A Phoenix man went on a rampage killing two dogs and an entire family of four who lived next door before killing himself with a shotgun. Authorities suspect he had endured his neighbors' barking dogs for too long. He had complained to his neighbors and posted flyers about pet ordinances and let everyone know he hated dogs. And then he murdered them all and killed himself.
A 16-year-old Gilbert High School student allegedly beat his mother to death with a frying pan and a hammer after she grounded him and confiscated his phone. He put her body in the shed and waited to kill his step-father when he came home, but the man escaped and called the police. He was a good boy, by all accounts. He was a junior ROTC cadet, a "standup guy", a "giant teddy". "You would never suspect that from him; he was very nice." He and a 17-year-old who stood watch are both in jail.
Four boys, ages 8 to 12, were arrested on Sunday and put in juvenile jail. They and two others were caught by a security camera at a playground in a trailer park with a kitten. They kicked, tormented, hit with a soccer ball, slammed to the ground, then tossed the kitten into the pool.
Just a sample from the local news. Now, which story do you think is getting the most outrage? Well, perusing the comments for these stories, here's the kinds of things you'll find. On the first: "I love dogs, but I feel sympathy for that guy." "Some people just can't cope." "It must have been mental issues." On the mother killed by her son: "Probably on drugs." "He was a teddy bear; I never would have guessed." "Sad to hear about." And then the kitten story: "All of them ... should be charged as an adult and sent to prison, never to see freedom ever again!" "Let's do onto them what was done to the kitten." "Heinous inhuman garbage. What monsters. Shame on them and their parents for allowing them to become so cruel. Prosecute them as adults and send them to state prison...they will get a deserved taste of their own medicine. Disgusting children. Utterly revolting." "Tie them together, stick 'em in a hole, douse 'em with gas, throw in a match."
Were you surprised? I doubt it. But did you agree? Hmmm ... something to consider.
Did you hear about this one? In Delaware a 19-year-old woman admitted to cutting the ears off a pit bull puppy. She claimed she did the first one by accident, panicked, and cut off the other. She lied and said she found it that way, but then confessed. The SPCA removed 10 animals from her apartment. She faces animal cruelty charges.
The comments? "Now let's cut her ears off." "People in this country used to be tarred-and-feathered, stuck in a pillory, etc. I don't think a majority of society would consider returning her some favor would be cruel or inhumane, given what she did. " "Put her into a cage of multiple hungry, vicious Pit Bulls!" "I'd like to see her maimed with a dull rusty pair of scissors."
I'm picking up a trend. People ought not kill each other. People who kill someone for an understandable reason aren't all bad. People that do so for poor reasons (or none at all) are pretty bad (but almost always "such a good guy"). But harm an animal and you are a useless waste of human skin who deserves nothing better than to be executed with extreme prejudice.
Now, I get it. I mean, animals are innocent and defenseless (at least for the most part). I am sickened by the cold-heartedness that people demonstrate toward innocent victims, including animals, who they torture and kill without reason. But I am more upset by the murder of innocent children that is vigorously defended by the "Let's torture these people to death for killing the poor little animal" types. I don't know when we decided that animals were of equal (or, apparently, higher) value to humans. And I suspect that our radical devaluing of human life is not remotely compensated for by our "warm hearts" toward those in the animal kingdom. I suspect that we have a serious values problem that won't be fixed by torturing those who harm animals. This problem is one that Christ will have to address -- that of a sick heart.
2 comments:
Not too very long ago, a Facebook, who has worked at animal shelters, posted an appeal by a woman who lived in a building in some city (New York?) and stated that an emaciated dog was found tossed down the garbage chute. She was looking for signatures from as many as possible to encourage authorities to find the person responsible and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. The appeal was rife with the same level of vitriol as your stories contained, and the message was basically that the perpetrator should be drawn and quartered with his body parts displayed for all to see (exaggerating just a bit). I commented that while I have no desire to see animals mistreated, that I would never sign such a petition, never donate one wooden nickel or in any way support any animal anti-cruelty efforts (aside from what might occur before my eyes) as long as children are abused before or after birth. The blowback I received (I posted on my blog and invited FB readers to argue there) was incredible and never seemed to grasp the point I was trying to make about the pecking order of humans to animals. One dude argued that I just didn't understand anything about a relationship between a person and a pet. I told him I was much more concerned about my relationship with other people. It was sick.
So ... it looks like you're saying that the average sinful human being is screwed up in his/her thinking. Is that a fair assessment? (Entirely sarcastic, since we both know it is true.)
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