Animal rights groups oppose Spanish festival

Since the middle ages, Spaniardsn have been celebrating Las Luminarias on the eve of St. Anthony's Day.

The tradition is believed to be a way to cleanse the village and bring prosperity in the year ahead.

Villagers in San Bartolome de Pinares see the act as heroic, while for the riders, jumping through the flames is a way to safeguard their trusty steeds.

But the festival is not popular with animal rights groups.

Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi reports.

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  News & Politics

[DavidBylsma]

Lets see the guy carry the horse and walk through the fire :-)

[xXE4GLEyEXx]

fuck off idiot "animal rights" guys ... go and bash the slaughterhouses or the farms where the animals are kept in horrible conditions or the transport ships where the situation is fucked up... LEAVE TRADITIONS ALONE FOR FUCKS SAKE!

[ajharper1010]

Love horse meat

[Samuel Livingston]

What change are you trying to bring about? You think that riding horses through fire is one of the biggest problems in the world?

[Mikanojo]

But it is not about you, or about me, it is not about 'winning' a debate over some meaningless thing. It is about what is good and what is evil. And even though you and i may never agree about this, other people will read our posts and it will help them choose for them selves. That is how change begins. It is good to talk about things publicly, even if there is no agreement.

[Samuel Livingston]

obviously im aware of the judge not lest ye judged thing. i was referring to the fact that you are wasting your time and energy by arguing with fuck ups like me

[Mikanojo]

It is worth repeating because so many people only hear

Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

and imagine that Christians are supposed to keep their mouths shut and turn a blind eye to evil works - the Bible teaches us how to judge the WORKS of others righteously, and to expose what is wrong and evil, and tells us directly to reprove them, which is exactly what i am doing, pointing out how wrong it is to be needlessly and cruelly trotting horses through fire.

[Mikanojo]

i do, but only because of what the Bible tells us about judging righteously,

Proverbs 31:9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. - and Proverbs 12:10 about caring for animals that i already posted. Speaking out against evil, exposing it is actually what God wants us to do:

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

We can never judge a person, but we must judge the acts they commit.

[Samuel Livingston]

do you think that god would approve of this argument between you and me

[Mikanojo]

Since you do not know me, allow me to make mai own feelings clear. i am Christian, ever since the flood, God gave all people the option to eat animals and to wear their skins for clothing. We have dominion over them all. As far as how we should TREAT them, i believe Proverbs explains it best:

Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

So the idea of needless torture of animals is un-Christian, and unethical.

[Samuel Livingston]

see now this is the crap i was talking about that makes you guys impossible to take seriously. always comparing humans to animals like they are somehow equal. like when peta had a big picture in there magazine that one time with a pile of dead chickens and they were comparing it to the holocaust. (not to assume you believe that, idk you) but people like that are hardly even people. now gtfo and stop replying to my shit

[Questionauthority chawasa]

Tradition or not common sense would say this causes pointless injuries and abuse that wouldn't otherwise happen. What use is it to intentionally burn an animal or person & breath in smoke for some silly Hocus Pocus belief.