"I cannot see the pleasure in killing an animal."
That some folks cannot see the "pleasure" in a hunter's harvest is unsurprising. It is extremely hard to put the satisfaction of hunting into words, even for self-proclaimed wordsmiths like myself. To truly understand the essence of hunting, one must get out into the world and hunt.
Those people who are predisposed to dislike hunting understandably resist the pull of this great outdoor activity, but to do so is to limit their experience to such an extent that they really cannot make a qualified statement on hunting, having never participated in it.
"They were not put here to be eaten or killed. They have just as much right to be here and to live."
Animals do not - and should not - have any rights. Man was told in Genesis 1:28 to "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." So Biblically as well as practically, we are the caretakers of all non-human life here on earth, and we have dominion over them.
My dictionary defines "dominion" as "supreme authority." Therefore animals (including insects and the like) lie under the rule of man, certainly not on anything resembling an equal footing.
This is again made obvious in Genesis 3:21, when "did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." Already animals were being killed and used to serve the needs of mankind, by none other than God Himself.
As for eating animals, in Genesis 9:3, God said to Noah and his sons, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." So eating a nice thick porterhouse steak with a helping of green beans is entirely in keeping with this mandate - not to mention being utterly delicious. My mouth waters at the very thought of it!
"I would like to see hunter's[sic] put out in the wood's[sic] and give gun's[sic] to the animal's[sic], and do to the hunter's[sic] what they do to the animal's.[sic]"
I have heard this same sentiment many times, and it never fails to disturb me. How can anyone place such a minuscule value on the lives of fellow humans? It is sick, disgusting, and very, very wrong. Hopefully I do not need to go into why it is wrong to place a higher (or even equal) value on animal life vs. human life.
"What pleasure do you get out of blasting an animal.[Sic] How can you look into their eyes and kill them.[Sic]"
For my answer to that, please see Why do Hunters Kill? and some of the other articles linked at the end of that one.
"When I hear of a hunter being shot while he is out in the wood's[sic], you know what better them than the animal they were going to kill. I never ever feel sorry for them at all."
That is so sick! Am I alone in seeing how demented that thought is? To wish the death of a fellow human being rather than that of an animal, based on no crime or mortal sin by said human... it is about as backwards a way of thinking as any that I have ever run across.
How is any reasonable person to believe that anyone who thinks that way is even sane? I don't wish the death of anyone based on whether or not they hunt - how could anyone do so?
Do these people also wish the violent deaths of folks who make their living in slaughterhouses or butcher shops? Do they wish the drowning of fishermen? And if so, why? I don't believe that way of thinking could ever be properly explained to the satisfaction of a rational mind, so an explanation of that will probably be hard to come by. (continued)
