I recently posted my archery buck picture and a complementary poem on Facebook.
There were negative comments on my post aplenty. Here are some examples. Senseless, barbaric, cruel, deer meat is not palatable, killing the poor animals for pleasure, posting pictures of their dead bodies as trophies, have mercy, enjoy the ‘moment’ of killing an animal soul for pleasure and displaying it with pride, fishing is equally bad, saves lives during the day and takes lives during the night, and the best of all compared the picture to putting foot over face of dead body of enemy and getting it published.
Hunting for me is a small part of a much larger picture of connecting with nature. I grew up hunting with my family. I live, work and play in middle America. For a lot of middle America, hunting is a way of life. That is what they live, eat, celebrate, share and enjoy. The very same middle America who felt marginalized and we all heard them loud and clear in 2016. I have friends, colleagues, neighbors, and patients from this middle America and they are some of the best people I know. Many of them following along must have read these negative comments too.
Now many in America today complain about intolerance at the hands of this middle America. I want to show you all the flip side of this intolerance. Many in middle America live by hunting. Now read the above negative comments in light of reflecting on their way of life.
Please try and understand the Trump phenomena. Being marginalized, criticized, judged poorly and looked down upon for an extended period of time and thus.
We feel bad when intolerance comes our way but do we care for others when we dish it out? Tolerance, acceptance, coexistence, and love are always a two-way street my dear all.
I hope we can all accept each other without prejudice and judgment, in spite of and embracing our differences. Amen.