I guess I'd admit to being one of these supposedly liberal, maybe even "sensitive" guys who thinks seriously about any sort of killing, right down to spiders in the house. Not that I don't occasionally kill spiders, but I admit to apologizing to them when I do it, or as the monks do, saying, "Become a Buddha," as I kill it.
I consider myself a "spiritual" person (as opposed to "religious") and have been a professional theologian for many years. And spiritual person and theologian are in no way synonymous in my experience. It does mean that I live my life as aware as I can manage of the choices I make. Perhaps it is a massive rationalization, because I love fishing so much, but I believe that fishing and killing fish can be a truly spiritual enterprise. I actually have more trouble with catch and release, which I do most of the time, than with killing and eating fish, because c&r is so clearly for sport. Killing and eating fish (or game), however, seems to be an honest acceptance of the fact that human beings are part of the natural order, and that other creatures die in order for us to live. PETA seems to want to deny that they are a part of this. I'm sure we are all hypocritical to some extent, in the sense that we don't totally live our lives in accordance with our espoused values, but PETA's stance seems particularly hypocritical to me, and out of touch with the basics of what it means to be human. If more people got their meat by killing and processing it themselves instead of shrink-wrapped from QFC, I believe they would be more appreciative of the gift of life, not less. Though it may seem hokey since I'm not Native American, I often pray to the spirit of the fish I kill when I catch and kill it, again when I gut it, and again when I eat it. Occasionally I forget all that and just enjoy the hell out of the process without thinking much. Enough rambling. Ed--Pagan, Buddhist, Presbyterian Christian
