2008 Woodie Awards
The Real Deal: Man differs more from man than man from beast
Paul McNeill
Issue date: 10/3/06 Section: Opinions
The Earl of Rochester's words still ring true.
In February, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service told citizens of Boiling Spring Lakes that the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker had made a home in their small town in the southeastern part of the state. The people of Boiling Spring Lakes reacted with intelligence and rationale. They used their God-given gift of reason. They showed compassion and humanity.
Actually, they cut down every tree in sight.
Landowners, terrified their properties might be rezoned as protected habitats, have applied for more than 365 logging permits in the past seven months. A vast majority does not intend to develop the land. Many don't even have building permits. Most simply want to clear the land before doing so becomes illegal.
Why do human beings, with our so-called gift of reason and supposedly superior intelligence, still gleefully behave like savages? Why can't we find a happy medium between treating animals better than humans and purposely obliterating a species? Many of us not only mistreat animals-we go out of our way to mistreat animals.
We don't just eat meat; we cram livestock into filthy cages, pump them full of steroids and antibiotics, force-feed them, hang them upside-down and slaughter them in contaminated warehouses.
We don't just hunt for food; we hunt for fun. We treat killing a living thing as a leisure activity. Many hunters even have the audacity to talk about how beautiful a deer is before they blow its brains out.
We don't just neglect our pets; we treat them as burdens, as if it were their choice to be put in a pet shop and bought on impulse. And when we've grown tired of the responsibility, many of us don't just abandon our pets; we wrap them in garbage bags and toss them in dumpsters.
During a rabies scare in China over the summer, government officials ordered the mass extermination of dogs. But officials didn't just put dogs to sleep. Men with clubs walked the streets and beat to death every dog in sight. Many of these dogs were already vaccinated. Many dogs were clubbed to death in front of their owners, who made the mistake of taking them for a walk.
In February, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service told citizens of Boiling Spring Lakes that the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker had made a home in their small town in the southeastern part of the state. The people of Boiling Spring Lakes reacted with intelligence and rationale. They used their God-given gift of reason. They showed compassion and humanity.
Actually, they cut down every tree in sight.
Landowners, terrified their properties might be rezoned as protected habitats, have applied for more than 365 logging permits in the past seven months. A vast majority does not intend to develop the land. Many don't even have building permits. Most simply want to clear the land before doing so becomes illegal.
Why do human beings, with our so-called gift of reason and supposedly superior intelligence, still gleefully behave like savages? Why can't we find a happy medium between treating animals better than humans and purposely obliterating a species? Many of us not only mistreat animals-we go out of our way to mistreat animals.
We don't just eat meat; we cram livestock into filthy cages, pump them full of steroids and antibiotics, force-feed them, hang them upside-down and slaughter them in contaminated warehouses.
We don't just hunt for food; we hunt for fun. We treat killing a living thing as a leisure activity. Many hunters even have the audacity to talk about how beautiful a deer is before they blow its brains out.
We don't just neglect our pets; we treat them as burdens, as if it were their choice to be put in a pet shop and bought on impulse. And when we've grown tired of the responsibility, many of us don't just abandon our pets; we wrap them in garbage bags and toss them in dumpsters.
During a rabies scare in China over the summer, government officials ordered the mass extermination of dogs. But officials didn't just put dogs to sleep. Men with clubs walked the streets and beat to death every dog in sight. Many of these dogs were already vaccinated. Many dogs were clubbed to death in front of their owners, who made the mistake of taking them for a walk.
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