I have gotten into a few big arguments on one of the pagan forums I joined. And it's always the same jerk, and twice it has led me into a depression. And those two times have always been about animal cruelty.
The basis for his arguments is insulting me, with "tree hugger" and "animal lover." I hate those terms, because they were labels that were created by jack-asses who have nothing better to do than insult the people who actually have hearts. And brains.
What I hate the most is that now I've been wondering if there is just something wrong with me, for believing that people are too quick to kill instead of trying to solve their problems, for believing that we don't have to be cruel about how we deal with animals feeding on livestock (his argument was that he was too lazy to spend a few minutes, or even seconds, talking on the phone with wildlife experts who would compensate for lost livestock and take the predators off his hands). His response was that it's quicker to just kill the animal (namely coyotes and wolves).
So that's it. Instead of "wasting" a few seconds, he prefers to waste a life. A life that could have cubs. A life that could mean something to someone. A life that could be saved, if it got to the right people. Or, at least, a life that could be dealt with in a cruelty-free way.
And then, he made another thread, saying that nature is a bitch and that nature is trying to kill us. He then proceded to call the majority of pagans "super liberal, vegeterian, PETA loving, tree hugging, super-anything-that-ever-breathed activists."
He has attacked me and my own opinions on there so many times and I just can't believe that none of the mods have done anything about it, except join him in provoking and attacking me.
He doesn't accept other peoples' opinions at all, just attacks them. And I normally don't judge people who are online, but let me tell you; someday, I'll be famous for having invented the magical hand that can reach through computer screens and slap people on the other end.
I asked Achilles, yesterday, if there is something wrong with me, for caring about animals.
I've tried before to kill an animal, but I couldn't do it. I wanted to understand people, I wanted to understand killing for enjoyment. But I couldn't do it. I tried to be cold and heartless. I tried to enjoy it or at least be able to do it. But I couldn't. And it was a mouse. Just a mouse.
But was it "just" a mouse? I could tell that it had feelings. It was a living, breathing thing, just like me. It had two eyes, just like me. It had a nose, just like me. It had ears and a mouth, just like me. It had almost everything I had--except that I don't have male parts. xP And, more importantly, it had a heart and a brain (I can't think of any animal that can't live without those!), just like me.
It doesn't live as long as humans live--in the wild, probably one or two years. Is that the only reason that its life is less than mine, that if I kill it, I should be happy that it is dead and not at least a little thoughtful about it? If I kill it, it doesn't deserve a prayer, it doesn't even deserve a thought, a simple thought?
There is something wrong with me.
I have morals. I don't believe in careless killing or causing unecessary pain. Most of all, I have empathy.
There is something wrong with me. I can't enjoy killing or seeing things suffer. I look at both sides of the war between predators and farmers, instead of just the farmers'. I look for alternate solutions that would work for both sides, instead of just jumping to killing the animals without a second thought.
As you will inevitable hear from others, NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOU, and I hope you were using irony when you wrote it. It is people like you who help and stop cruelty, and don't this person get under your skin and have sway with your self-reflection.
~*erin01:14 PM EST