I think I lost a friend. He was actually much more than a friend. He was a childhood friend, and he was a very dear person to me. Over the many years I have had the privilege of knowing him, he was revealed to me as a man of wisdom and thought, a man of deep knowledge and opinion on various and far reaching subjects, and perhaps most importantly, a man of profound sensitivity to others. My dear friend, if you are reading these words right now, you know, or you will know shortly, who you are. Out of appreciation and respect for you I am not mentioning you by name here, although I do not know if you are worthy of them anymore. One of my friend’s greatest talents was his manner of expression. No matter the topic, he always managed to make his words easy to grasp, even by a mediocre person like me. But a few days ago something happened between us. During a conversation we were having (in writing) on a totally different subject I found out, quite by accident, that he supports circuses with animals. His position seemed to me completely contrary to his nature, almost outrageous for a person of his capacity, and in a most unusual manner for him his words were also vague and lacked the understanding, the sense and the sensibility he was so endowed with. “I’m in favor of the circus”, he wrote, and continued with the following comment: “Although modern western society has outlawed a part of it (the animals…)”. Up to this point his words were quite clear but the comment seemed peculiar to me, as if a thread of complaint went through it. I found it hard to digest the possibility that an astute person like my friend does not understand why modern western society has outlawed the use of animals in circuses. I found it even harder to think about a second possibility, that he understands why but does not accept it. So I asked him, blatantly, if he favors circuses with animals, and in his brief and unclear answer there was a hint, a strong hint but just a hint, that the much more serious second possibility is the correct one. He replied to me that he does not have a problem with animals in the circus, and added that there are more morality systems besides the common morality of humans. “For example”, he wrote, “there is animal morality….A lion kills a zebra for food”. He concluded his short words with the following: “Torture – no. Circus – yes”. And I have to say that I am still trying to understand exactly what he means by this declaration. Assuming, accurately of course, that I am opposed to animals in the circus, my friend proposed we agree that we disagree. I immediately refused, telling him that agreeing to disagree was simply too easy. But in an effort to make sure I understood his answer correctly, I invited him to continue the dialog. The obscurity and the insensitivity of his words were so not typical of him, as if he had written them without forethought, or to fulfill a nagging duty of some sort and nothing more. I wrote to him wondering what precisely he wanted us to agree to disagree on. I asked him to notice that there is a substantial difference between, as an example, a lion that preys on a zebra in the wild and a circus elephant that lives in constant confinement and suffering, and forced by means of intimidation and torture to entertain us, human-beings. I urged him to see that one is a totally natural and necessary occurrence, brutal but necessary, between two animals in the wild and the other is a totally unnatural and unnecessary exploitation and abuse of an animal by a human-being in a circus. I offered to provide him with proof of my words, so he can see and decide for himself. And with great regret I say that he did not respond to my appeal. This is why I think I lost a friend. I am indeed at a loss, and I will remain so as long as my friend stays silent and does not explain his position, but nevertheless, I can say unequivocally that right now I have no interest in contact with him. I have no interest in contact with a highly intelligent person who does not see, or does not want to see, the problem with animals in the circus. In the name of circus animals and in the name of all other hurt animals I am severing my ties with this person, who, instead of cheering modern western society – the same society which allows the completely legal suffering and death of millions of animals a year, for food, for clothing, in experiments and in entertainment – for taking such a rare step to prevent the suffering and death of circus animals, he dares to complain that it has deprived him of the right to watch these animals being ordered time after time to perform pointless tricks. I am ashamed of my friend, and as close and long standing as our friendship has been I give it up and prefer to stand alongside these voiceless and destitute animals. And by the way, let it be clear, there are many places in this “modern west” my friend is talking about where the use of animals in circuses is still totally legal. This is my first friendship which comes to an end because of differences of opinion on the subject of the attitude of human-beings towards animals, and deep in my stomach I have an unpleasant feeling it will not be the last. When it comes to the liberation of animals and their welfare, my friend is not the only one who shows indifference. There are many more like him and many who are worse than he, and it is reasonable to assume that among them are a few more of my friends. I am ashamed of them all. I am ashamed of us all. I am ashamed of all my kind for treating weaker kinds than us this way. And the struggle for the lives and the dignity of miserable animals wherever they are, the ability to look them in the eye and tell them, ‘I care about you and I am doing everything I can to help you’, are more important to me today than any friendship with an avoiding, ignorant or indifferent member of my own species. I will conclude with one of my friend’s favorite quotes, from poet Amira Hamlet, directed this time straight at him. “Beyond all things Others say And you, And in this silence, blessed, When you are alone, Think: Is there god in your heart?” Dear friend of mine, a word from you, of remorse, of comprehension, of explanation, you decide what word, and perhaps we can still save our friendship. The next two things are also intended to my friend, and along with him to you, all the rest of my species in whose eyes there is no problem with animals in the circus but in whose hearts there is compassion, conscience, morality, or, if you will, god. The first thing is a short video that will illustrate somewhat the suffering of these animals. This video is taken from a feature length documentary by the name of “Earthlings”, and it is just a small example of what goes on regularly behind the scenes in places where the use of circus animals is still permitted. The second thing is “Earthlings” in its entirety, a difficult but important film to watch. This is the link to the short video: youtube/watch?v=sQbeL-Hw00c And this is the link to the film “Earthlings”: earthlings.co.il/index.html For All Animals!
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 22:47:32 +0000
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