Mycernius- thank you for your input. I find your reasoning clear and uncluttered.
straightforward- your criticism of hunting was that it is cruel and depraved. You went on to maintain that it required little skill and that the enjoyment was only derived from the act of killing itself. You also implied that it had no value beyond the purient impulses you mentioned. Therfore it is logical to test these statements- to investigate, to research to see if what you say is actually true. As a non hunter- before I defend the sport- I have to either confirm or refute what you are saying. It is not as illogical as saying "I should try cocaine before I criticize it." (Which would endanger my health) If you said instead Merlot taste better than Port- wine drinking might be in order. You made specific statements about skill and enjoyment that now need to be tested.
I do on rare occasion fish. (I used to go a few times a year, but it has been years since I went even once.) Albacore on the ocean, or trout from rivers. I do not do it because I enjoy inflicting pain on an animal, nor do I do it to kill the animal... I eat fish and they are difficult to eat when alive and swimming in the ocean or river- so it is necessary to hook, kill and clean these beautiful wonderful (and delicious) animals. I enjoy being on the water or beside a river- outdoors in the fresh air, and I am never disappointed if I catch nothing. There must be some skill involved because some fishermen, and it seems like most others...always catch more than I do. There is some satisfaction also in cleaning, preparing and eating something that you did not buy in some market.
As to what gave me the right? I do not know. It is not illegal- so the government has not abridged that right... It is not against my religious code, so I could say it is a God given right...it is a tradition that I learned from my Uncle, and he learned from his father, and he from his in Japan- and so on back many generations- it is a connection to my past and culture- (the Japanese are a fishing people) I could say this gives me the right. I could say I do a traditional offering to the fish, but that would be a lie...although I did go to a water blessing- so by Native American ceremony I have the right to trout fish in those waters for as long as the medicine holds.
What gives me the "right" to eat a carrot? or the "right" to kill the pathogens in my blood that could kill me? (After all aren't their lives as important as mine?) What gives me the right to drive my squirrel killing car and pollute our shared resources? Or the right to keep my pets, to neuter them, and when they become old and sick- to euthanize them? What gives me the right to decide that mice don't belong in my pantry, or coyotes shouldn't eat my cats? Or that I should live on a mountain that is their natural territory? I don't know what gives me the right.
straightforward- your criticism of hunting was that it is cruel and depraved. You went on to maintain that it required little skill and that the enjoyment was only derived from the act of killing itself. You also implied that it had no value beyond the purient impulses you mentioned. Therfore it is logical to test these statements- to investigate, to research to see if what you say is actually true. As a non hunter- before I defend the sport- I have to either confirm or refute what you are saying. It is not as illogical as saying "I should try cocaine before I criticize it." (Which would endanger my health) If you said instead Merlot taste better than Port- wine drinking might be in order. You made specific statements about skill and enjoyment that now need to be tested.
I do on rare occasion fish. (I used to go a few times a year, but it has been years since I went even once.) Albacore on the ocean, or trout from rivers. I do not do it because I enjoy inflicting pain on an animal, nor do I do it to kill the animal... I eat fish and they are difficult to eat when alive and swimming in the ocean or river- so it is necessary to hook, kill and clean these beautiful wonderful (and delicious) animals. I enjoy being on the water or beside a river- outdoors in the fresh air, and I am never disappointed if I catch nothing. There must be some skill involved because some fishermen, and it seems like most others...always catch more than I do. There is some satisfaction also in cleaning, preparing and eating something that you did not buy in some market.
As to what gave me the right? I do not know. It is not illegal- so the government has not abridged that right... It is not against my religious code, so I could say it is a God given right...it is a tradition that I learned from my Uncle, and he learned from his father, and he from his in Japan- and so on back many generations- it is a connection to my past and culture- (the Japanese are a fishing people) I could say this gives me the right. I could say I do a traditional offering to the fish, but that would be a lie...although I did go to a water blessing- so by Native American ceremony I have the right to trout fish in those waters for as long as the medicine holds.
What gives me the "right" to eat a carrot? or the "right" to kill the pathogens in my blood that could kill me? (After all aren't their lives as important as mine?) What gives me the right to drive my squirrel killing car and pollute our shared resources? Or the right to keep my pets, to neuter them, and when they become old and sick- to euthanize them? What gives me the right to decide that mice don't belong in my pantry, or coyotes shouldn't eat my cats? Or that I should live on a mountain that is their natural territory? I don't know what gives me the right.