New Euro-Crime: Perp Kills ... Plants!

A Swiss farmer walking back from killing a whole field full of wheat swings his scythe and cuts decapitates some wildflowers alongside the road. With those corrections, I have the verbs right, according to Swiss law.

Cutting wildflowers isn't just one of those things, anymore in Switzerland, not since the Swiss government added some language to their constitution requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms."

Welcome to the New Age. Welcome to the secular state where humans are just more primordial ooze not to be considered any higher or better than anything else, be it another mammal, a plant or ... virus?

Note the last bit of the addition to the Swiss constitution: "other organisms." In this new way of thinking, who knows whether it would be appropriate for a mere human to kill a bunch of viruses or bacteria in order to overcome a sickness? Who are we to say we're better than any of our Ooze Brothers?

Indeed, who knows? Here's what the Weekly Standard has to say about how the Swiss dealt with the hypothetical farmer -- was he a murderer, or just some guy whacking some flowers?

No one knew exactly what [the new words in the Swiss constitution] meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.

A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

The committee offered this illustration: A farmer mows his field (apparently an acceptable action, perhaps because the hay is intended to feed the farmer's herd--the report doesn't say). But then, while walking home, he casually "decapitates" some wildflowers with his scythe. The panel
decries this act as immoral, though its members can't agree why. The report states, opaquely:

At this point it remains unclear whether this action is condemned because it expresses a particular moral stance of the farmer toward other organisms or because something bad is being done to the flowers themselves.

I say if the Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (and I pray to the high heavens we have no such federal committee here!) cannot decide why the act is morally condemnable, then it's not.

Under this interpretation of the rules, PETA will change its name to PETPA, and demonstrators will be splashing fake blood on customers at flower shops, for what right do we mere humans have to use plants for anything beyond mere survival? Trimming hedges? Forget it!

This is the expansion of secularism, from the shocking idea a few years ago that animals should have the same rights as people to today, when humans are advocating that they're no better than plants. No wonder they can't fight wars anymore!

It's particularly bad in Europe, where participation in Judeo-Christian religions has dropped off to the point where American Christian missionaries now see the continent as a priority area for missions. Without the anchor of God and a belief that there is divinity in our creation, anything goes, proving C.S. Lewis right. If a continent believes in nothing, it will believe anything.

hat-tip: Jim

The Silent Sound Of Reporters Guffawing

Every once in a while you read a line in a news story, presented straightforwardly, cool, and oh, so reportorially, and you just know the reporter was slapping his knees and laughing out loud as he typed it.

Here's one such line:

There was no immediate comment from rebels to the PETA's letter.

Here's what leads up to it:

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - An international animal rights group called on Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers to "leave animals out" of the armed conflict, two weeks after a grenade attack blamed on rebels at the island's main zoo.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, said in a letter dated Feb. 15 to Velupillai Prabhakaran, the reclusive rebel leader, that "the explosive device that was set off near the zoo's bird enclosures terrified many animals at the zoo."

PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk pleaded with the rebel leader "to leave animals out of this conflict," the letter said.

Newkirk added that the group has been inundated by messages from people saddened by the attack.

Drum roll, please ...

There was no immediate comment from rebels to the PETA's letter.

Note that no birds were even killed in the Tamil Tiger attack; they just had their feathers ruffled. Yet the animal rights wing of the Lefty insane asylum -- which from the billboard appears to view terrorism as a big hoot -- is a-tizzy with outrage. Of course, they weren't particularly worried about dead people, just bothered birds.

PETA fans will remember that this is hardly the group's most egregious animals-over-people debacle. That came when in their protest to al-Aqsa TV -- the station that brought us Farfur, a character who resembled Mickey Mouse and advocated Palestinian attacks against Israelis until his poor little electrons were beaten to death by an actor depicted as an Israeli.

PETA got mad at the station because an actor verbally harassed some animals at a zoo as part of a show that was teaching children not to be cruel to animals! As I wrote at the time:

Apparently, PETA isn't antisemitic; if it were, and it didn't consider Jews to be fully human, it would rally for their protection. But thinking Jews mere humans, PETA finds itself admonishing the Palestinians for taunting some animals, but not admonishing them for blowing up buses filled with school kids.

Hat-tip: Jim

Another Black Victim Of Dog Prejudice

This just in from the "whites have deer hunting, blacks have dog fights" school of black racism*:

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies removed 12 distressed pit bulls from the Phoenix area home of rapper-turned-actor DMX in a raid that also found a number of firearms, police said on Friday.

Sheriffs' office spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla said DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, 36, was not at home during the raid.

"We served an initial search warrant for animal neglect, and 12 pit bulls were removed," Chagolla told Reuters by telephone.

DMX is not a quick learner. In 2002 he pled guilty in New Jersey to criminal neglect of 13 pit bulls, leading to a sentence of producing an apparently not too heartfelt public service announcement denouncing animal cruelty.

PR tip to dumb celebrities: If you suddenly see a celebrity being ravaged by the media for doing something you also do, best take immediate action, since the media love nothing more than a trend. This trend: Stupid celebrities who abuse dogs.

* Here's the Today Show transcript for anyone who was passed out on crack in a van and missed it:

LAUER: Dennis Courtland Hayes is the interim president and CEO of the national chapter of the NAACP. Ingrid Newkirk is the president and co-founder of the animal rights group PETA.

Good morning to both of you.

