Animal Padre's
Christians Against All Animal Abuse
"Christ’s redemption is for the whole of creation!"

Newsletters 
Summer 2012

The penalty of ignoring the cultivation of compassion

Several times recently, while walking through the shopping centres of two local sea resorts, I found youngsters chasing after inoffensive birds. Pigeons were being shooed off until they flew away through fear of being trapped; while seagulls - receiving the same cruel treatment - had become vulnerable through paper wrappings - containing half consumed burgers! - having been left near open waste bins.
 
Then a few days later, while walking around the delightful Marine Lake in sunny Rhyl, Doreen and I were horrified to find three similar youngsters. These had caught, what appeared to be, baby crabs in a fishing net. Indeed, as one youngster was busily stamping on one, the other was anxious to say to us: “Look at what we’ve found!” He then held it up high in the air; twisting one of it’s tiny feet in the process; then dropped it and, as it struggled to get away, he turned it over on to its’ back and prodded it while the creature was unable to right itself. Meanwhile a young lady, with toddlers, after having looked on before we arrived, walked away saying nothing..
 
What so deeply perturbed us was that none of these parents or youngsters seemed to sense that such creatures were panacking for their lives and desperate to return to their safe habitat. Then, when I intervened and tried to explain that these tiny creatures had feelings and could feel pain such as we do; yes, and that – but for God’s goodness - we could have been born in their type of body, one of the youngsters shrugged his shoulders and replied: “but we are not!” However, when I then suggested that our future punishment might well be to come back next time, in the form of life we’ve most cruelly treated in this present one, then these youngsters became a little troubled. One by one, they cast those tiny creatures back in to the water. I smiled to them and they smiled back.
 
Yes, I think we’d made those young people at the waterside think, and I can hardly criticize them for their previous lack of sensitivity. However, what I do blame is the appallingly lop sided educational system which our average school stands for. Indeed, before any other subject taught, top priority should surely be given to cultivating compassion, care and protection of weaker and more vulnerable forms of life than one’s own.  For - without top agenda being given to such basic virtues - secular orientated education merely passes on the tools to little rascals so as to turn them in to horrendously large ones. Well, Heaven forbid!

Go on to Two more lovely souls have entered Paradise!
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