In an advertisement carried in Animal People, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals president Ingrid Newkirk takes a moment to claim that Americans are not teaching their children to empathize with others, since most Americans continue to practice violence at the dinner table. But mainly Newkirk wants readers to know that at times like these, many people — for some odd reason — aren’t as focused on animal rights issues, but don’t worry, PETA will be there to remind them.
Newkirk writes,
Sadly, people tend to forget animals in times of human crisis, which will make our work even harder. People don’t remember that animals in slaughterhouses and laboratories experience such horror and pain every day. Please help us, now more than ever, incorporate kindness into daily life and strive to gain respect and protection for even the smallest and most despised among us.
We don’t have to feel powerless; we can reduce the violence in the world.
Contact us for a free “Raising Kind Kids” brochure. And, please, practice nonviolence at the dinner table by going vegetarian.
Gee, Ingrid, what kind of message did you think you were sending when you helped animal rights terrorist Rodney Coronado? Was it a message of compassion that was on your mind when you said
I find it small wonder that the laboratories aren’t all burning to ground. If I had a more guts, I’d light a match.
If children are receiving a message that political differences justify political violence, that message is coming from PETA and other animal rights groups who insist on shouting that view every chance they get.
Source:
What messages are we sending
our kids about compassion?. Ingrid Newkirk, Animal People, Fall 2001.