Sacred Processions, Shameful Cruelty, Hollow Religiosity

Sacred Processions, Shameful Cruelty, Hollow Religiosity

By Jude L. Fernando – Jude L. Fernando Dear Friends: I began writing this poem two years ago, moved by grief and outrage at the suffering of elephants forced into religious processions in Sri Lanka. For a long time, I could not finish it—my sorrow felt too heavy and hope too distant. But in recent months, I witnessed a wave of global enthusiasm for animal welfare: nations as different as Switzerland, Italy, and the United States began to enshrin…