Kudos to John Furlong for questioning the unquestionable!

CBC journalist John Furlong wrote an intriguing article yesterday about how it is apparently immoral to criticize the new Newfoundland seal hunt.  This attitude, taken by many Newfoundlanders, totally ignores the values and attitudes of much of the rest of the world. "If you're a Newfoundlander, you can be for or against capital punishment, for or against abortion  for or against same-sex marriage... all with less grief than if you said you were even conflicted, as i am, about the seal hunt" he wrote.

Well, I decided to enter the fray and commented as follows:

The Seal issue is nothing more than a political issue / political pawn for Harper and the Feds, as are issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, or transgender health care, for that matter. However, i will point out the biggest difference: we are talking about an animal that doesn't have the power or tools to come to the table to defend themselves here. funny how it is socially acceptable to kill seals, chickens and pigs, but not dogs, cats, or horses. we as humans have fooled ourselves into conflicting value systems that suit our selfish needs. we all need to take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves what our true values really are, and what those values do in terms of sending a message to our children. personally, i don't support killing or eating any animals

I see I am getting more thumbs down than thumbs up for this comment, but folks, it's 100% true! Perception is reality, and the seal hunt has become a provincial, national, and global embarrassment for Newfoundland! Furlong was right to question this double standard, and I applaud him for asking everyone to take a closer look at the silly excuses we make to justify our poor behaviour.

Conforming to norms has never been a priority for me, especially norms that don't make any true sense, so kudos to John for making us all ask ourselves the tough questions!

Follow @Jenn_McCreath Tweet