Cruelty to Animals vs. Cruelty to Humans

During the past few weeks, there have been several stories reported in the newspaper and on the radio regarding the mistreatment of animals. A man jailed for throwing a kitten against the wall, that later had to be euthanized, another kicking his ex-girlfriend’s pit bull off a balcony, he too facing prosecution, and yet another case concerning the Hormel pig farm, where among other things, the employees killed piglets by throwing them against the ground.
It should be obvious that treating a living thing with such gross inhumanity is wrong. Just look at the outcry of the public at the exposure of these incidents. The disgust is rampant and the cry for prosecution is becoming deafening. Many are asking the question: what kind of people can do these horrendous things? Evidently, those guilty have violated a universally accepted, and expected, value of life .
Personally, I am shocked and disgusted by these stories. No living creature deserves such treatment. But here is where our nation has a double standard. I was recently shown a five minute video that changed my life. It had no words, merely classical music accompanying photos. However, by the time that five minutes had concluded, I was in tears and sick to my stomach, even as I write about the experience, I feel the tears and the sickness returning. What I saw will never leave me, the pictures are engrained into my very being, and painful though they are, I would not want it any other way. I am extra-sensitized to anything at all regarding this issue. A word brings an image. The images that made up that five minute presentation were of abortions and aborted children. Yes, children. One cannot look at the picture of an infant’s head, a perfect head, complete with tiny eyes, nose, mouth, ears, even hair, a face you could kiss and croon over, laying detached from the body in the hands of a physician, and not be moved. A doctor did this unthinkable, inhumane thing; a doctor had killed this child, and justified it by calling it a mere lump of tissue.
Does no one else see how skewed our society is! There is a stream of public outcry against people who have mistreated animals. I agree that animals should be treated with kindness, but which is more valuable, and animal life, or a human life? Several years ago a horrendous crime was committed. Scott Peterson murdered his wife Lacy, who was pregnant with their unborn child. Caught and convicted, he was charged with two murders, and rightly so, for he took two lives. However, doctors are allowed to kill millions of unborn children a year, and it is not considered a crime. It seems the only difference between a murder and a choice is whether or not the subject was wanted. I tremble for a society in which worth is based entirely on desire. If the child is wanted, it is protected, if not, it is disposed of. How long will it take for this attitude to permeate our society? When will it become the norm for an adult child to decide between paying for their parents to go to a nursing home, and having them disposed of as too great a burden? If we take this attitude to the extreme, the value of our own lives relies merely on how loved we are by our family and friends. Once they decide we are no longer worth it, our value is gone, and we may as well be exterminated. Consider well. Save the piglets, kill the children? I think not. Value based on the feelings and desires of others? I shrink and tremble at the thought.