It's not like they have a history ...

How could anyone believe irrational comments from PETA's critics...

It's not like they have a history either...




Six of one half a dozen of the other, and both lead nowhere fast if attempting critical thought.

real sympathizers today, eh? Just more people who think you are nuts..

this is the least nuts thing I've ever heard

"He probably did it without thinking. Some people put the spider outside, but spiders are often scary to people, and that can prevent them from pondering their worth," Newkirk said.

I'll put a spider outside. If I can catch a fly, I'll put it outside. I think it's a buddhist thing, all life being sacred. I've gotten more and more buddhist over the years. If a mosquito is molesting me, it's another thing, I don't have much of a choice. With other insects I do have a choice, and my choice is to not take a life, no matter how small, if I can avoid it.

Any kind of cruelty is disgusting to me.

and then let it loose outside. Her solution was always to grab a flyswatter and make a moosh of the little critter on the wall. I just couldn't do it.

Maybe I'm mellowing in my semi-old age.

became a news event because PETA felt the need to make a statement over someone killing a spider...

PETA learns about nature from Disney cartoons.

but they go a little overboard. I am a spider killer. If I see a spider in my house I kill it. In fact, any bug in my house is exterminated with Raid.

A clean house, good screens and the occasional "HUMAN SMASH!" has served me well.

And I do not spray it around my pets. The bugs just get a direct shot of Raid. I lived in South Florida most of my life and Raid was my friend against the huge roaches there. I now live in North Georgia and Raid is still my friend.

I am 74 years old and have been using Raid since it first hit the market.

I pretty much destroy everything around it in the process. Ever watch that cartoon of Elmer Fudd destroying his house to catch Bugs Bunny? That would be me and spiders (minus the gun!) I'm not even joking here, my daughter has a video of me with the vacuum attachment trying to suck one from the ceiling and shrieking the entire time. Judge me

Die.

I let them live and/or let them outside about 90% of the time. They have a purpose and will take care of other insects.

euthanasia rate of about 92%, what exactly is their stand on "animal cruelty"?

goes great with popcorn!

critical thinking ability.

at least not the higher ups who organize events and put out some of these statements.

I wonder why.

"See? I don't agree with EVERY liberal cause!"

But PETA's problems are compounded by their occasional over-reach. Instead of denigrating them, we should simply call them out when they over-reach and support them when they don't.

Instead, it becomes 'fashionable' to mock them.

There are liberal supporters of PETA, but there's nothing inherently "liberal" about what they do.

Seeing things from another standpoint, ditto.

So in those respects, I'd call it a liberal organization.

So we will have to disagree.

Factory farming, for one.

this hating on PETA seems weird. What's over-reaching? I do seem to recall some occasions of people getting blood thrown on their furs, was that them? I must confess that didn't bother me at all.

With so many evil things going on in the world, mocking people who are trying to end animal cruelty seems weird to me. But I don't know everything. Maybe there's a good reason? I can't think of any.

serious question.

There's one species in particular that bites the crap out of me every summer. C'est La Vie.

However, I think most rational people understand that a human is not a chimp is not a chicken is not an insect. They are all different. I believe in respecting life and living things, but it is ridiculous to take some ideological hard line that presupposes an equivalence between them, and that is what PETA does, at least when they're being silly.

It's the same kind of black and white thinking which anti-choicers subscribe to when they argue that a fertilized egg = a baby.

Thanks for that. However, I think that although humans, chimps, chickens and insects are not the same, there actually is an equivalence between: they're all moving around alive, basically minding their own business until somebody kills them. In that way they are all very equivalent. Are some lives worth more than others? That's going to involve differing opinions, obviously. But I don't find it as ridiculous as you seem to. My 2 cents.

(on edit) I did enjoy your post about Klendathu, BTW.

There is significant overlap.

to making us all toe the line of their animal-worship beliefs. I know they've set their sights on meat, every ridiculous thing that they say or do that can be brought to light makes achieving that goal all the harder.

the Obama v. Fly situation. It's pretty silly to criticize them, when media actively requested a statement, and got one that is diplomatic and not-OTT...

(For the record: I shoo insects - and especially spiders - out of the house and/or out of harm's way.)

So what. Hey PETA, there are plenty of other things he is doing that are far worse for society, like union-busting. Not only that, but the country has had a much bigger problem with gun violence towards actual human beings. Why are you guys not out trying to reduce gun deaths instead of worrying about animals that don't give a rat's ass (no pun intended) about whether they harm humans or not?
This is a big reason why most people don't take PETA seriously and see them as extremists.