This is beautiful Ura-soul and something that resonates with me. We often wonder how humans have the capacity to kill and how they are able to rationalize if I don't then he will be the one killed, grow weak, or unable to do a task.
Butchers and those skinning animals is a good example and another one that I want to use are soldiers and police officers who follow dictators.
My family comes from a family of soldiers and police officers and at one point of their career was taking orders from the infamous dictator in our country, I remember their stories of the horrors they saw and how it gave them nightmares but during the time in their heads they did not think they were doing something wrong because to them they were protecting the state from political enemies.
They were in denial of their moral code because they were acting on orders. Now it gives them nightmares.
Life is precious.
"Am I being truly honest in every moment?" and if the answer is no - then, without self judgement, simply change and evolve.
This is a great line because we need to live each moment to being honest to ourselves and do what is right. We are often hard on ourselves when we perceive ourselves as failing our moral code.
Yes, this is an important understanding here - as long as you are denying your own free will (e.g. taking orders) you are damaging yourself and making yourself unconscious (hence nightmares and heartlessness). Once you are denying your own free will, you will likely have no problem with denying other people's free will too. This is why hierarchies and order taking/giving systems always result in hardship and suffering for those who are not at the top.