Please read the following:
So, 2 turkeys, Chocolate and Chip, have been pardoned by President Biden for crimes unknown. I am happy for them, and hope they enjoy their retirement years at a farm sanctuary.
That leaves 299,999,998 turkeys that will be convicted and executed this year in the U.S. for crimes that they are not aware they committed.
I realize that this is an annual tradition, and most humans, including the media, think it cute and funny. It is not cute. It is not funny. It is yet another example of "traditional" human cruelty toward other living beings.
Rev. William
THANK YOU, Rev. William, for writing your terrific piece about a subject that has been on my mind for so many years. Here is my piece, which lacks the powerful brevity of yours. Sincerely, Nancy Loewen
I notice how awfully angry (and probably self-righteous) I become every year when the news story comes around about the President's pardoning of a turkey. I have to turn the t.v. or computer off, and feel the rage run through my body at this pitiful tradition. Yes, I eat a vegan diet, and that surely explains everything without saying anything more. I don't see the need to eat animals, in fact I see the need NOT to eat animals for so many convincing reas…
Thanks for this very meaningful post. Recently things like this that I have heard/experienced from my childhood have been popping into my brain unexpectedly...cartoons or other children's shows that depict a gorilla or a chimpanzee as a pet, dressed as a human, and all of the "antics" that ensue. I guess it shows that some of us are evolving to realize that these attitudes are so misplaced. I just can't believe how my brain has them pop up to me, when I haven't thought about those things since childhood!
You are correct, these things that are considered annual traditions need to be examined to consider what is really happening here, in language and in action.
Thanks for the insight and…