Re: Pagan views on hunting
I think...a lot. For example:
peta.jpg
I think too, that part of the problem (and I see this as a problem in a wide swathe of Pagan and non-Pagan environmentalist types), that they see some mythical golden age of man living so lightly upon nature that he's almost not even there at all. If it was *ever* like that, it was so long ago (like, before the advent of humanity, long ago), that we would be better served with dropping the myth all together. One of the greatest disservices with regards to this myth (to ourselves and them), is that we have extended a form of it to the Native populations of the Americas, in how we view them and their cultures. When realistically, it is likely (and archaeologically supported, though the extent is disputed) that a good chunk of what we think of as the natural (as in non-human) landscape in this hemisphere was the abandoned long term construction of Native peoples that were depopulated due to diseases inadvertently brought to the Americas (just look at how the perfect storm of conditions led to the recent outbreak of cholera in Haiti).
Believing in that myth makes it easier to buy into the stereotype that is its opposite (we humans tend to buy into dualities), particularly if someone is already predisposed to want to dislike the idea of hunting. By demonizing hunters, its easier to condemn hunting (or vice versa, in a sort of feedback loop)...sort of what some evangelical Christians do towards homosexuals (among others). Don't get me wrong, there are redneck, drunk-ass, butchers waiting in the woods to poach some effin deer from someone else's property too......but legitimate hunters don't care for these folks anymore than animal rights folks.
(a brief aside) The ecological reality is that there are no top predators left in many ecological communities (and it is not always realistic to introduce them). And that means that if we don't hunt, a good portion of those animals are going to die slow, painful deaths from starvation and disease. Which is sort of crappy. Hunters pay a ton of money for hunting licenses, tags, etc...permits are set to maintain a healthy population...and that money largely goes back into conservation programs. Personally, I don't care why someone is legally hunting, be it for food (my preference) or for trophy or for the fun of shooting shit (all of those things still have importance for the person doing them, or they wouldn't go to all the trouble of doing them). For me, the end result--the commitment to the living population--is more important than the motives behind the individual kill, or what is done with the body afterwards.
Originally posted by njsquarebear
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peta.jpg
I think too, that part of the problem (and I see this as a problem in a wide swathe of Pagan and non-Pagan environmentalist types), that they see some mythical golden age of man living so lightly upon nature that he's almost not even there at all. If it was *ever* like that, it was so long ago (like, before the advent of humanity, long ago), that we would be better served with dropping the myth all together. One of the greatest disservices with regards to this myth (to ourselves and them), is that we have extended a form of it to the Native populations of the Americas, in how we view them and their cultures. When realistically, it is likely (and archaeologically supported, though the extent is disputed) that a good chunk of what we think of as the natural (as in non-human) landscape in this hemisphere was the abandoned long term construction of Native peoples that were depopulated due to diseases inadvertently brought to the Americas (just look at how the perfect storm of conditions led to the recent outbreak of cholera in Haiti).
Believing in that myth makes it easier to buy into the stereotype that is its opposite (we humans tend to buy into dualities), particularly if someone is already predisposed to want to dislike the idea of hunting. By demonizing hunters, its easier to condemn hunting (or vice versa, in a sort of feedback loop)...sort of what some evangelical Christians do towards homosexuals (among others). Don't get me wrong, there are redneck, drunk-ass, butchers waiting in the woods to poach some effin deer from someone else's property too......but legitimate hunters don't care for these folks anymore than animal rights folks.
(a brief aside) The ecological reality is that there are no top predators left in many ecological communities (and it is not always realistic to introduce them). And that means that if we don't hunt, a good portion of those animals are going to die slow, painful deaths from starvation and disease. Which is sort of crappy. Hunters pay a ton of money for hunting licenses, tags, etc...permits are set to maintain a healthy population...and that money largely goes back into conservation programs. Personally, I don't care why someone is legally hunting, be it for food (my preference) or for trophy or for the fun of shooting shit (all of those things still have importance for the person doing them, or they wouldn't go to all the trouble of doing them). For me, the end result--the commitment to the living population--is more important than the motives behind the individual kill, or what is done with the body afterwards.
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