Yesterday evening's "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" sole guest for the hour was the rock and roll star Ted Nugent who is well-known for his gun advocacy and hunting.
Deutsch, who is obviously anti-hunting yet an admitted meat-eater, called hunting cowardly. He openly distained the film clips of hunting that Nugent brought with him. It seems to me that it is cowardly to eat store-bought meat harvested from those horrible cattle-raising farms which, from birth to death, are designed to create worthless, useless, miserable, tortuous existences for the animals raised there. The consumer is the one who is shielded from all the horror that is/was the animal's life that he is eating; the consumer, of which Deutsch is an example, is a coward because he can't and won't face the slaughter and butchering of the very food he is consuming. Every thing is very convenient for him. At least with hunting the person who eats the meat has to go out in the wild and kill the beast himself, gut it, clean it, and transport it home. At least the animal that is killed in the wild had a life in the wild up to the point where it is killed...and the killing is swift and clean. Not that I think hunting is such a great activity but I believe it is about 1,000% more humane and decent than the karma attached to the meat-eating from farm-raised store-bought animals. Which, of course, are also full of chemicals and hormones... --- In [email protected], Dick Mays <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Today the Des Moines Register is running my opinion piece on the > spiritual pollution of high-density hog farms. It is attached and > reproduced below. As the editors note in their headline introducing > the essay, it is "the most damning argument against large hog > confinements." Feel free to circulate it broadly. > > The editors apparently timed the publication of this essay to > coincide with today's meeting of the Iowa Environmental Protection > Commission to consider the state Department of Natural Resources > proposal to give the agency more flexibility in evaluating > construction-permit applications for new livestock operations. > > Steven Druker > _______________________________________ > > NOTE: The opinion piece reproduced below is running in the Des Moines > Register today (January 17, 2006). It is preceded by the heading > with which it is introduced in the online edition of the Opinion > Section headline page. > <http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section? category=OPINION>http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section? category=OPINION > > Columnists - opinion > > <http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060117/OPINION01/60116008/1035/OPINION>Iowa > View: Do hog confinements pollute the spirit? > > Even with all the environmental pollution they cause, the most > damning argument against large hog confinements is the way we the > animals are treated. Ponder this: How would Jesus farm? > .. .. .. > <http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060117/OPINION01/60116008/1035/OPINION>http://desmoinesregiste r.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060117/OPINION01/60116008/1035/OPINION > Iowa View: Do hog confinements pollute the spirit? > By STEVEN DRUKER > SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER > January 17, 2006 > > > Amid all the controversy about high-density hog confinements, one key > point has been largely ignored: that no matter how foul their > discharge into our waters or how vile their stench in the nostrils of > neighbors, their most severe form of pollution is spiritual. > > They blight the soul of any society that supports them because they > flagrantly violate fundamental ethical principles, principles that > did not spring from the minds of animal-welfare activists but that > are firmly embedded within the Bible. > > While the Bible proclaims human dominion over animals and recognizes > our rights to harness their strength and consume their flesh, these > rights are clearly conditioned on treating them kindly. Not only does > the Bible forbid causing animals unnecessary pain, it repeatedly > instructs us to consider their needs and uphold their welfare. > > For instance, Deuteronomy 22:10 prohibits yoking an ox with a donkey. > Commentators recognize this rule aims to prevent suffering, because > the smaller, weaker donkey will be strained through linkage with the > ox. Deuteronomy 25:4 bans another form of unkindness by declaring, > "You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain." While the > former rule respects the distinct natures of animals, this one > protects their natural desires from being unfairly frustrated, even > if it would be more cost-effective to do so. > > Through these examples, the Bible teaches that besides refraining > from unnecessary physical force, we must also avoid subjecting > animals to less blatant forms of distress, psychological as well as > physical. Moreover, in Exodus 23:5, the Bible imposes a duty to > alleviate an animal's suffering when we encounter it, even if we in > no way caused the predicament. > > Although the Bible also contains rules about animals that pertain > specifically to the Jewish people, those that command kindness toward > them express universal principles and extend to humankind. By urging > the Jews to uphold the laws of the Torah, Jesus endorsed these rules > of compassion. There's no indication his disciples ever questioned > their validity for gentiles. > > From a biblical perspective, hogs crammed into industrial > confinements are being unconscionably abused. These creatures are as > intelligent and sensitive as dogs, yet they are condemned to > incessant misery in conditions that deny their needs and thwart their > natures. For instance, the sows are constrained in iron cages so > tight they cannot turn around, and can barely move. In their futile > struggle to do so, they incur continual stress, and often broken legs > and lesions as well. > > Overall, the treatment is so cruel that Matthew Scully, former deputy > director of presidential speech-writing for George W. Bush, has > declared: "Devils charged with designing a farm could hardly have > made it more severe." > > Every legislator and citizen who has condoned these farms should ask > him or herself what if the next time officials from the Department of > Natural Resources inspected one, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus walked > beside them? Even if the state inspectors found no infraction of > earthly laws, it's folly to think the heavenly inspectors would be > pleased. The harshest protests of environmentalists would seem mild > alongside the scathing rebuke that would be hurled at all who have > perpetrated or facilitated such an abomination. > > High-density hog confinements stink to high heaven - and it's high > time those who seek to serve the Lord on Earth woke up and did > something about it. > > Until Iowa, Illinois and other states that promote this continuous > cruelty impose a ban on new confinements and implement a concrete > plan for dismantling those already in operation, they will remain > guilty of gross hypocrisy, professing to honor the Bible while > fostering widespread desecration of some of its basic ethical > principles. > > STEVEN M. DRUKER is an attorney who lives in Fairfield. > > > The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission today will consider > state Department of Natural Resources Director Jeff Vonk's proposal > to give the agency more flexibility in evaluating construction- permit > applications for new livestock operations as well as > manure-management plans. > > The meeting starts at 10 a.m. at the Air Quality Building, 7900 > Hickman Road, Urbandale. Public participation is scheduled for 10:30 > a.m. Final action on the proposal is not expected until this spring. > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! 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