This morning when Flintstone and I walked out to the car, there was a visitor waiting for us.
“Oooohh…” Flintstone exclaimed in awe, “it’s bootiful.”
The little Tussock Moth caterpillar was taking a break on the side of my car, Hedwig, and Flintstone was absolutely right, it was bootiful. I reminded him not to touch it, and gestured him into the car.
“I want to look at it more, Mommy, pleeeeeaase.” So we took a moment to simply watch and appreciate the tiny, lovely, interesting creature.
Once Flintstone was buckled into his car seat with some snap peas to munch on, I gently moved* the caterpillar off Hedwig to the base of some nearby foliage.
It was a lovely start to the day. And an odd counterpoint to one of the stories I heard on NPR on the drive:
“New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was hosting a group of school children in his office when the spider appeared. Christie did not grant it a pardon. He joked it was one of the perks of being governor — you can kill critters on your desk without getting into trouble.”
The article also mentioned that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had issued a statement opposed to the Governor’s action. And I cringed. The whole story – from the spider slaughter to the PETA statement – made me cringe because I immediately knew where it would go.
And already, it’s happening. People are getting all wacky and polarized over something and it is making that something seem stupid and minor – or more major than it really is.
When I was growing up, PETA was vilified in my neighborhood. There were all these stories of the “crazy” things. I remember being told that PETA was trying to stop children from seeing chicks hatch from eggs and that PETA would capture wild deer and starve them to death to “protect” them from hunters. As an adult who is more skeptical of such asinine stories as these, I did my research and discovered, lo and behold, PETA was actually not as “crazy” as they had been made out to be. Yes, they oppose hunting (I haven’t found anything about the alleged baby chicks story), but they do so based on rational and scientific bases and through logical legal channels. Actually, after my research I was left thinking those spreading the lies about PETA were the ones who had the real “issues.”
But even with all that said, it is easy – especially in areas like the one where I grew up – for people to spin stories like this in order to discredit PETA. And this effort to discredit PETA isn’t about spiders, deer, or chicks. It’s about money and politics. The main slanderers of PETA’s anti-hunting stance are unregulated gun lobbyists. Those spreading BS about PETA’s stance on farm animals? You guessed it, the factory farmers and corporations who benefit from torturing animals, wrecking the environment and public health, and keeping the greater society in the dark about it.
So I cringed, because I foresaw the slew of headlines making PETA sound ridiculous for taking a stance on a person squashing a spider.
Before we buy in to the spin, let’s take a look at what PETA really said. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk issued a statement saying:
” Christie probably killed it without thinking. Some people put the spider outside, but spiders are often scary to some people, and that can prevent people from pondering their worth.”
Not a particularly extreme statement in my mind.
Now on to the other end of the over-polarization I was worried about: This getting turned into something about the benefits of killing spiders, or the personal liberty to kill spiders, or how horribly dangerous spiders are, or some other related malarkey. People are actually rallying to justify squashing a spider as if it were to justify civil disobedience to end oppression. Now who’s getting extreme? (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not PETA).
For my part, I was disgusted by the Governor’s actions. Not because I am an outspoken spider’s rights activist, but because I am a human being who believes in compassion. And because I am a mother who would be pissed as hell (for lack of a more eloquent way to put it) if this had happened in front of my kids. Especially given what Mr. Christie chose to say after the incident.
I live in a “put it outside” household. We don’t kill things without reason. We respect life and living creatures. We follow the guidance of the sage Dr. Seuss in many issues. In this particular area, we subscribe to his proverb:
“A person’s a person no matter how small.”
If something is causing us harm – like fleas on the dogs or other parasites – we will kill those creatures, but we do not do it with joy or flourish, and we do not do it for entertainment. We do it because it is necessary. We very rarely eat meat (and NEVER dairy – horrible), but when we do, we take a moment to recognize that the meat came from a living being and to give thanks and respect to that being.
Much of this we do out of a reverence for life and for nature, but it is much more than that. We do this for our children. We do this to teach them compassion and to teach them to embrace life.
It has been proven over, and over, and over again that people who are violent to animals are violent to humans. Violence begets violence, and a desensitization to the infliction of harm will be as easily applied to animals as to humans.
Further, it is a well established fact that children raised to be compassionate and peaceful are happier and healthier. Compassion is a true gift to the self and to the world, and there is nothing I would rather teach my children. The greatest wisdom, the greatest health, and the greatest happiness all start with compassion.
So we teach our children compassion for all living things. We teach them about the interdependent web of life and how we are all a part of it. We teach them how even the “scary” or dangerous creatures fit into the web and serve important functions. And we are rewarded as parents with the awe and reverence on our children’s faces when they spot a fuzzy caterpillar or a crawling ant.
Then there was the statement of Governor Christie:
“that’s also another fun part of being Governor. Any bugs that are on your desk, you’re allowed to kill them and not get in trouble.”
This is why I would be really ticked if one of my kids had been in that class. One of the perks of being in charge is getting away with stuff? Killing things is fun? Getting away with stuff is fun? Doing things that are morally wrong but not getting in trouble is what makes a job fun?
W.T.F??
Punky went to kindergarten in New Jersey. She is now in 4th grade, and I’m now pretty darn glad she’s not there anymore. I don’t want my kids taught that getting away with things is a perk of working in government and I really don’t want them to think that killing – even bugs – is fun. I especially don’t want respected authority figures perpetrating such a negative message.
I’m starting to wonder why we ever let politicians talk to school children…
*I used a piece of cloth to move the caterpillar – you don’t need a background in entomology to pick up on this animal’s cues, bright colors and long hairs say “don’t touch me;” and if you do happen to have a background in entomology and an affinity for arthropods like me, you’ll know that touching a tussock moth’s hairs can cause a negative reaction in some people.