People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter last week demanding that the Boy Scouts of America eliminate its “Fishing” and “Fish and Wildlife Management” merit badges, since they require Scouts to engage in violent acts that are training young men to enjoy violence. Specifically, both badges involve Fishing — or as PETA calls it, “hunting in the water.”
According to PETA’s letter,
Fishing is no longer considered a benign activity. It is hunting in the water, and the idea of a scout armed with a gun or rod, setting out to actively attack animals who were minding their own business, is not in keeping with the image of scouting, now or in the past.
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Promoting fishing teaches young people that hooking, maiming, suffocating, and killing is acceptable. We call on you to help break the cycle of cruelty by promoting activities that teach only compassion, rather than indifference and violence.
In case any reporters missed the point, in a news release, PETA said,
Desensitizing children to the suffering of others is a dangerous lesson. According to FBI profilers, the American Psychiatric Association, law enforcement officials, and child advocacy organizations, cruelty to animals is a warning sign commonly seen in people who eventually direct violence toward humans.
“In an era of school shootings and hate crimes, it is folly to encourage young boys to harm innocent animals,” says PETA’s Dawn Carr. “The Boy Scouts are supposed to be compassionate role models, not bloodthirsty fish killers.”
Source:
PETA’s letter to Milton H. Ward, president of the Boy Scouts of America. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Press Release, March 15, 2001.
Confessions of a killing machine. Terry Tomalin, St. Petersburg Times, March 18, 2001.
PETA Asks Boy Scouts To “De-Merit” Badges Promoting Cruelty To Animals. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Press Release, March 15, 2001.