I've just got to share this email I got from friend I emailed the link to this topic to. Excellent yet long.
Hey Everyone,
Maybe it's a sign of growing senility that's coming with my advancing age, but I am furious at what I've discovered with a little online research today. Maybe you're aware of this, but I certainly was surprised.
It began when a fellow-hunter emailed me (and others) about a protest against Peak Antifreeze for their support of the American Humane Association, which unsurprisingly takes an anti-hunting stand. (See
http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/index....showtopic=48746 for the discussion.) In an effort to follow Solomon's advice and hear both sides before judging a matter I did a little investigating and found a couple of Humane Society websites (American Humane Association
http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageSer...=wh_where_stand and the Humane Society United States
http://www.hsus.org/ace/352 ). Whether he/she is pro-hunting or not, every Christian should be appalled at some of the materials found in these sites.
Don't get me wrong, I support many of ideas that, I understand, were originally behind the humane societies. But these societies have evolved to the point of putting equal or greater value on animal life than they do humans. I expected this of the likes of PETA, but the humane societies have gone much further to that end than I'd realized. (That God made man above the animals, and assigned him the task of "ruling" over them apparently makes no difference to them. God said it was okay to kill animals and eat them. God made the first fir coats for Adam and Eve. God even required the daily slaughter of animals for sacrifice.)
As if that isn't enough, AHA also assumes children (and other aspects of human life) to be within their scope of wisdom pettling and lobbying. And in pushing their agendas they've taken their disregard for God's principles to a greater depth. Consider their following stances:
Against Capital Punishment: Never mind what God instructed His people of old (e.g., Israel in Num. 35, or Noah in Gen. 9:6), our enlightened friends at the Society know a better way. And besides the devaluing of God's Word, the low value these people place on the lives of the murdered highlights their blindness to their own self-contradiction. "Yes, we value all life" they claim, but they spit in the face of the murdered by holding the one who took that life to such meager retribution. "Steal a garment and you have to pay for it. Steal a life and we just slap you on the wrist." (And before they claim that a murderer does pay for his crime, first ask them if their child's life is equal in value to 5 or 10 years spent in jail. Personally, my child's life is worth much more than that.) Furthermore, they show even greater contempt for the life of the murderer's next victim by not removing the known threat from society.
Against Physical Punishment by Parents. These bozos apparently consider themselves to be wiser than Solomon, for this wise man of old said that the parent that withholds the spanking hates his child. Obviously there is a difference between a good solid spanking and physical abuse, but AHA holds all physical punishment to be detrimental to the poor child's self-image. Truth is, the children I know with the best self-image are those who learned to discipline themselves because they knew if they didn't their mother or father would quickly and adequately take care of it -- corporally.
Ask yourself this: In the long term, which is worse for the self-image of a child who shows a determination to do what he wants instead of what his folks says:
A spanking solid enough to deter that self-determination and to teach the kid self-discipline (in order to avoid another deserved spanking). This self-discipline, in turn, empowers him with the endurance to get his jobs done and do them well. And from these jobs-well-done he justifiably feels good about himself and the good job he's done.
The constant badgering or coercing that we so often see from the parent who knows the child should do better but he (the parent) refuses to follow God's instructions on corporal punishment. The child not only lives under the constant haranging (destroying the self-image), but he never builds the self-discipline necessary to achieve his potential -- which itself pulls down the self-image.
The parent who remains silent about the child's problem. The words may say "My child, this is what's best for you..." but the actions silently proclaim even louder, "... but I just don't care enough about you to make sure you do it." You know as well as I do that our kids hear the latter as well, or better than, the former. And here as above, the kid's self-image is further damaged by the lack of accomplishment caused by his lack of self-discipline. As I've heard somewhere along the way, silence is a killer..., and our kids are the victims.
Kids promptly do everything that they're told to do, so this is not an issue. (Yeah, right.)
And the above (#'s 2 & 3) don't even take into account the negative impact on the child's self-image caused by people avoiding/disliking an undisciplined child.
AHA, in it's self-proclaimed wisdom either believes in the fantasy world of #4, or believes that options 2 and 3 are best. Do you agree with me that they not only missed the mark, they missed the boat?
