An Open Letter to the Dalai Lama - Comments by Norm Phelps - 17 Jun 2007
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I understand your point, Bruce, but I do not agree for two reasons.

1) The word that the Dalai Lama eats meat gets out there without any help from us. Every time he tours the US, Europe, or Australia, there's press about him eating veal or some other abomination. It's not a secret. The message that this sends, if no one challenges it, is that animal protection is one of those issues that you should pay lip service to but don't have to inconvenience yourself over. The only way to challenge that message is to challenge the morality of the Dalai Lama's personal practice-i.e. to call him for hypocrisy. That sends the message that animals are, in fact, an important, and individual, moral issue.

2) You can't promote the truth with a lie. To use New Testament vocabulary, a case for animal protection based on false impressions is a house built on sand. It may look strong in the short term, but it will not stand up to the scrutiny that it will ultimately receive. The truth is the only weapon we have, and we must not be afraid to use it.

Nobody would be more delighted than me to see a major moral figure take on this issue. But, as you say, there isn't one.

The letter will be appearing in the online weekly, Eye on the Hamptons, www.eyeonthehamptons.com <http://www.eyeonthehamptons.com/> ., and I am circulating it to other media as well.

Norm

Go on to comments: By Frank and Mary Hoffman - 17 Jun 2007
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