Why did the sheep go (and oh-so-placidly) to the slaughter? One can quickly think of a few possible reasons:
- She thought we should all get along.
- She thought it was a vote for the lesser evil.
- Resistance seemed futile – at least that’s what the butcher said.
- The butcher and all his friends made her feel so special.
- She got a grant.
- All the best sheep were going and she could wear her best outfit.
- It seemed like a great career move at the time.
- The butcher told her she wasn’t qualified to decide, so she thought it best to get a degree, perhaps in slaughterology, before deciding whether or how she might escape.
- She couldn’t really decide what else she could do.
- She didn’t think it could really happen to her. It was, after all, so unfair. What had she done to deserve it?
- Thinking about slaughter was “negative” and she didn’t want to encourage those kind of thoughts.
- She was just too busy to help the other sheep organize an escape.
- She believed it was God’s plan.
- When her friends called with an escape plan she had already told the butcher she’d go. She didn’t care anymore.
- Instead of escaping she went to a distinguished Lannan Foundation lecture about slaughter.
- An experienced meditator, she had learned to be “one” with everything.
- Rather than organizing an escape she decided to pray, and went to meditation retreats.
- She thought her parents would approve of her more if she went.
- She thought her children wanted her to go.
- Instead of escaping, she always made sure her purchases were green, organic, Fair Trade, and recycled.
- She had strong opinions against slaughter, and so did all her friends. That, she thought, should be enough.
- She always voted, and donated generously to the butcher’s campaign. She even saw him at events. They were friends.
- Her friends worked for the butcher and she certainly didn’t want to offend them.
- She sent many emails and letters to the butcher telling him she disapproved of slaughter and thought she’d done her part.
- She’d donated money to a group that said they had practically stopped slaughter.
- She went to meetings about escape once or twice but they were rather troubling so she didn’t go back.
- There were a few things she wanted to do before she died and escape was not one of them.