FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THAT’S THE PROBLEM

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FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THAT’S THE PROBLEM

Oh, man! Sometimes I have trouble typing up these notes for you people because I can’t see through the tears from laughing so hard, or because my sides are splitting. This is one of those times.

Karen Davis, Ph.D., is president of a group called United Poultry Concerns. Who are they, you ask? Well, their website states, "We are dedicated to the making of a future in which every chicken, turkey and duck has a voice that is heard," (she doesn't mention AFLAC) and "We invite the public to visit us and see what a chicken can be when a chicken is free!" Yes, one can only try to imagine the contributions that a truely free chicken could make to society. UPC would prefer that we not ingest our winged brethren. So a few weeks ago Dr. Davis wrote an "open letter" to the Vegan Voice, a vegetarian newsletter. Below is an excerpt (and I hope you’re sitting down):

"...I think it is speciesist to think that the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center was a greater tragedy than what millions of chickens endured that day and what they endure every day because they cannot defend themselves against the concerted human appetites arrayed against them. Perhaps the word "tragedy" should not be used anyway in this context unless in the more precise sense of a fundamentally terrible thing happening to a human being who consciously or subconsciously brought the terrible thing upon him or herself, lived through it, and gained insight and wisdom as a result. In this classical sense of tragic drama, it remains to be seen whether America is a "tragic hero" or even a "tragic" victim. If, though, the question is whether the World Trade Center attack was worse for its thousands of human victims than the sum total of misery and terror was for millions of chicken victims that day, I see only one nonspeciesist answer to the question."

Oh, my side hurts! I think I’ll get an order of wings while I ponder what that "nonspeciesist answer" is.

http://www.upc-online.org/011226vegan_voice_singer.html

-- William in WI (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), January 04, 2002

Answers

Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

Hey William! How bout those split chik'n breasts I bought this morning? They should go good with noodles or soup or-or-or--how bout just baked?

The problem with bunches of "brain lacking" folks is ----? I don't really know what their problem is. I kinda wonder about those vegetable plants we murder each day in the summertime for their "supper-a-bility"! [Is that a word?] Well anyhow, since I have a horrible bad habit of eatin--rekon I'll continue to leave the red mead alone and concentrate all my efforts on chick'n and turk. I kinda have a question for the "dr" that wrote the letter---"Is Kernal Sanders in hell for killin all those chik'ns?"

old hoot, the chik'n eater, gibson. Matt.24:44

-- old hoot gibson (hoot@pcinetwork.com), January 04, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

Oh my. Ya know, I recently had an interesting coversation with a vegan who was pretty militant....He really didn't like all the things I pointed, out like the need for fertilizer for all of the imprisoned plants we absolutely have to consume to continue. I think a lot of these people really don't intend to be obtuse in anyway, they just don't understand the true interrelationships necessary. A "Doctor" should.

I have no problem with someone not wanting to eat any animal products, and I don't think I have made it a secret that I find the "meat industry" to be repugnant, but we have to look at the WHOLE picture and to equate chicken farming with 911 is simply foolish. Thanks for the laugh, tho!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), January 04, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

yes, we need to look at the whole picture. We need to have compassion and understanding for those in our society who who recognize a chicken as their intellectual equal.

And yeah, what about those potatoes? We stand there and gouge the eyes out of LIVE VEGETABLES! I figured if my veggies didn't like their fate, they could run away from home.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

I but wonder what that person was smoking/ingesting while composing all those words............aren't those substances illegal?...must have some killer weed..........

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), January 04, 2002.

Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

Reminds me of my mother...when visiting us in PA, she asked one of our Amish neighbors if he ASKED his mules if they enjoyed pulling the plow..she was totally sincere, telling him that how could he possibly ignore the fact that animals have opinions on these things and that his mules, if asked, would more than likely say "no" to plowing.....That same night at the supper table, mother sat there happily eating a hamburger while my husband made mooing noises at her..we wondered if she had thought that the cow had commited suicide so she could eat it.....as far as this chicken thing..I printed out the post and will hang it up in the coop tomorrow..I'm sure the hens will let me know how they "feel" about it soon.....BTW, Mom doesn't visit often anymore..LOL

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 04, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

I normally respect the decision of vegetarians to do without meat in their diets, but it seems this gal is missing a few screws!

