While shopping today, my husband Frank and I saw a little boy about
two or three years of age sitting in a shopping cart being pushed by
his mother. He was dressed in one of those camouflage print outfits
that hunters wear and in his hand he proudly held and waved a large
plastic toy hunting knife, also decorated with hunter’s camouflage
print.
I thought how sad it was that this child – and so many others like
him – is being indoctrinated into the mind-set that continues to destroy
this earth. Isn’t it evil to teach a child that killing is fun? To
harden a child’s heart is to commit evil. I think the following
scripture about causing “little ones” to stumble applies in these cases.
In Matthew 18:5-8, Jesus says:
5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to
stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around
his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is
inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through
whom the stumbling block comes!
After coming home, while having lunch, we happened to watch a TV
program about a hunter, married and the father of a son, who was
secretly a serial killer of women. I started to think: Why isn’t what
hunters so proudly do considered serial killing? This would also apply
to others who kill animals for whatever reason.
With all the modern discoveries about the workings of the human
brain, isn’t it obvious that “practice makes perfect” and that killing
can become addictive?
There is no excuse for the evil that is legal and encouraged in this
world. For thousands of years there have been a few brave souls who have
dared to tell the truth. Why do most people refuse to listen and change?
Why do they continue to applaud the very behavior that is destroying the
inhabitants – both human and nonhuman – of this planet, as well as the
planet itself?
Plutarch, the Greek philosopher and moralist, was one of those who
told the truth:
“Were it only to learn benevolence to humankind, we should be
merciful to other creatures.”
– Plutarch (46–120 A.D.)
Greek philosopher and moralist
For more of Plutarch’s words of wisdom, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/quotes/plutarch.html
For a large collection of quotations, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/quote.html
Also be sure to visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/index.html
