice, but at the same time I am a carnivore. So I see it as a bit hypocritical that a state with lobster as a main product should suddenly get up in arms over a chicken. Slitting a chicken's throat is a thousand times more humane than dumping a boiling a bound creature alive. (As any animals rights activist will tell you, it's all about the charisma of the animal. Mammals are at the top of the hierarchy- i.e. how much crap the average person could be moved to care. So the "cuter" the animal, the more we care about it. You don't see very many lizards on Animal Precinct, do you? No, it's puppies and kittens.)

In fact, early laws banning "animal sacrifice" were to disenfranchise legitimate religious practices rather than over any concern for the animal's well-being. Hell, kosher slaughter is actually quite humane and stems from the ancient Jewish sacrifices! So yeah, pardon me if I don't give two shits about the animal "cruelty" charge considering what slaughterhouses get away with. But that's ok! That's big business! We don't care about the little farms that cook their own chicken every night, but once you start mixing it with religion... Watch out!

The "journalist" left out some very important details: the size of the fire (was it a handsized or a bonfire?) Whose grave it was (a relative's or some random stranger?) How the rooster was slaughtered (slit throat or dismemberment?) And the greatest of all of them, the "expert" consulted on the matter isn't even freakin' Santerian! He was a freakin' Christian minister! No matter that Santerians eat the sacrifice instead of setting it on fire...

The woman was especially screwed for being a) female b) of colour c) possessing a non-Caucausian name and d) not belonging to the Big Three (aka Abrahamic religions). Now, that having been said, a graveyard is hardly the place to be doing this. I will blatantly "blame the victim" here. This is America, you committed the aforementioned sins. You have to be very circumspect about where you practice what.

Welcome to America. This is not the land of the free.