-- Nexar (Arax7@mvn.net), January 05, 2002.

Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

WILLIAM RULES!

As an extreme victim of both political correctness and affirmative action, I can tell you all that Dr. Davis and her damnable kind, in spite of good William's good hearted laughter, are no laughing matter. The world that Dr. Davis and her nannies from hell would create for you all is a nightmare beyond your wildest imagination. People like Dr. Davis are every bit as dangerous as Adolph Hitler or Osama Bin Ladin and they deserve no better fate.

-- Rags (RaggedReb@aol.com), January 05, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

I guess that explains the worms crawling a picket line in my vermicompost bins..... and here I thought it was just a flashback to my teenage years :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 05, 2002.

Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

Do you think this Doctor would want everyone to give up clothing? as it is just despicable to pull those little cotton balls to bits, and shaving those poor sheep down to nothing is degrading. Perhaps the oxygen we all breathe would rather not be so coarsly used.

I needed this laugh today.

-- (XP@allydocious.net), January 05, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

There is nothing wrong with being a vegetarian, if you so choose. But someone with ideas like these obviously forgot to take her meds or perhaps her padded room is not padded enough. I think she should get a little psychological counseling. I nominate Dr.Laura. I think that would be a really interesting converation.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002.



Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

I think people like that should be forced to scrounge for food like so many had to in the depression!! A good time of hunger making their belly hurt will make you see reason right quick. It is just a shame. Who spoiled those people so much? I can understand wanting to be a vegan because maybe you do not like to eat meat with hormones or antibiotic in it. Or you are concerned about the effects of meat fat on your body.. NEVER will I understand the people that think it is kinder to release animals to be run over by cars, or attack children, or spread disease, etc. etc.

Chicken rights.... ugh. My chickens have it easy, free food, no rent to pay, they get up when they want, go to sleep when they want, they are protected from predators, etc. ...until I butcher. ;o)

-- notnow (notnow@blabla.com), January 05, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

I agree with Notnow. These are spoiled children who've never known need.

Do yu think with them being the intellectual equals of chickens, they took the movie CHICKEN RUN too seriously?

THE CHICKENS ARE REVOLTING!

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

The more I read, the more ridiculous the articles sounds. In addition to Homo sapiens here is an EXTREMELY small sampling of other species that can be accused of "speciesism":

Canis familiarus
Felis catus
Rattus rattus
Leo panthera
Ictalurus punctatus

The names above of the few scientic names I remember of some very familiar creatures namely: Dog, Cat, Rat, Lion, and Channel Catfish. There are countless more examples out there.
Many animals eat other animals in order to survive and sustain themselves. Humans are no exception. It's not very pretty, but it's simply the way things are.

Whoever wrote that article needs to grow up.

-- Nexar (Arax7@mvn.net), January 06, 2002.

Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

Whoa! Thanks for that 1 William.

The scary thing is, these are the people who are getting their opinions heard in Sodom on the Potomac. When you can't get the USPS to deliver baby chicks to your home this spring and have to drive to a "hub" to pick them up, thank folks like miz Davis.

Remember - "In nature, a natural death is the only unnatural one"

-- John in S. IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), January 07, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

Maybe you could take the chicks out for a dinner of "fried miz davis". Just ask them when you pick em up at the hub :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 07, 2002.


Response to FORGET RACISM...IT SPECIESISM THATÂ’S THE PROBLEM

That is a colossally stupid thing to say. I have no moral qualm about eating animals. They taste good. Animals eat other animals. Besides, it's natural selection. The cows that can run fast enough are the ones that grow up to have kids of their own, thereby bettering the species. We're really doing them a favor really.

-- Anti-bush (Comrade_bleh@hotmail.com), July 31, 2004.

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