The Make A Wish Foundation dropped hunting from their list after idiots like these complained.
Lots to comment on here.
http://www.charismanews.com/fullnews/fullnews.cgi?a=latest&t=news.html
Hunting Outreach for Disabled Teens Attacked by Wildlife Campaigners
Ministry criticized for 'blowing away God's innocent creatures'
by Andy Butcher
An evangelistic ministry that takes disabled teen-agers on hunting trips has been attacked by wildlife campaigners.
Special Youth Challenge Ministries' (SYCM) most recent weekend hunt was picketed by animal-rights demonstrators, and now the Dallas, Ga.-based organization has been slammed by a national wildlife-protection group that says SYCM is teaching that "blowing away God's innocent creatures is good, Christian fun."
Founded two years ago, SYCM has organized camps for teens with cancer, muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. Some have been in wheelchairs for their weekend outings, which include hunting and fishing sessions and gospel sessions.
But the hunts take place on game ranches where deer and other wildlife are raised "to be cannon fodder," according to Heidi Prescott, national director of The Fund for Animals (TFA), one of the country's largest wildlife-protection groups. "Even many hunters oppose these 'canned hunts' because they're so unsporting," she said. "We're appalled that anyone could try to portray [them] as Christian ministry."
In a three-page letter of complaint to SYCM, TFA's spiritual outreach director Norm Phelps, a former hunter, says that hunting cannot be reconciled with Christianity, "which is a gospel of mercy... . Can you imagine Christ wearing cammies, hiding in a tree stand, and shooting an unsuspecting deer as she walked by?"
Phelps writes that using calls or rattles while hunting is lying to the animals and teaches young people "to bear false witness." He says that SYCM should teach young people to appreciate the outdoors through photography, rather than hunting or killing.
SYCM could not be reached by telephone for comment today, but at its Web site--where links are highlighted with the image of a rifle sight's crosshairs--it says that its aim is "to show physically challenged youth how to overcome the barriers of hunting and the shooting sports and empower them to enjoy God's great outdoors." A photograph from one trip shows several teen-agers in wheelchairs posing with the bodies of seven deer.
About 20 people turned out to protest when SYCM organized a weekend hunt at the Brady Ranch in Martin County, Fla., last month. Demonstration organizer Brett Wyker told "The Palm Beach Post": "A lot of kids are put in wheelchairs because of guns, yet they are encouraging kids to use guns. I find that ironic."
SYCM founder Charles Walthour told the newspaper that objectors had not been raised hunting or fishing and that they did not understand. "Some of these kids spent most of their lives in hospitals and missed out on being able to ramble through the woods with a BB gun... . We use the hunting as bait to tell these kids about Jesus Christ and what He has done."
Walthour said that he started the ministry--affiliated with the Christian Sportsman's Fellowship--after his teen-age son had lost most of his sight to cancer. He continued to take his son hunting and fishing despite the disability, and the boy came back from a camp for other youngsters with disabilities telling how jealous others were of him. When Walthour failed to get other organizations to help disabled teens hunt and fish, he started SYCM.
"We've had a kid kill a deer with his mouth," he told the "Post." A volunteer who is an engineer and gunsmith designed special equipment to help the quadriplegic fire with the mouth puffer he used to guide his wheelchair. The ministry also has a hydraulic lift to help teens who cannot climb into tree blinds to wait for game.
© Copyright 2000 Strang Communications.
Lots to comment on here.
http://www.charismanews.com/fullnews/fullnews.cgi?a=latest&t=news.html
Hunting Outreach for Disabled Teens Attacked by Wildlife Campaigners
Ministry criticized for 'blowing away God's innocent creatures'
by Andy Butcher
An evangelistic ministry that takes disabled teen-agers on hunting trips has been attacked by wildlife campaigners.
Special Youth Challenge Ministries' (SYCM) most recent weekend hunt was picketed by animal-rights demonstrators, and now the Dallas, Ga.-based organization has been slammed by a national wildlife-protection group that says SYCM is teaching that "blowing away God's innocent creatures is good, Christian fun."
Founded two years ago, SYCM has organized camps for teens with cancer, muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. Some have been in wheelchairs for their weekend outings, which include hunting and fishing sessions and gospel sessions.
But the hunts take place on game ranches where deer and other wildlife are raised "to be cannon fodder," according to Heidi Prescott, national director of The Fund for Animals (TFA), one of the country's largest wildlife-protection groups. "Even many hunters oppose these 'canned hunts' because they're so unsporting," she said. "We're appalled that anyone could try to portray [them] as Christian ministry."
In a three-page letter of complaint to SYCM, TFA's spiritual outreach director Norm Phelps, a former hunter, says that hunting cannot be reconciled with Christianity, "which is a gospel of mercy... . Can you imagine Christ wearing cammies, hiding in a tree stand, and shooting an unsuspecting deer as she walked by?"
Phelps writes that using calls or rattles while hunting is lying to the animals and teaches young people "to bear false witness." He says that SYCM should teach young people to appreciate the outdoors through photography, rather than hunting or killing.
SYCM could not be reached by telephone for comment today, but at its Web site--where links are highlighted with the image of a rifle sight's crosshairs--it says that its aim is "to show physically challenged youth how to overcome the barriers of hunting and the shooting sports and empower them to enjoy God's great outdoors." A photograph from one trip shows several teen-agers in wheelchairs posing with the bodies of seven deer.
About 20 people turned out to protest when SYCM organized a weekend hunt at the Brady Ranch in Martin County, Fla., last month. Demonstration organizer Brett Wyker told "The Palm Beach Post": "A lot of kids are put in wheelchairs because of guns, yet they are encouraging kids to use guns. I find that ironic."
SYCM founder Charles Walthour told the newspaper that objectors had not been raised hunting or fishing and that they did not understand. "Some of these kids spent most of their lives in hospitals and missed out on being able to ramble through the woods with a BB gun... . We use the hunting as bait to tell these kids about Jesus Christ and what He has done."
Walthour said that he started the ministry--affiliated with the Christian Sportsman's Fellowship--after his teen-age son had lost most of his sight to cancer. He continued to take his son hunting and fishing despite the disability, and the boy came back from a camp for other youngsters with disabilities telling how jealous others were of him. When Walthour failed to get other organizations to help disabled teens hunt and fish, he started SYCM.
"We've had a kid kill a deer with his mouth," he told the "Post." A volunteer who is an engineer and gunsmith designed special equipment to help the quadriplegic fire with the mouth puffer he used to guide his wheelchair. The ministry also has a hydraulic lift to help teens who cannot climb into tree blinds to wait for game.
© Copyright 2000 Strang Communications.