A few weeks ago, Cecil the lion was killed by a hunter. Cecil was a lion in an African National park. He was shot and killed by an American recreational hunter. Cecil was 13 years old. There have been international media attention over the killing and outrage from people, conservationists and politicians all over the world. The man who killed the lion is also under heavy criticism and attack by the media and the public.
I am not a wild life conservationist but having said that I am for conserving life, period. It was indeed very sad to hear such a magnificent animal being hunted for pleasure. I do not believe in hunting anything for a sport, so yes I was greatly saddened by his death.
But then again we live in a time where killing, whether it is for fun or for sheer anger and frustration or for mental illness, is prevalent. It also does not seem to matter whether we kill animals or human beings. Shootings in public places, schools, theaters seem to have gone up rapidly purely from what is seen in the news media. Wars erupt and bombs go off like mushrooms all over the world. Life does not seem to hold much value anymore.
This is not the first time a precious wild life animal was killed for fun or for money. Many animals are killed everyday for sport be it as small as a fish or as large as a lion. Animals are also killed for money. In the same breath, human beings are killed everyday as well. Irrespective of the reasons human beings are killed at the hands of other human beings on a daily basis.
It is wonderful that there is such an outrage towards killing of an innocent animal. We need to speak up. There is much media attention and outrage when mass destruction on human lives happen anywhere in the world through shootings or bombs or any kind of violence. But I find that like anything else, we cry out for a while and when the dust settles people get on with their normal lives, until one day something similar happens again.
Talking about these incidents and drawing media attention alone isn`t enough. We need to take accountability towards these deaths. When we talk about accountability we usually leave it to our governments, politicians, church, or human and animal rights group...but we never stop to think, perhaps the accountability lie in each individual. Oh no...that would be too close for comfort, wouldn`t itÉ
It seems that we live in a time where we put little value on lives. Be it humans or animals or any other living being of any kind. I am sure people would want to disagree with me on this. But if we look deep within and when it comes down to it, we are good talkers and sympathizers. As long as the dead person is not mine we don`t have a need to stand up an take stance. Do something.
It is ironic that in the US the constitution itself gives the freedom to people to bear arms for self protection, when in fact it is the single most reasons why so many human lives are destroyed every year. I understand we need to protect ourselves from danger and harm but there are many alternatives for self protection other than bearing a weapon.I have also found that in many countries wild life hunting is a sport. I personally know of someone who goes goose hunting. The justification is that, they have permits to kill them because of over population. It`s an act of balancing! We are good at waging war, in the premise, that it is to protect innocent lives. But in a war there is little time to figure out who is innocent and who is not.
When we pardon any kind of killing of beings, we create in our mind a habit. A habit to lessen the value of lives of certain beings be it animals or humans. Who gives you the right to assign a value over someone else`s life.
Life and living is precious to all.
It does not matter whether it is human, a lion, a goose or a wasp. For Cecil, his life was precious. He wanted to live his life just as much as you and I want to live our lives. Then why is it that we cannot apply the same rule to all other beings.
In the US I have seen many people grieve over their loved ones deaths over shootings. But they will not for a moment think about giving up their guns. I see Muslim women and men cry over their dead children in the war zones but yet, they themselves will carry bombs or support terrorist groups that kill others children. I see people killing animals for sport and not think how they would feel if their family dog or cat were to be hunted down.
We need to take accountability for each of ourselves. We are good at getting together to protest a killing or a bomb but once we go home, we dare not throw away that gun in our closet. We dare not think, how would I feel if my own mother, father, child, sister, brother, wife or husband were to be killed in this mannerÉ We think very narrowly, so it serves our purpose. It gets the job done for me, so I will continue to live that way. But what we forget is that if each one of us thought that way, we will not be able to go out and about in life like the way we do. We take much for granted and until it is taken away from us we cannot fathom the danger we create in our lives and in society due to our own inaction.
It great to mourn Cecil. It`s great to fight for the injustice of it. But let us take Ceicil away and put ourselves in front of that gun or bomb. Then what would you doÉ Do you want people to protest once the gun goes off or do you want them to do something before it doesÉ
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