|
Conservative Vegetarian Commentary
I don't see anything contradictory about being a hawkish conservative
who rescues kittens and doesn't eat meat
...
I have received, in the past two weeks, three messages from Paul and
Heather McCartney, asking me to sign petitions against the East Coast
seal hunt. It is easy to mock celebrities who involve themselves in
politics -- I often do so myself -- but I have signed these petitions.
The seal hunt is barbaric, and among the things that make me ashamed
of my country would have to tie for first place with "lacklustre
participation in the war on Islamofascism."
That both human and animal welfare concern me, a conservative, makes
perfect sense. But others find it curious. I do volunteer work for
animals, and when I speak to most of my co-volunteers of my support
for the war in Iraq, and for the presence of Canadian troops in
Afghanistan, the reactions are almost always wide-eyed. I will
inevitably be subjected to a, "So, you care about animals, but not
people?" No, I reply. I care very much about people. That's why I was
happy to see Saddam taken down.
A libertarian friend recently said to me, "You don't fit the
conservative mould. You've got the two Vs. You have a vagina, and
you're a vegetarian." The former seems less out of place on today's
right than the latter. But why should, I wonder, a desire to not live
under the edicts of jihadists mean I think it's OK for animals to be
clubbed to death?
...
Alongside the seal hunt petitions I received was a list of "top
petitions" people on my animal advocacy e-list were signing. Among
them: "Stop the campaign of defamation and distortion against Islam"
(regarding the Danish cartoons), "Support Paradise Now," (regarding
the movie about Palestinian suicide bombers), and "The Complaint of
Wiccan Rights to George W. Bush."
Apparently President Bush is denying Wiccans their rights. I wasn't
aware of that. But I figure they can look after themselves. They're
Wiccans. They've got spells. And they're humans. They can speak for
themselves. Unlike say, animals.
Rondi Adamson is a Toronto-based freelance writer and recent winner of
the Montreal Economic Institute's Journalism Prize for 2005.
--
full story: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=8e5ae598-4195-40f6-811a-57807fde17a1
|
