Sunday, June 2, 2013

This Breaks my Heart

There are so many horrible things in the news every day.  I can't say that I understand murder, rape, suicide bombing, genocide, "honor" killings, etc. but at least most of these crimes have a motive, albeit a sick one.

Throughout history there have been religiously or personally inspired crimes and brutalities, and I have some sympathy for people who want to blame these things on "the devil" or the "sinful nature" of humans.  I don't agree, but I sympathize with the desire to explain away the inexplicable.

My Facebook buddies and I are animal lovers, so I have seen many instances of neglect but this one just really got to me.  "George the Friendly Duck" of the San Antonio River Walk was killed by two young men who had no more regard for him than for a gnat.  They seemed to have specifically gone after him because he was friendly to restaurant customers and well loved by the locals.

I do believe that there are "evil" acts and "evil" people, but I don't believe it's supernatural.  I hope someone tracks down these two guys and gets an explanation, however demented, out of them.

Thousands of people loved and fed "George," and two people killed him.  I still believe in humanity, but I am mystified what goes on in the minds of outliers like these two.

R.I.P. "George"

12 comments:

L.Long said...

Lets see 'we are gawds highest creation', 'we are given dominion over all the earth', 'WE ARE NOT animals', etc......
Ya that would prevent me from killing an animal.

Chatpilot said...

Wow! What reason would someone have to attack and murder a defenseless animal? These two low life assholes should be caught and held accountable for this crime. Animal cruelty is a crime and I think that ducks and other wild life are protected under those laws. Someone should beat and strangle their two silly asses!

L.Long said...

Sorry but they did not murder a duck. They only killed a duck. Buy definition murder is the willful unreasoned killing of another human.

Which is why killing an alien as it steps off its spaceship would not be murder. And this is also why the commandment is NOT 'thou shalt not kill' but 'thou shalt not murder'. Otherwise no xtian, jew, or muslin would ever be able to eat anything because no matter what you eat you must kill something. ;-}

LadyAtheist said...

It still breaks my heart because it's so pointless and cruel, and yes, ducks feel pain. I don't know if he "felt" betrayal, but he was betrayed by the species he trusted.

My children't Bible illustrated "Thou Shalt Not Kill" with a boy aiming a slingshot at a bird... IIRC

Chatpilot said...

Thanks for the correction L.Long! Murder is only used in reference to killing another person. It's that God damned anthropomorphism that gets me confused sometimes! Lol

Lady Freethinker said...

That is so, so sad. As for the "it's not murder" comment: We're all animals, and the non-humans among us should have the same basic rights as we do. Bloodshed is bloodshed, no matter what species you're talking about -- and animals feel as deeply as us, in my experiences!

Chatpilot said...

LadyA, that depends on which translation you use. All KJV and some others utilize "thou shalt not kill" instead of murder.

L.Long said...

Hi All:
Yes I know that many versions do say 'thou shant kill' but if that is gawds word then how do xtians eat? because you must kill to do so and going to KFC is nothing but killing by proxy. Also as most know-unless you're xtian-the original text does translate closer to murder then killing -Sorry cant give citation-it was long ago in a galaxy far far away.
Also I like the 'don't kill' version as it makes it easier to show their gawd is an idiot.
But despite all of that I do agree that it is a cruel disgusting thing to do. In fact it was an incident where my cousins were busy killing numerous birds with their BBguns that convinced me to stop doing gratuitous harm as a young boy as I saw all those wild birds dying for no reason. They also liked killing cats too, weird kids.

Chatpilot said...

L.Long, the O.T. has prohibitions against killing animals for no reason. The rituals regarding animal sacrifice were very specific about using the entire animal and not letting any of it go to waste.

I agree, the biblical god is an idiot lol.

LadyAtheist said...

I always wonder about kids who kill small animals. Many serial killers start with animals as children, but there are probably other cat-killers who don't go on to people. Can someone do that as a child and not be affected?

krista magnifico, DVM said...

To have a heart allows it to be broken,,to be broken over love, whether it be human or animal is the gift of knowing what love is..thank you for your sharing your pain and for being a part of the glue that holds humanity together.

LadyAtheist said...

I think being an atheist makes me even more of a softie for animals because I accept that I am an animal and that we share a lot of feelings. I have had many zebra finches. Their brains are the size of a pea but they all have different personalities and the boys all have different songs. When you reject the supernatural you naturally embrace the natural world.