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Today's lesson was about the principle of empathy, or putting yourself in another's place. The story was "The Wounded Seal," an adaptation of a Scottish folktale. The text of the curriculum version (without the interactive interjections) is as follows:
( The Wounded Seal )
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Afterwards we played a cooperative version of musical chairs, where the goal was for each child to stand with two feet on a small carpet square -- and one square was removed each time the music stopped. Eventually we were down to one square and they had to hold onto each other tightly to make sure everyone could get even a single foot onto the carpet. So that was fun. We also did one empathy act-in-out scenario, involving a bully on a playground making fun of another child's hair, a couple friends egging the bully on, and a bunch of bystanders not intervening.
This is all well and good.
The thing is, next week when the lesson continues, we are meant to do a Faith in Action segment wherein the kids write a letter to the Canadian government protesting the annual harp seal hunt. I will have to teach that.
I do not agree with that protest letter.
Look, I would not go out and kill seals myself. (For one thing, the job involves way too much ice and cold weather for my taste. For another, I don't think I have the requisite arm strength.) I do also think there are some issues with the age limits on seals legally allowed to be hunted.
But then I remember that I eat veal on occasion, so I don't think I have any moral legs to stand on when talking about the death of baby animals. Furthermore, I did a bit of research on Saturday in preparation for the lesson, and I have to say, if the idea is to protest inhumane treatment of animals, I think it would be much more useful to protest factory farming of livestock in America. It would also be a better lesson, because it would demonstrate that we shouldn't only care for animals because they're wild and cute (like seals) -- the ones people ignore as commonplace and/or consider dirty/ugly/stupid (cows, pigs, chickens) deserve our empathy and sympathy just as much, or even more because we're the ones who breed them, whereas wild seals are bred and born without human interference.
You see, I find nothing wrong with hunting in principle. Omnivorous and carnivorous animals kill and eat other animals. Humans are omnivorous animals. The very fact that we can eat meat tells you as much.
The issue arises when humans kill other animals for no reason, or in too great numbers, or in inhumane fashions. From what I can tell, the methods used in the Canadian seal hunt are actually fairly humane if they are followed correctly. So while I would be willing to ask the Canadian government to lower their quota numbers, or to include more training and/or observers to make sure the correct killing methods are being followed and quotas are not overrun, I do not agree with a blanket letter protesting the hunt in and of itself.
I am not sure how to explain that to the kids while still helping them write a letter and not undermining the general thrust of the lesson.
And I hate that I have been put in this situation by the reflexive attitudes of my religion. We are supposed to be a religion that encompases many viewpoints and honors them all! I want my viewpoint to be honored instead of being made to feel that I am a heartless evil person because I am not automatically horrified by the death of cute wild animals.
(I have a similar issue with people who protest deer hunting, incidentally. Deer may be cute, and Bambi may renew the love of generation after generation of children, but do you know what deer are on the east coast of the USA? They are a goddamn nuisance. They destroy gardens, they kill trees, they are a serious traffic hazard, they carry ticks, they wander around downtowns causing chaos, etc. "Rats with hooves" is a useful description. And their population has exploded because they have no wild predators left in the area, and because people go all melty over their big brown eyes and won't let them be culled in a sensible fashion.
It drives me nuts.)
( The Wounded Seal )
---------------
---------------
Afterwards we played a cooperative version of musical chairs, where the goal was for each child to stand with two feet on a small carpet square -- and one square was removed each time the music stopped. Eventually we were down to one square and they had to hold onto each other tightly to make sure everyone could get even a single foot onto the carpet. So that was fun. We also did one empathy act-in-out scenario, involving a bully on a playground making fun of another child's hair, a couple friends egging the bully on, and a bunch of bystanders not intervening.
This is all well and good.
The thing is, next week when the lesson continues, we are meant to do a Faith in Action segment wherein the kids write a letter to the Canadian government protesting the annual harp seal hunt. I will have to teach that.
I do not agree with that protest letter.
Look, I would not go out and kill seals myself. (For one thing, the job involves way too much ice and cold weather for my taste. For another, I don't think I have the requisite arm strength.) I do also think there are some issues with the age limits on seals legally allowed to be hunted.
But then I remember that I eat veal on occasion, so I don't think I have any moral legs to stand on when talking about the death of baby animals. Furthermore, I did a bit of research on Saturday in preparation for the lesson, and I have to say, if the idea is to protest inhumane treatment of animals, I think it would be much more useful to protest factory farming of livestock in America. It would also be a better lesson, because it would demonstrate that we shouldn't only care for animals because they're wild and cute (like seals) -- the ones people ignore as commonplace and/or consider dirty/ugly/stupid (cows, pigs, chickens) deserve our empathy and sympathy just as much, or even more because we're the ones who breed them, whereas wild seals are bred and born without human interference.
You see, I find nothing wrong with hunting in principle. Omnivorous and carnivorous animals kill and eat other animals. Humans are omnivorous animals. The very fact that we can eat meat tells you as much.
The issue arises when humans kill other animals for no reason, or in too great numbers, or in inhumane fashions. From what I can tell, the methods used in the Canadian seal hunt are actually fairly humane if they are followed correctly. So while I would be willing to ask the Canadian government to lower their quota numbers, or to include more training and/or observers to make sure the correct killing methods are being followed and quotas are not overrun, I do not agree with a blanket letter protesting the hunt in and of itself.
I am not sure how to explain that to the kids while still helping them write a letter and not undermining the general thrust of the lesson.
And I hate that I have been put in this situation by the reflexive attitudes of my religion. We are supposed to be a religion that encompases many viewpoints and honors them all! I want my viewpoint to be honored instead of being made to feel that I am a heartless evil person because I am not automatically horrified by the death of cute wild animals.
(I have a similar issue with people who protest deer hunting, incidentally. Deer may be cute, and Bambi may renew the love of generation after generation of children, but do you know what deer are on the east coast of the USA? They are a goddamn nuisance. They destroy gardens, they kill trees, they are a serious traffic hazard, they carry ticks, they wander around downtowns causing chaos, etc. "Rats with hooves" is a useful description. And their population has exploded because they have no wild predators left in the area, and because people go all melty over their big brown eyes and won't let them be culled in a sensible fashion.
It drives me nuts.)
