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Msg. 12440 of 54959
(This msg. is a reply to 12438 by Cactus Flower) |
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CF,
We live in an area of Illinois where hunting is commonplace, particularly deer hunting. There are over two hundred thousand deer estimated to live in the southern Illinois area and, quite frankly, they have become a nuisance. Since the area comprising the United States has been settled, we have seen many of the natural predators for controlling things such as deer practically wiped out. In addition to that, southern Illinois is also an area where duck hunting occurs. There is an organization in the United States called Ducks Unlimited which promotes the breeding of duck populations up in Canada so that there will be an endless supply of them to hunt in places like southern Illinois. These duck hunters realize that you cannot hunt a duck with an assault rifle because the weapon will simply tear the bird to an unrecognizable mess! It is interesting to note that with both ducks and deer, there are defined hunting seasons established by law so there is no unrestricted slaughter of these animals. And, we still have the Endangered Species Act on the federal level to protect many animals who have been driven to the edge of extinction. Moving away from southern Illinois out to an area like the state of Montana where Yellowstone National Park is located, we have found that the park and federal prohibitions on hunting have protected endangered predators like the wolf to the point where recovery has also made them a nuisance to the grazing land around the park. The federal government finally allowed hunting of the wolf and there have been some high profile wolf pack killings in that area over the last year. It may seem odious to allow anything to be hunted but that is one form of control over an out of balance ecology where the balance of nature has been interrupted by human activity. What has gone on in southern Illinois over my lifetime is also interesting. When I was younger, there were up to two hundred thousand geese who wintered in southern Illinois. Due to climatic changes, there are virtually no geese who now winter in southern Illinois! As for me personally, I do not hunt and I do not kill any living thing if I can avoid doing so, even bugs! I believe as Dr. Albert Schweitzer believed in that regard. I am also a vegetarian so I do not eat meat which would remove animal grazing if everyone was like me. Unfortunately, only one in two hundred Americans are vegetarians so this balance of nature thing will continue. Hunters are not the problem in this gun situation and they may very well be part of the eventual solution. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has added one hundred thousand new members since the New Town shooting occurred, and that is an embarrassment and a shame. However, when those who have been members of the NRA for a multigenerational series of lifetimes and who built it decide that the NRA has been taken over by extremists and they begin to withdraw their memberships, a different tale on guns may be told! In addition to that, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New york City has aptly pointed out that the NRA has an outsized influence on all things involving guns in proportion to their actual numbers. Bloomberg, through his political action committee, helped to defeat several pro gun candidates in the House of Representatives last election cycle. He thinks that, in reality, the NRA is really a paper tiger!
To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time. |
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