The Bible says that all should "honor" their parents. The idea behind this word is "to make heavy," and is probably better understood by looking at the opposite side -- "to make light of". As I regularly see in the eyes and attitudes of kids who know their parents won't back up what they say with attitude-changing-consequences, there is a total disregard for -- i.e., an attitude that "makes light of" -- not only the parent's instructions, but even the parent himself. But then again (speaking from a human standpoint) maybe the kid is right, for the parent that habitually cares so little about God's command, let alone instilling good character within their kid, may really not deserve anyone's honor after all.
That notwithstanding, God still demands that kids give their parents respect/honor. So, by failing to follow the wisdom of God's word the physical-punishment-reluctant parent aids in the child's straying from God's will -- a straying for which the child will one day suffer the consequences. Solomon indeed was right, for such a parent could not possibly have the child's best interest in mind -- and indeed hates that child. Sorry, AHA, but you are wrong once again.
Against Corporal Punishment in Schools: Let me get this straight.... We trust our children to the school system to shape their minds -- not only in the purely academics of reading and 'rithmatics, but in areas that transcend simple academics such as sex education, character building, and even job selection. While under their care we require the system to protect our children, provide nourishing meals, watch over their health, and a myriad of other parental-level responsibilities. And yet in spite of this high level of trust we give them, we consider those within that system to be incapable of exercising enough judgment to know whether corporal punishment is needed and if so, how much is appropriate? If a teacher or administrator is incapable of exercising good judgment in the latter then we are fools to allow them the greater responsibilities of the former. But AHA is too brilliant to see that.
Within the schools our children daily rub shoulders with other kids who have no internal motivation to treat others properly. Without such internal motivation what is to keep them from attacking or terrorizing our children? What is going to motivate the bully to change or at least control his behavior? Again, the wise man said that wrong goes unchecked because of a lack of immediate and adequate punishment. Suspending such a person only delays a repeat offense, for typically there has been no change within his heart or his motivation because of the suspension -- the time out of school is a vacation for him, not a punishment. However, typically a kid that knows consistent fair-but-adequate corporal punishment is a given if he's caught again is more likely to reign-in his actions. Thus he has learned a degree of self-discipline instead, of building resentment during a three-day forced absence. He's also immediately back in class instead adding to his problems by getting three days behind in the work he's already struggling with. But AHA wants us to believe that the kid who is bitter and growing increasing behind is in much better condition than the one that gets a good spanking , is sent back to class, and decides that that pain is worth avoiding in the future. Surely I'm not the only one to see the absurdity in this!
I won't even go into the stupidity behind some of their animal-related policies. Those of you who've spent much time in the field know as I do that Mother Nature isn't a mild, gentle old woman. I've seen the slow-death of a field mouse caught in the suffocating hold of a king snake, a squirrel left mangled by an attack from a bird of prey, and the terror caused by a chicken snake loose in the hen house. For animal-rights folks to imply that man's intrusion into the animal world subjects inexplicable pain and suffering upon an otherwise tranquil, peaceful-coexistence simply shows that those folks are naive or willfully ignore of the day-to-day real-life situations of the animal world. And their attempts to "humanize" chickens and turkeys by unwarranted sentimentality..., well, I said I wasn't going to get into it.
Has the verse come to your mind as it has mine: "Professing to be wise, they became fools"?
If you've made it through my ranting to this point I must applaud you. Obviously this hit a nerve with me. Maybe it's partially due to my being blind-sided by what the humane societies now stand for. What may have started out with a good idea has evolved into an atrocious mess that stands toe-to-toe in opposition to the wisdom of the God's Word -- and that is what chaps my hide most of all. Needless to say, I nor my family will be supporting these two groups nor any like them -- nor for that matter will we be buying Peak Antifreeze as long as they support them. I share this whole thing with you so that you too are aware that any support given to these groups is not simply a matter of helping stray or unwanted kittens and puppies have a warm place to stay. From all indications, that is just the warm-fuzzy facade that covers a much deeper, ungodly agenda. As to whether a local humane society is connected with these or similar organizations, I can't say. But you can bet that I ain't giving a dime to a local group without knowing if they are associated with the likes of these.
On a side note..., now you know what my wife won't watch 20/20 when I'm in the room.
In HIS Service,
Don Burke
