Mission accomplished!
This is just the kind of discussion I hoped to have, and exactly the kind of responses I expected from this group.
Rabbit Assassin: I do make the same point about fisherman, but you're right, no one else I know does, exactly because of the reason you gave: Fish aren't cute and cuddly.
And I didn't mean to equate hunters with bug-torturers, although re-reading my post, I did come off like that. I was trying to say something about the kind of person that
I am. I'm sorry if anyone took it the wrong way.
I attribute 'human' feelings to animals to an extent. I mean, how does one define the difference between 'human feelings' and 'animal feelings'? We (mammals) all have similar brain structure and function. People get 'happy' or 'sad' or 'angry' because something pushes their brain chemistry buttons a certain way, be it food or praise or scratching an itch or whatever. I would think the same would apply to animal brains. I
know my dogs get
happy when I come home, and
sad when I get ready to leave the house (though it may be the opposite with the cats
).
Would I kill someone who f*cked with my animals? If they used a firearm to do so, possibly. Depends on my perception of the
immediate threat to myself. In any event, they would find out I was armed one way or the other.
The comparison of rabid animal rights activists to other antis is apt, and while I'm emotional about this thing,
I would never try to stop someone from ethically hunting just because of my emotional reaction! The killing of individual animals doesn't injure me, even if it might hurt my feelings
. Political correctness is evil, and I have no right not to be offended by the actions of others. That's Liberty.
And the responsible killing of individual animals helps the species, and the ecosystem as a whole. That's a benefit to everyone. Thanks to everyone for the examples, especially Rob: I figured you'd come through on that one, facts and all.
When I was much younger, I
used to believe two things.
One is the "trophy complex" ctdonath mentioned: Hunters kill off the strongest, healthiest animals, leaving the weaker to breed an inferior species. That just doesn't wash. It's not like every time a hunter goes out, he finds a herd of deer, and picks off the most viable ones. It's take 'em as you find 'em, and you just don't find 'em that way.
And the ones left over may just be genetically a little cagier about hunters. Might make for a more challenging quarry, better suited to survive it's
natural "enemy" (the hunter). See, evolution
is a fact!
The other thing I used to believe was that Humankind shouldn't "interfere" with nature. But that's bunk. We
are nature, and nature gave us these big brains. Animals manipulate their enviroment by instinct, a natural trait. If humans manipulate their enviroment by reason, such as through managed hunting, then that, too, is a natural trait.
I've even taken this line of thought to the point of saying that if humans, with our big, evolved brains, destroyed all life on earth through nuclear war, then that's not
necessarily a tragedy, it's just where evolution led the planet.
It occurs to me that last Thaksgiving, my wife, a vegetarian, ate the turkey her mom made because it was 'free range'. It led a 'natural' life, so she was okay with eating it. (She says the same thing about fish, but stopped me when I tried to tell her about factory ships, piles of suffocating fish, etc...)
Considering that, and some of the responses here, I'm beginning to have the slightest inkling about going out, bagging a bird, plucking it, gutting it, and eating it. I wonder if she would go for it. Given that turkeys are so challenging, and I've never hunted, it might work: "Come on, honey, I don't stand a chance against one of those things!"
I'm not saying I will become a hunter. I won't. But it might be a worthy experience, exactly because I
am emotional about it.
Again, I'm very gratified by the responses from the people on this board. Since I found The Firing Line, I've learned a hell of a lot, politically, technically, and otherwise. My mom was right when she gave us her obsolete 'devil-clicky' machine: "Once you get on the internet, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!"
Thanks all.
-boing
[This message has been edited by boing (edited June 12, 1999).]