AN OPEN LETTER TO THE HUMAN RACE
From: The All Creation Society
To: The Human Race
~Jim Willis 2001~
Dear Monsieur
& Madame Homo sapiens:
We regret
that you were unable to attend our recent General Meeting. However, it is
my sad duty to inform you that your continuing membership in our Society
is currently under review as a result of allegations made against you at
said meeting. (Some of which were rather shocking!)
To begin
with, Canis lupus complained that your species has been the
reason for extinction of several of his cousins, and that recently, you
have even been shooting at him from your airplanes. Alligator
mississippiensis alleged that some of your kind have been
wrestling him for sport, and Crocodylus niloticus said he
could top that and claimed you had made belts and purses out of his family
members!
Ursus
maritimus reported that you have recently been drilling for oil in
his habitat and upsetting the order of things, and Nyctea scandiaca
confirmed the charge and said she was so upset she could barely sit on her
eggs for the intrusion.
Odocoileus virginianus and Oryctolagus cuniculus
explained how they had hoped for better days after your �Disney� made
movies featuring them, but that many of your kind make a habit of storming
their woodlands and shooting at them, often with lethal consequences.
Rattus
norvegicus and Mus musculus said they were first
enticed into your homes and barns with offers of food, and then had been
beheaded by some cruel mechanical device � while several of their cousins
opined that that was a relatively painless death compared to what they had
endured in your laboratories.
Orcinus
orca claimed that he had been sold into slavery by you and forced
to jump through hoops. Lynx rufus told how his kin had
finally reclaimed some of their former habitat, at which point you opened
a hunting season. Panthera tigris sumatrae said that in his
part of the world he can barely find a plot of ground large enough to
raise his family.
Gorilla
gorilla beringei wept when he told how your wars threatened both
his habitat and his offspring. Eubalaena glacialis said he
had swum the world�s oceans in an attempt to get away from you, and had
been harpooned for his troubles.
Equus
caballas, that most noble of creatures, explained how his kind is
wagered on by you, then sold by you at auction and transported without
food and water to slaughter (surely he exaggerates?) One of the worst
stories we heard that evening was from Selenarctos Thibetanus,
of how his kind is cruelly imprisoned by you in cramped cages for their
bile. His cousin Ailuropoda melanoleuca said she could
hardly believe it � that you had chosen her as the symbol of one of your
largest wildlife organizations!
We realize
that you are relatively new to our membership (speaking in evolutionary
terms). In the past, we have enjoyed a most pleasant relationship with
some members of your species. We are eternally grateful to your Noah for
rendering transportation assistance during that unfortunate incident. One
of your members, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, is legendary for his kindness. We
hold your Miss Rachel Carson in the highest esteem for trying to warn you
about environmental concerns that threaten us all, and of course we are
all aware of the efforts of Dr. Jane Goodall on behalf of Pan
troglodytes.
However, we
simply can no longer tolerate some of your behaviors and ignorance. In
fact, our chairman, Panthera leo, called on two of your
closest allies, Canis lupus familiaris and Felis
domesticus to speak on your behalf during the meeting. Well, it
was nearly impossible to restore order. They told how they had been
abandoned and killed by the millions, allowed to breed out of control,
acquired as companions and then ignored, passed around like pieces of old
furniture, and had been targeted for such abuses that Struthius
camelus could not hear any more and buried her head in the
sand.
Many species
said they felt so defenseless in your presence that they may was well be a
sitting Aix sponsa. Alces alces concurred and
said not only had they every reason to worry, but his kind was frequently
shot by your species and then suffered the added indignity of having their
heads hung on your walls! Elephas maximus said she has so
many unpleasant memories of her relationship with your kind that she does
not think she will ever forget them.
Please do not
think us intolerant, or that we do not have a sense of humor (if I might
offer Platypus compertus as proof of the latter), but this
unseemly behavior simply must stop for the good of our entire membership.
We respectfully request that you review our rules for peaceful coexistence
on this planet and rethink some of your practices and behaviors. We are
not insensitive to the dilemmas you face, particularly with some of your
kind being herbivorous and some carnivorous. However, if there is not an
immediate improvement in the current situation, we will have no choice but
to take this matter up with The Creator.
Thank you in
advance for your prompt attention to these matters.
Warm regards,
Sagittarius serpentarius, General Secretary bird
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