Easy Outrage
I am not the first to say what I am going to say in this blog post, although I hope mine is a little different spin. In the last couple of days I have been hearing about the social media minefield of Cecil the Lion, who was "lured, hunted, and killed" by a dentist from Detroit. Because (and I'm weak on the facts) this Lion was older and sort of revered, this dentist has been hounded and persecuted and there have actually been the tried and true "death threats" against him.
I suppose animal rights activists and such were behind this, although considering the nonsense I read on any message board I go to, just as much of the "buzz" could be trolls or people with too much time on their hands.
Then of course is the backlash from liberals and conservative alike as to why so much outrage over a lion when so much evil is being unleashed on humans, from womb to grave, and when lions and other animals get hunted and killed everyday. So there is outrage over the outrage, and now there is even backlash against the backlash against the backlash.
This discussion could go in many directions. Hunting: immoral or moral (let's just say I live in semi-rural North Georgia and the damage from overpopulated deer running out into roads can be devastating). The economy of countries such as Zimbabwe where there is 80% unemployment and they depend on hunting. Creation care--should we hunt for any reason but food (the big game is eaten in Zimbabwe) and first world problems (how many in the world can afford to go on such a hunting trip?).
But I will keep my comments to the title, easy outrage. Come on, how hard is it to tweet about something, to pass on a tweet or push a "like" icon? Does that show any commitment to anything? How impressed can we be by a lot of likes or tweets or whatevers over the course of a week? And how hard is it for me to write this blog post whining about it? To post on Facebook "people should stop talking about this lion because thousands of babies are aborted everyday." Does that now make one a world changer, an activist? Does it save one life?
And I'm getting pretty tired of this death threats crap. What exactly is a death threat, anyway? And what does it take to make one? What rational or even semi-rational person would say, "I am going to kill you because you went hunting and killed a lion" or "I am going to make sure you die because you didn't bake a cake for a same-sex wedding" or some of the other stuff I have heard about it. I am actually getting suspicious that there are actually death threats in these situations, although it is apparently true about the dentist. Do these people know how many lions are killed everyday, and why? Maybe I don't know whether to be skeptical or appalled.
Easy outrage. I feel good about myself because I can join the chorus of tweets et al and don't have to lift a finger except to push a button.
I suppose animal rights activists and such were behind this, although considering the nonsense I read on any message board I go to, just as much of the "buzz" could be trolls or people with too much time on their hands.
Then of course is the backlash from liberals and conservative alike as to why so much outrage over a lion when so much evil is being unleashed on humans, from womb to grave, and when lions and other animals get hunted and killed everyday. So there is outrage over the outrage, and now there is even backlash against the backlash against the backlash.
This discussion could go in many directions. Hunting: immoral or moral (let's just say I live in semi-rural North Georgia and the damage from overpopulated deer running out into roads can be devastating). The economy of countries such as Zimbabwe where there is 80% unemployment and they depend on hunting. Creation care--should we hunt for any reason but food (the big game is eaten in Zimbabwe) and first world problems (how many in the world can afford to go on such a hunting trip?).
But I will keep my comments to the title, easy outrage. Come on, how hard is it to tweet about something, to pass on a tweet or push a "like" icon? Does that show any commitment to anything? How impressed can we be by a lot of likes or tweets or whatevers over the course of a week? And how hard is it for me to write this blog post whining about it? To post on Facebook "people should stop talking about this lion because thousands of babies are aborted everyday." Does that now make one a world changer, an activist? Does it save one life?
And I'm getting pretty tired of this death threats crap. What exactly is a death threat, anyway? And what does it take to make one? What rational or even semi-rational person would say, "I am going to kill you because you went hunting and killed a lion" or "I am going to make sure you die because you didn't bake a cake for a same-sex wedding" or some of the other stuff I have heard about it. I am actually getting suspicious that there are actually death threats in these situations, although it is apparently true about the dentist. Do these people know how many lions are killed everyday, and why? Maybe I don't know whether to be skeptical or appalled.
Easy outrage. I feel good about myself because I can join the chorus of tweets et al and don't have to lift a finger except to push a button.
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