I won’t post an entire song’s lyrics due to all the copyright issues but Megadeth’s Countdown to Extinction pretty well sums up what lots of people feel about this sort of thing. You can read the lyrics here.
NP: Pink Floyd - Obscured By clouds
Dinsdale, I agree with you in considering this sort of hunting disgusting, and in not comprehending how anyone could enjoy destroying such animals.
I don’t get the political angle though. Does the fact that this guy’s brother is a Republican senator constitute an indictment of the party? Do we know that the Great White Hunter isn’t a wealthy Democrat? Is the senator obliged to make his brother take up some other hobby, like stamp collecting?
I have mixed, mostly negative attitudes toward hunting, especially that which isn’t done for food or to eliminate pest populations. For instance, I sympathize with efforts to control deer through shooting. On the other hand, a hunter mentioned in an article in the local sports pages recently “bagged” a deer with entirely white body fur, supposedly a very rare occurrence. His comments were intriguing, something on the order of “I knew I’d probably never see anything like that ever again, so I shot it.”
While someone is explaining the mentality of African big game hunters, maybe they can shed light on that deer hunter’s state of mind as well.
MGibson and I are on the same wavelength on this.
I personally find it abhorrent, and big game hunting morally bankrupt, and query how someone like this gets into a representative office.
But if its not actually damaging the ecosystem, and the leopard etc aren’t endangered, then where is the harm? The only thing I can think of is that it sets a bad example.
(Remind me vaguely of the Teddy Roosevelt “teddy bear” story, which I was told this morning, in which Roosevelt orders the bear cub shot once the press are out of earshot…)
Cites, please?
Shoot me now.
Well, does not sound like “fun” to me- but neither does swimming in freezing water, or barreling down snowy hills with planks strapped to my legs. Hey, it was that dudes money, and his time, and his idea of “fun”. And it was legal- and “moral” in that it transferred a lot of his money to people who really needed it. Lots worse & stupid hobbies out there-how about racing boats? Pollutes the air, & water- not to mention the noise pollution. Uses up valuable resources, too. Why is this not “disgusting”?