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The Fellowship of Life |
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Sir, - As both an old friend of Bishop Montefiore, whom I greatly
admire, and one of the "Forty-one against fur", I wonder if I might take
up just one or two points in his column of 31 December. The fact that there are many forms of cruelty surely does not mean
that one can never speak out against one particular form on its own.
There may be objections in principle to farming wild deer, but we do not
have to mention that before pointing out the inhumanity of keeping in
small cages mink which in the wild roam territories a mile or more in
length. And yes, of course, most of us are inconsistent in some way, not
least as Christians. But even if we do wear leather shoes that does not
make it wrong to point out the viciousness of the leghold trap. "What is wrong with shooting rabbits or foxes?" the Bishop asks.
Nothing, if it is humanely done. But you won't do it if you want the fur
unspoiled. And many rabbits in this country are not humanely killed;
they are snared. What are we to use to ward off the cold in Kazan? If we can ward off
the cold on the moon without fur, we certainly don't have to use it on
earth. "The Bible is in favour of wearing skins." Dear Hugh, since when have
you of all people wanted us to accept every practice the Bible takes for
granted? There are a lot of folk in our country who have turned away from the
churches because we seem to care nothing about animal abuse. I know
Bishop Hugh is as much against cruelty as anyone. I just feel it is a
shame he should have used his column to denigrate a proper human concern
of many people, and one which there is plentiful evidence to justify. John Sarum Church Times |
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