(Note: I'm not an animal rights activist, and I agree there's an aweful lot of fuzzy thinking out there on every side of most issues).
Protesting (un-neccessary) cruelty to animals arguably re-inforces the values we consider important generally. It is a mistake to dimiss all such responsesas "mere sentimentality".
For example:
If we allow avoidable cruelty just because it's convenient, cheaper, or ignorable, we foster an enviroment in which the powerless or disadvantaged elsewhere are more vulnerable, and the exploiters have less restraint on their direct, indirect, personal and institutional injustices. while many of the protesters are acting from a knee-jerk, gut-level, fantasy-based reaction, there are also many (possibly a minority) who have devoted considerable rational, rigorous thought to such matters.
In short, knee-jerk dismissal of these "warm-fuzzy" views is just as objectionable as un-thinking embracing of these ideas.
-- especialy when our culture might naturally be biased in favour of the status quo. |
