Yesterday kd had a visitation from a troll; I made a crack in her comments about hoping there was no such thing as PETA for such beasties. That prompted me to create one.
Then I went back to PETA's FAQ's to re-read something which I found strikingly disingenuous. FAQ #13 poses the question "How can you justify the millions of dollars’ worth of property damage by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF)?" Go read the answer; it is virtually a justification of violence and property damage done by that group for the sake of the animals. PETA claims that the Underground Railroad and the French Resistance are analogous to the Animal Liberation Front. Somehow, I doubt the founders of those two resistance movements would agree.
I've observed that some advocacy groups tend to aggrandize themselves in just this way; "we are as good as (fill in the blank), and do the same good works as they." Well, no. There has been one Gandhi, one MLK Jr., one Mother Teresa. I'm reminded of Senator Bentsen's line to Dan Quayle in the 1988 Vice-Presidential debate: "BENTSEN: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy."
Don't get me wrong, here. Many of these groups do wonderful things, and I contribute to a few when I can. But they would all be wise to keep that phrase in mind.
Posted by Linkmeister at April 6, 2002 03:10 PMFART! I love it - ROTFLMAO :D
Posted by: Shelagh at April 6, 2002 08:54 PMheh...I thought that said "I contribute TO AS FEW as I can."
Now THAT'S American.
Oh, I love trolls. Especially rebuplicans (yeah, I spelled it re BUP).
Sorry....it's late....off to bed....
Posted by: hoopty at April 6, 2002 11:43 PMthat's funny as hell. on the more serious topic of PETA, well, as with any extremist group, you're going to find some quite disturbing rationalizations for their activities. whether it's PETA activists sabotaging a laboratory or anti-abortionists murdering doctors, you have to make some spectacular leaps of logic to arrive at the conclusion that the end justifies the means.
Posted by: kd at April 7, 2002 12:00 PMre: only one JFK, MLK, etc...
Dylan once said that the greatest books have yet to be written, the greatest songs yet to be sung..
which keeps us all sort of trying, heh?
Well, yeah. The problem I have is the leaps of logic, as you say, kd, are completely over the line for most of us. It's why I have such a real problem with murdering doctors in the name of pro-life; there's such an absolute inconsistency in it that the rational mind boggles.
Ms. LabRat, "the greatest songs and books are still to be written" is one of the better arguments against complacency, smugness and self-satisfaction on the part of any society, I'd say.
Posted by: Linkmeister at April 7, 2002 02:17 PMthe archives apparently don't go online right away, but if you get Parade in your Sunday paper, there's a great piece by Elie Wiesel on fanatics. it was about understanding terrorists, based more or less on 9-11, but there are terrorist parallels to be drawn between terrorism and extremist activism groups.
good article.
Posted by: kd at April 7, 2002 02:53 PMso, that's what a troll is! i've been encountering a few along the way, and it's an apt nominative. thanks for teaching me something.
Posted by: ruminator at April 8, 2002 05:57 AM