The world isn’t simply an aggregate of objects out there, inanimate matter, it’s living, it’s sacred. As we see nature having subjectivity, we treat nature with respect.

Halo open-minded viewers, and welcome to Enlightening Entertainment on Supreme Master Television. Today’s program features an in-depth discussion by Dr. Marti Kheel, a modern American philosopher and the author of the insightful book, “Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective.”

Dr. Kheel draws connections in modern society among animal abuse, environmental crisis, inequality, and escalating health costs, to urge for a new way of seeing our fellow human and animal co-inhabitants and the natural environment. Her work encourages an inclusive and holistic way of life driven by empathy and care as the solution for a harmonious world. Dr. Marti Kheel received her doctor’s degree in religious studies from the Theological Union.

A longtime vegan, her love for animals led her to found the organization Feminists for Animal Rights in 1982. Currently, she is a visiting scholar in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at University of California, Berkeley, USA. Her eloquent articles have been widely published in journals and anthologies both within the United States and abroad. Dr. Kheel begins by explaining the meaning of ecofeminism.

The term ecofeminism was coined in 1974 by a French woman named Françoise d'Eaubonne, although it seems to have arisen independently at a number of locations at approximately the same time. And at the broadest level it refers to the idea that the devaluation of women and nature has gone hand in hand in Western patriarchal society.

Ecofeminists connect the devaluation of women and nature with other forms of abuse. What they look at is a series of dualisms, between reason and emotion; conscious, unconscious; good, evil; and male, female. So the first half of that dualism is considered superior and the second is considered the inferior one. And there is this idea that the inferior exists to serve the needs of the superior part of the dualism.

We see examples of this. In terms of the treatment of animals on factory farms, where animals' bodies are literally living machines for the reproduction of flesh or the reproduction of offspring. And we see examples of that in the way in which wilderness is viewed as something that needs to be cleared to give way to civilization. In other examples, our myths and literature are bound with images of the evil that needs to be conquered by this hero. Then we see examples in modern-day society, and the recreation of this conquest through hunting, rodeos, bull fights.

Dr. Kheel’s realization started with helping a stray kitten look for a home, through which she was exposed to the grief of animals in all aspects of cruelty inflicted on them every day.

I was driving down a busy street and I saw this young kitten in the middle of the road. It was an enclosed area and I knew the kitten was in danger. So I stopped my car and I was able to eventually get the kitten in the car and bring her home. And in the course of doing that, I began looking for a home for the kitten and that led me in contact to an organization that addressed all the forms of animal abuse, not just rescuing animals. And it was the first time that I learned about the treatment of the animals on factory farms and laboratories, fur farms; all the other areas where animals were being abused, and I was shocked.

I had no idea that this was going on. And my heart went out to all the suffering that they were going through. And I began to read in the area of animal liberation. The first book I was given was Peter Singer’s book “Animal Liberation” and overnight that made me a vegan. Just through learning, my empathy was awakened, and I’d always had feelings for animals and I realized that those connections, those feelings had been suppressed.

As Dr. Kheel researched deeper into veganism and animal liberation, she learned about another major issue that stemmed from animal farming – environmental devastation.

One of my main interests has been in bringing the animal liberation and the environmental movements together. The data is overwhelming that animal agriculture is a major environmental problem. Whether you are looking at soil depletion, water pollution, air pollution, all the different forms of energy consumption, it's a major problem. There's something we can be doing every day in our lives that will make an important environmental impact.

It’s very important that we make that connection.

Besides animal raising for meat, animal abuse is evident in the confinement and torture of animals in laboratories, in the name of “science.”

The whole issue of animal experimentation illustrates the dualistic mindset that I was referring to before, and it’s this idea that somehow it’s okay to use animals as objects, if a greater good comes out of that. When they kill an animal, they say the animal was sacrificed. And I think behind it lies this religious belief that somehow if animals are killed, human beings will be allowed to live. And I think we need to get away from that way of thinking, because in fact, animal experimentation has not helped humans by and large, and to the extent it has, there are other ways we could have obtained the knowledge, that would not have harmed the animals in my opinion.

