You Call It Justice?
I find it disturbing that people can call it justice when a human is killed and mutilated by a wild animal and yet when a human kills another human they don’t want to see the death penalty being implemented.
Has the life of a wild animal now been elevated to above that of a human being? I agree that poaching is wrong and should be punished severely and I agree that a poacher eaten by a wild animal brought it onto himself but it is not for us to say that he got what he deserved. We are supposed to be compassionate beings; the senseless killing of another living creature, be that animal or human, is a tragedy. At least that is what it should be!
It is a disregard to human life that leads to callous remarks like we saw just the other day on Annlee’s blog. That is why we have a situation where cruelty to animals, treason, tax evasion and the likes is punished more severely than murder. We have lost our respect for life, especially that for human life.
Relax, it is Friday
Comments (56)
A well thought reply with good detail.
But you did not tell what what I really wanted to know. should me respect the dead for what they are (dead) or despise them for what the did when they were alive (a criminal). Is it for us to say that we're glad about the demise of another. I'm not religious but most religions (if not all) preach forgiveness. Is forgiveness not extendable to the dead. If the guilty party paid with his life, what else can be expected from him to redeem himself?
Just my thoughts:
The poacher took the risk, knowingly, in invading a wild animal's territory in order to harm and ultimately cull. The lion was simply doing what came instinctively to protect his pride. I have no sympathy for the poacher, aside from his family who may have been completely unaware of his ongoing actions, though I seriously doubt it. The poacher took the risk and the paid the ultimate price: his life.
I don't condone capital punishment as I feel it is wrong to take a human life after years spent incarcerated on death row, in which many have expressed and shown deep remorse for their actions. Also how many innocent lives have been executed, being wrongfully convicted for a crime they did not commit? One is too many.
I view execution in any country as just another murderous act.
Don't ever mess with a wild animal, however, in its natural habitat.
This is my view on the issue.
Yes, when you are far away from it it loses its importance but when it touches you it it is a different matter. My youngest brother was murdered in 2000. Shot in the stomach and left to die in his bedroom. Unable to call for help. And his murderer is walking around as if nothing ever happened. You are welcome to your view but I feel that my brother also had the right to live his life. And whoever takes a life willfully forfeits his own right to it.
I did not know this.
I can understand now why you feel so strongly on this issue.
The law enforcement agencies in this country are exactly those you cannot trust. They are the people cooking it in this country.
How can you call it a tragedy when a human being is killed, yet criticise anyone who is against the death penalty? Isn't that a contradiction?
I don't know whether you are mistaken or just difficult or just a liar. I have just been through my blog and every comment I made. I did not criticize anybody for not wanting the death penalty and invite you to show me where I did it.
If you are referring to the first line of the blog, forget about it. I merely stated an opinion of what disturbs me about the whole situation.
You missed the whole point of the blog. This blog is not about the death penalty or animals killing humans. It about our callousness towards the dead. But you, as most other people, latched onto the phrase 'death penalty' in the first sentence and have drawn a conclusion. Did you bother to read the rest of the blog?
I have been back since November and did not see you since then.
Plat, I don't care one bit for a poacher and if he gets killed by by his would be prey, I think he brought it onto himself. I don't blame the animal. They are known to do things like that. But the loss of his life is still a tragedy. Life is precious and it is not for us to say that he deserved to die. We are not his judges.
But somehow everybody mist what this blog is about after reading the first paragraph.
Now going on to your point of injustice for man to kill another man, is because of our evolution to civil and legal development. Before laws were created, that was exactly the case. "And eye for an eye" mode of conducting business. Laws were created for that. There has to be a way of putting things relative to justice. And that is why there is a so called "due process of law".
Now I hope that you understand that there is no justification in killing these animals for sport. Specially animals that are rare like the Lions. In the US, hunting is allowed, but there are limits to what you can hunt. There is a selected season, number, size, etc. We have reached a point in our humanity that everything on earth has to create balance for humanity to stay in the preservation of nature. Animals are part of that equation.
I said it in the blog and probably more than twenty times in the comments and I may as well say it again.
I have no time for poachers and if one gets eaten by an animal, he brought it onto himself but it not for us to say that he deserved to die. That was the spirit of the blog. It is about what is being said about such a tragedy afterwards. It is about our indifference to the dead. When somebody dies, no matter how, it is a tragedy and not for us to say that he deserved to die. Life is precious.
This blog is not about poachers, animals killing humans or the death penalty.
While it is true that this blog was inspired by two other, it is not to defy them but rather in response to some of the callous remarks towards human life. Somehow everybody got stuck to the first sentence and never got to the spirit of the blog. If somebody got on a high horse and posted another blog to justify his first because he only read the first sentence of my blog, that is his indaba.
I have never had any regard for jungle justice in any way. It is seldom applied correctly. Two wrongs does not make a right
Nevertheless life goes on and I hope you are in good spirit as always.
They are mostly coming to SA to find a job to survive as the countries to the north of SA is in turmoil.
Ask any game ranger working in KNP and he will tell you that MANY lions in the park are man eaters taking and enjoying the easy prey from the north. A human is much easier to kill that a zebra....
I had a peaceful weekend all alone at home.