Ms. INGRID NEWKIRK (President and Co-Founder, PETA): Good morning.

Mr. DENNIS COURTLAND HAYES (Interim President and CEO, NAACP): Good morning, Matt.

LAUER: Mr. Hayes, let me start with you. When we heard the comments, raised some eyebrows. The head of the NAACP in Atlanta saying that he just wants Michael Vick to be treated fairly, suggesting he has not been treated fairly thus far. Do you think Michael Vick has gotten a fair shake? And do you think there's been a racial element to his treatment so far?

Mr. HAYES: Well, let me say, Matt, that the NACP***(as spoken)***, its national board of directions, its national office, is not taking an official position on the Mike Vick matter. We're made of up of tens of thousands of members, over 2,000 affiliate units across the country, including Europe and Jam--and Japan. And they often speak to issues that are substantiative, local in nature. And...

LAUER: Well, let's take Mr. White out of it for a second then, and just personally, do you think that Michael Vick has gotten a fair shake so far, even before he pleads guilty on Monday?

Mr. HAYES: Let me be clear, the NACP***(as spoken)***does not condone dogfighting. This is a situation involving Mike Vick. I understand he has admitted wrongdoing. Michael Vick is not a victim in this situation. He was in control of his actions and he's not a victim.

LAUER: And would you be of the opinion, Mr. Hayes, that if Michael Vick were a white quarterback, star athlete, a Peyton Manning, that we would see the same amount of attention and the same amount of negative comments and the same amount of protests from people like PETA? And we'll talk to Ingrid in a second.

Mr. HAYES: Well, that's speculative. What we have to understand is the backdrop. We have to understand that what we're hearing expressed by some African-Americans is their anger and hurt, distrust in a criminal justice system that they feel treats them like animals. No dog deserves to be mistreated. And blacks and Hispanics don't deserve to represent a majority of our prison population in this country while blacks and Hispanics represent only one-third of the population.

LAUER: Ingrid, let me--let me, again, specifically talk to you about the dogfighting aspect of this. We've heard some people say that this is a sport, albeit behind closed doors. Stephon Marbury, as you just heard, compared it to deer hunting and said he doesn't know that it's any worse. How does--I think I know, but how do you come down on that?

Ms. NEWKIRK: Well, of course, the majority of Americans have spoken out very clearly. And we all know that it's illegal to be cruel to animals in any state in the union. PETA, of course, opposes deer hunting. Only 7 percent of the US population goes deer hunting. But you don't dowse deer in water and then electrocute them and beat them to death and slam them into the ground and you don't build pits in your backyard for deer to fight. So, if somebody is so mad as to say that there's an absolute comparison, they're wrong. They're both cruel sports or can be if you're not a good shot...

LAUER: Well, let me ask...

Ms. NEWKIRK: ...with deer hunting. But dogfighting is a world unto itself. It is bloods--blood and guts.

Take note: This is the first time in recorded history that Newkirk has been the least bit fresh and witty in one of her rants. That "... or can be if you're not a good shot" was pretty good.

PETA Attacks Hamas For All The Wrong Reasons

Gaza-based Hamas TV, al-Aqsa -- the same station that brought us a character, Farfur, who resembled Mickey Mouse and advocated Palestinian attacks against Israelis until he was "beaten to death" by an actor depicted as an Israeli -- has caught the wrath of PETA.

No, PETA isn't the least bit concerned that al-Aqsa is actively teaching youngsters to kill Jews. They've got their undies in a knot over an al-Aqsa segment that just went too far in teaching kiddies not to be cruel to animals. Reuters:

"It's shocking and sickening," said Martin Mersereau, manager of the domestic animal abuse division of U.S.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Speaking to Reuters by telephone, he said PETA was drafting a letter of protest to the Gaza-based al-Aqsa television station, which aired the show -- aimed at teaching children not to abuse animals -- last week.

A segment of the program was posted on the YouTube video-sharing Web site after being recorded and translated by pro-Israeli group Palestinian Media Watch. ...

The YouTube clip shows an actor dressed as a bee mistreating a cat and lions at Gaza Zoo. In the studio, he is reprimanded by the program's host, who cautions children against mimicking the bee's "terrible" behavior.

"Any lessons meant to be contained in this segment are almost certainly lost on most children, who are more likely to imitate people they see treating animals cruelly rather than understand this behavior is wrong," Mersereau said.

If Mersereau can see this, he can certainly see that any child watching the Farfur clip or any of the other violent antisemitic propaganda al-Aqsa airs would be more likely to imitate the people they see espousing the killing of Jews rather than to understand that this behavior is wrong.

Apparently, PETA isn't antisemitic; if it were, and it didn't consider Jews to be fully human, it would rally for their protection. But thinking Jews mere humans, PETA finds itself admonishing the Palestinians for taunting some animals, but not admonishing them for blowing up buses filled with school kids.

Welcome to the wonderful world of secular relativism.

Hat-tip: Commenter Robert

PETA Priorities: Dogs Over Humans

As PETA protesters gather around Michael Vick's partner in the Bad Newz Kennels, thought I'd just pose a simple question:

Have you ever seen a PETA protest outside an abortion clinic?

Vick and his cohorts killed at least eight dogs they no longer wanted, which was enough to get the PETA folks in a lather. Abortionists kill about 8 pre-borns every three minutes in the U.S., minute in and minute out, day in and day out, year in and year out.

But that's not worth PETA's time.

hat-tip: Jim