Moslem Akeda Begins

Every year at Rosh Hashana, Jews remember the 'sacrifice of Isaac' by reading the story in the Torah. This is usually followed by fierce debate in synagogue concerning what sort of heartless deity asks his followers to sacrifice their children as a token of fealty.

Eid began yesterday, the Moslem holiday in which commemorates essentially the same story - with Ishmael rather than Isaac as the sacrificee. Like in Judaism, there's plenty of casuistry.

Can a kangaroo or an ostrich be sacrificed? Can a woman be the butcher? Are children allowed to watch the ritual?

But while we await the Moslem Reformation, bast numbers of animals are sacrificed during this holiday, mostly by incompetant amateur butchers. In the meantime, there does seem to be a nascent moslem vegetarian movement.