I think much of Western medicine is based on this heroic model, that you come in and you develop this weapon of war that’s going to conquer disease. And so, a drug is something you’re going to trust more than a natural substance such as an herb, because it’s been developed in a laboratory and it’s more potent, supposedly.

We need to understand why diseases develop, instead of just coming in and saying, here’s the solution through this drug that was developed on animals. So, understand and prevent illnesses.

Our interview with Dr. Kheel will continue after these messages. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Caring viewers, welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment as distinguished American author and philosopher Dr. Marti Kheel continues her discussion on the ecofeminist perspective. Through this new worldview, she offers an inclusive approach for solving some of today’s most important social and environmental issues.

I think that one of the most important contributions of the ecofeminist movement is the idea that nature is not just out there in the wild, and it’s not just on factory farms, in laboratories, but it’s inside ourselves, it’s our own human nature. And it’s here that environmental abuse begins, it’s here that cruelty to animals begins. Ecofeminists aren’t talking about an abstract, universal sense of nature, there’s this awareness that our natures are always socially constructed, but there’s this idea that this is our connection with the natural world. And these are feelings that should not be suppressed, they should be validated.

The denial of our own natural feeling and empathy causes the disconnection between us and nature and our co-inhabitants. Dr. Kheel emphasizes the importance of knowing in order to evoke and validate our instinct. Here is the solution to many of our social issues.

I think it’s important that we show films and take people to some of the places where some of these things are happening, so that they understand where their food comes from, because people don’t have the facts. If we just give people factual information, then they will change.

Dr. Kheel elaborates on what changes are needed for reestablishing our inner connection with other beings. She believes that one place to begin is the education of our children.

I think one of the things that happens all the time is that we treat animals as objects. So we teach kids to study nature by bringing animals into classrooms and dissecting them, sometimes doing experiments on them, taking young children to zoos, and saying that this is somehow educational. And I would argue that the real education that goes on in those instances is one of detachment; It’s one that says, “These are lesser beings,” and that they are there to do some service for us, whether it’s entertainment or education.

So I think we need to change those practices, and I’d like to see people going out in nature more, you know classroom teachers taking their classes out into the woods, and learning about animals in their natural habitat. And just observing the animals that are in our everyday world, looking in our yards and seeing the animals that are there.

One of the things I’d like to see done in schools and throughout our culture is a focus on empathy.

I think it’s a natural capacity that we all have, but it’s been so devalued in our culture, so suppressed, that we have to relearn it. So I think that some of our work is, it’s a form of reclaiming our capacity to care.

To our worldwide audience, Dr. Kheel has the following message, a call for caring and peace among all beings.

I just want to be clear that I’m not blaming men, I don’t think that’s helpful to anybody. But I do think we need to identify that there is this problem, and that it’s not only harmful to women but it’s harmful to men too.

My message is really one of emphasizing the importance of compassion, of empathy. Being vegan is one of the best ways we can embody those values of empathy and care. And so, by becoming a vegan we do something for animals, we do something for the planet, we do something for our own health. It’s a wonderfully positive thing.

We have to end this war against the natural world, we have to call an amnesty. It’s time to practice the values of peace and non-violence and make this a better world for all.

Our deep appreciation goes to Dr. Marti Kheel for sharing with us her inspiring and constructive philosophy. We wish you ever more success in your endeavor to make our world a place of greater harmony and freedom among all beings. Dr. Marti Kheel’s book, “Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective,” is available at martikheel.com and Amazon.com

Dr. Marti Kheel’s book, “Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective,” is available at and

Kind-hearted viewers, thank you for your gracious presence on today’s episode of Enlightening Entertainment. Up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May the day soon come when our planet becomes a paradise of loving kindness.