For the last few days, maybe even a week or so by now, I have seen a lot of people blasting this doctor in Minnesota for shooting a lion. On the other side of that, I have a lot of religious conservative friends who are saying that this lion means nothing compared to the amount of babies that are aborted every year. That those lives are much more important than that of a species that is about to become on the endangered species list.
For those who know me, I am hugely pro choice. It's my choice and if it makes you angry, then leave me alone. I don't try to convince you that no man should ever tell you what you should and shouldn't do with your body. I don't try to post photos all over my Facebook page saying that it's so morally wrong to make an informed decision as an adult. I don't try to convince you that you and I see things very differently.
However, in this case, I will have to say something. Things that bother me about this. Let's see, to start with, I will talk about the lion first. I don't see how baiting an animal is very humane. I don't think that using a bow and arrow for this kind of hunt is fair, when you actually kill it with a gun. No, you should have to use another arrow or go up to it with a knife and have to kill it that way... Good luck sneaking up on that cat. He's probably pissed off and hurt and ready to kill you... I think that would be much more fair to do it that way.
Now, for the abortions... Well, in 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case, of a vote of 7-2 that it is a woman's right to chose to have an abortion or not. However, the states have now gotten involved with it and make it as nearly impossible for women to get one, as humanly possible. These people are also the ones who say that welfare must be stopped and what is wrong with our country that so many people are on welfare, living off the states. Well, let's look at that one for a few minutes.
I know that most of these people will get their ideas of life and death and the afterlife from a book. A book that, for me, has way to many inconsistencies for me to believe it. Sorry, just the way that goes. However, that doesn't mean that for the first 20 something years of my life I didn't put my whole faith into it. This is what I learned... Human life is the only life that matters, forget other kinds of animals. Killing is in no way justified, unless you're at war with some country and god says it's ok to kill them and take their land, and make them into slaves. In which case, by all means.... Go for it. The first part of the book says that the earth is bare of people and we are to go populate it. Well, at last count, the world's population is hovering around 7.5 billion people. That's a lot!! Wow, and so many of them live in China and India. Like, more people than I could count in a lifetime.... or four lifetimes for that matter. The truth is, there are more people right now, than what our planet can sustain and still manage to protect our earth. We pollute everything, we think it's our right to know everything that the government does, (no, it's not a right, nor do you really want to know the whole truth) we have created diseases by our eating habits, we have poisoned our foods, and think it's ok to use this as a way to make money (think pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies), and then, we punish those who try to make themselves better by making them look as bad as possible.
We are the only species on the planet that destroys our environment. And then, we kill off other species entirely. IN fact, as humans, we are responsible for the total annihilation of over 1000 different kinds of animals over the last 500 years. That's the complete devastation of one animal every two years. If humans were on the endangered species list, I could see where abortion would be a bad thing... however, we are not on that list. And it's our job to keep the ones that are on that list alive. As the Dali Lama has said, it's a prime purpose to help others and if we cannot help others, at least don't hurt them.
Is an unborn child a person? I won't even debate that, and whether or not it is a valid argument is irrelevant. But, to hunt a spices to the point of elimination from existence, is totally irreprehensible.
Where I live, we use hunting as means to control the population. We have to keep it in check or they overpopulate and then starve two years later because there is no food for them to eat, due to over population. There must be a balance. I can't say that sport hunting is a bad thing either, as long as you're still using the animal for food and other things... Illegal hunting to me is a chicken shit way of doing things and should be stopped. Hunting big game animals is not something that I am totally against. I get it. There is a thrill to it, though I have never killed anything (other than the occasional spider in my bedroom or a mosquito). I don't see how hunting a giraffe can be a sport. I don't see how hunting to have a trophy on the wall is something to aspire to. But this goes back to not everyone likes everything.
We live in a place that boasts freedom, and yet, when anyone does something that they want, and they are able to and it's legal, we go on a witch hunt for them because they did something others don't like. I had protesters outside when I had an abortion... that made me feel like a real winner. I was doing something that in my heart was the right thing. I wasn't ready, I didn't want to have kids then, and I wasn't ready to be fully responsible for another person. I was not ready and I am so glad that I did that. There are those out there who use abortion as a form of birth control, but, I can't speak for them. I can speak for those who are responsible women who have made that choice because it was the best decision for them. I am with you, I know that feeling, and I know it was a hard choice to make. We have gotten through it, some better than others, but, we are stronger for having gone through it. Don't let anyone tell you that they know your struggles better than you do and that you had choices... You did, and that's the one you choose. There should be no shame in it.
By comparing human life to that of an animal we might as well be saying oranges aren't as good as cucumbers. Which, in reality have nothing to do with the other. Stop comparing, stop pushing, stop thinking that you can control people by taking away their rights... I don't understand... I have been around the world, and I still say this... people are all the same. We all want the same things. We want to be happy, to be loved, to return another's love, to give our kids things that we never had... But let's keep the animals so they can enjoy them too. I would hate to have to tell my daughters that, well, I have seen a tiger in a zoo once, but now, they have all been killed and you won't ever see them. Again.. Ever.. They are totally gone... Sorry Charlie. I don't want to give that to them.
Hunting was for food, or in a country such as Kenya, I would think to keep your kids safe at night. The movie, The Ghost and The Darkness was a prime example of how lions became accustomed to the taste of man and the devastation that it can bring. These massive lions, who were later to be found to be both males who were mane less, were examples of how we are not at the top of the food chain, in any way. They were referred to as The Ghost and The Darkness, each their respective names. I have seen photos of them in the Field Museum in Chicago, and wow, talk about a scary sight to behold, and yet, so amazing. Animals who can hunt and track and act like a mammal who is somewhat aware, is breathtaking to behold... (I will get back to that whole thing of we are not the only aware beings on the planet at a later time :).
Anyhow, I am sure I am off topic at this point, so I will have to end my rant for the day. Until tomorrow, or the next time there is injustice, I will be back.. :)
