Feeling pretty Butch lately.

To Illustrate:

On a forum I belong to, a woman who hunts with her family for Deer, Hog, Squirrel and Coyote mentioned her happy anticipation of the season opening.

Someone who I presume doesn't hunt, hasn't hunted, and is not a vegan. This person I assume feels that they eat is more honorable if it was killed by someone else and better still that domestic livestock's death was inconsequential because unlike say the deer the animal never lived free, so it's life one presumes was worthless. I could ask these questions but I'd get more bumper sticker animal "rights" morality.

They said:

To deliberately take the life an innocent creature for any other reason than to eat it or as a last resort of self-defence is an anathama. Those who do not respect life deserve no respect themselves.

I fumed and typed and began the search for their inevitable post previously where no doubt they defended some other idiot's right to think something ridiculous because they "feel" a certain way. I realized before hitting enter that this troll was one of those overly clever in their own mind types that will defend and parry with silly arguments and diversions without in anyway even considering the substance of my refutation of their premise. I decided to put my thoughts down here in case I feel the need to respond to the next idiot I can just cut and paste.

I was going to respond:

At least you didn't resort to the usual tripe about "defenseless" animals. (As all animals not extinct have been given many and varied effective defenses.)

As far as innocent, what does this mean in terms of an animal? My dogs occasionally looks guilty when they apparently know they have been misbehaving. People who actually study animal behavior even at slogan rich universities call this phenomenon anthropomorphism. These are attributes that we as humans imbue on animals in order to equate their learned behaviors to human motivations.

I find it fascinating that the very people that cry the loudest when their ox is being gored are the first to sharpen their horns when it is a subject that they basically have no experience with or real vested interest in. The best example I ever saw is a car with many bumper stickers. Two that the person's highly enlightened mind decided were in harmony with their philosophy of life (literally life) were "Meat is Murder" and "My Body my Choice" . This person values the potential of an animal of the potential of a human being. Worse though was the self righteous pronouncement that no one can tell them what to [I]take out of their body[/I] by violent means, but she could certainly look down on anyone that puts a burger [I]into their body[/I].

Especially in male mode I consider myself highly opinionated and argumentative. There have been so many threads where someone has posted something that defies logic and just begs a reasoned response. When someone feels their lifestyle choices or sexual peccadilloes are being 'judged' the response is always, If you aren't interested, don't read the thread, don't comment, and if you do, use kid gloves. Somebody needs to jump on the soapbox and defend the feelings of the hunters.

Those who do not respect other peoples opinions deserve no respect for their poorly formed opinions.

The place I read this? A site for crossdressers. My apparel at the time? entirely male. I really should slip on some hose at the bare minimum.

Edit: So I went back and tried to ignore it, but my fingers flew of their own accord. The next version:

I am feeling a bit relieved to find that the bumper sticker is wrong then. Meat in fact, as you 'judge' it is NOT murder then? Great! Save me a venison stake, some ribs, and a little squirrel stew.

Innocent? Anthropomorphism aside, what standard shall we hold the animal's behavior to? Beyond a reasonable doubt? By the preponderance of evidence? What if the coyote has an "innocent" lamb in it's jaws, should one convene an inquest to determine whether he was a predator or a scavenger in that instance, I mean if you don't have an actual witness of the lamb-o-cide? What if the lamb was asking for it? :tongueout

Good thing this was so well reasoned, I'd hate to think anyone on here would jump in rashly and make a judgment about anyone else's lifestyle or activity.