More Worried About Animals Than People?

The circus came to town this past week. Interestingly, it arrived on the day of the primary elections. A little ironic, don't you think?

Whenever the circus comes to town, there are people who write letters to the editor of our newspaper protesting the way the animals are treated. Animals that are supposed to be running wild in Africa, Asia or wherever are instead captured, trained and made to perform for our entertainment. I do not totally disagree with the writers of these letters. However, human beings have been subjugating animals just about as long as there have been human beings on this planet. We have captured them, tamed and domesticated them, put them to work for us, made pets out of them, and made food out of them. The circus animals are probably treated relatively well compared to some of these others. But more importantly, I wonder if these same letter-writers are just as horrified by the way we treat other human beings. I am not specifying any "we" in particular, but human beings in general are not know for their wonderful treatment of other humans. Slavery, genocide, torture and war are just some of the examples. And you don't have to go to some far-flung country. Right here at home, in the news on a regular basis, are examples. In fact the majority of us are now being forced into poverty by Big Oil, Big Business and Big Government. So before we worry about how the circus animals are treated (I'm sure they are well fed, at the very least), we should worry about how we treat others, starting with our family and neighbors and going outward from there.

So Sayeth The Shack