Thanks for the great discussion about my last post on Darfur and Michael Vick. I want to start with a great and honest comment from one reader:
...humans are not "of greater worth" than animals. Humans *are* animals, and we are not the "best" animal either. That is purely a rather arrogant Judeo-Christian concept that is not shared by a great many people of other faiths in the world.
What this reader writes is an accurate description of what many people believe - whether they admit it or not. Charity reminded me of something I'd forgotten:
During the Katrina disaster and it's aftermath, I had a number of co-workers [more] worried about what happened to the animals than to the people who suffered. Maybe it is just because at the time I was a new Mom (though I doubt it). To me the human tragedy overshadowed the animals. I will never get out of my mind the picture of a woman standing on an overpass crying/screaming while dead bodies floated along the flooded streets in front of her.
I know several people who adopted pets from New Orleans. I'm thrilled that they did. They actually did something tangible to lessen Katrina's horror. They are doing more than I did.
But we will reach a frighteningly dangerous place in this world if we fail to believe human lives are more important than animal lives. If we really get to that point we will not have elevated animals to the level of man. We will have reduced the level of man to that of the animals. And that will not be good for us or for them.
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As for being an incrementalist, I've already pled guilty. But again, I think people like you AND people like me form "good cop, bad cop" teams that can get things done.
Amen, amen, and amen.
Derrick Jensen says that pacificts often miscontrue his stances on non-violence being the only acceptable option as saying that non-violence should never be an option. He rightly finds that mistranslation infuriating.
I think that there's value in gumming up the worls of this system with as many non-violent means that exist, if only to delay further damage. By the same token, I don't believe that non-violent options, in the end, will truly stop psychopathic elites from killing us.
For that, we need more direct action.
May the gods of our understanding bless both endeavors, just as I hope the gods of your understanding bless you.
re: pet ownership...
I do, in fact, reject the concept of "pet ownership." However, I completely support "animal companionship." Animals make wonderful companions.
Animals cannot, in my opinion, be "owned" any more than land can be "owned." We, ourselves, are animals, and we cannot be owned. We can and do act like and pretend that animals and land can be "owned," but I think that's largely a way of avoiding cognitive dissonance about our actions as a civilization.
If animals are living, sentient things, then the way civilization treats them makes civilization as crazy as every slasher-movie boogeyman. Michael Myers meets Freddy Krueger, with an army to back it up and an education system to condition free peoples into believing we deserve to be slaughtered like teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake.
Man - I gotta tell you, as long as I've been on this path, I never cease to be amazed at civilized humanity's ability to blithely destroy life.
Anyhow, it was good talking to you and getting to know you. I wish you the best.
I remain...
NBI:
I assure you, if perhaps I used traditional language to the contrary, Schumi the dachshund is a bit like a cat in that she would never let herself be "owned" by me ...
:-)
"I am absolutely devoted to my dachshund... She has literally been a therapy dog to me in my depression.
And if I had to throw her in front of a bus to save a stranger, I would do it in a heartbeat."
The dog's life is less valuable to you probably because she doesn't have the the same psychological capabilities of the average human, right?
Well I could say the same about the depressed and mentally ill. Surely, you guys don't function on the same level as the rest of us (I've witnessed this firsthand). But I don't think that makes it okay to throw you under a bus, even if it is to save a normal person.
I think you need therapy for more than the depression, my friend.
LOL - it is not up to us to classify ourselves as man or animal -- the reality is that life is all the same, made of the same components. Same value. It is only human idealism and fanciful religions that convolute that understanding.
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