Oh, The Humanity...

"...Oh, the humanity!..."

That phrase was uttered by Mr. Herbert Morrison, a radio reporter on May 6, 1937 as he watched in horror as the Hindenburg zeppelin burst into flames upon its arrival in New Jersey, killing 35 people in the airship and one on the ground.  As he witnessed the horrendous event, Mr. Morrison was overcome with emotion, shaken to his very core as the terrifying event played out before his very eyes.

Image Credit

I'll come back to that in a minute.

Yesterday I was listening to the radio on the way to work and heard the sad story of Cecil the lion. Certainly everyone has heard this story by now.  You cannot escape it. Then the very next news item on the radio was THIS STORY.  I'll post an excerpt from the link below:

Laura Gontchar loved the family of 11 Muscovy ducklings and their mother that lived near her home in Wellington, Fla. After the ducklings hatched, Gontchar and her family would leave food out for them and watch as the ducks ventured out of their lake to eat.

That’s exactly what Gontchar; her husband, Boyd Jentzsch; and their 7-year-old son, Kai, were doing on May 2, they said. That is, until Jason Falbo, a landscaper working his way through the yard on a riding lawnmower, started heading straight for the family of ducklings.

But according to the family, Falbo plowed right into the family of ducklings, then backed up his lawnmower to run them over again. All but two of the ducklings were killed; seven were killed in the lawnmower’s blades and two others were injured and drowned as what remained of the family escaped back to the safety of the lake.

On Wednesday, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged Falbo with nine counts of animal cruelty, according to the office’s inmate records. He’s being held on a $27,000 bond.

Jentzsch told authorities and the Sun Sentinel that Falbo was smiling as he made his second pass over the family of ducks:

“What are you doing to my ducks?” Kai wailed, his father remembers. “Why are you laughing?”

The boy, in tears, ran from the backyard and back into his house. Jentzsch and his wife were stunned.

“It was one of the most emotional things I’ve ever seen,” Jentzsch said. “It was just — wow.”

Someone please tell me, what kind of a person does this to defenseless animals? Seriously, what type of a sick individual engages his lawnmower and mows over a family of ducklings in front of a family including a 7 year old boy?  How does one dull his conscience so that they can mutilate baby ducklings with a riding lawnmower while smiling?  I don't want to know.

I would never be accused of being an animal rights activist or a vegan.  We routinely slaughter animals for food and hunt for ducks and squirrels.  We have a rule, however, that we don't EVER kill for sport.  We kill predatory animals and we kill for food.  That's it.

From the very beginning in Genesis 1:26 God placed man in dominion over the fish of the sea, birds of the sky, cattle, and over every creeping thing on the earth.  That can never be interpreted as giving us free reign to inflict harm and cruelty to these animals.  In fact, the Bible states otherwise:

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. - Proverbs 12:10

 Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; - Proverbs 27:23

 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. - Exodus 23:5

 If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; - Deuteronomy 22:6

His Eye is on the Sparrow

We care for the animals entrusted to us, spending much time taking care of them and ensuring that they are healthy, fed and watered.  We take that responsibility very seriously and we teach our kids the importance of being compassionate and tender toward them.  We've mourned the loss of several of our animals who have died.  It sickens me when I hear such stories of people with no conscience doing unspeakable things to innocent animals.

Rosie taking care of Clarabelle

So after listening to the story of Cecil the Lion that the dentist killed and the story of the person who ran over the ducklings with his lawnmower, I needed something uplifting and inspirational.  I switched to the Christian station just in time to learn that they had released the fourth undercover video of Planned Parenthood.  I'm not going to link it.  I don't know why I did it, but when I got to a computer, I searched it and watched it and I'll never get the images and dialogue out of my head.

As much as I feel compassion for innocent animals that are defenseless, I can't begin to describe how much more I feel about the harm of little babies.  And I want you to know that we feel compassion for those who have found themselves at a place in their lives that they feel that the services of places like Planned Parenthood are necessary. There is healing and forgiveness available for those mothers. Tricia has spent numerous hours counseling at crisis pregnancy centers, trying to help young girls out. This is not a political blog.  It is a blog about random observances and thoughts that relate to our very small family farm, our animals, our plants and the Mighty God whom we serve.  Life is so precious and we place a great value on it.

After watching the video, I wonder how we can call ourselves a civilized country where what I saw is legal and people can be so callous and crass toward human life. To further my puzzlement, I have trouble trying to reconcile the fact that in our state it is illegal to sell raw milk, but the practice I viewed is legal.  I wish I could rewind and un-see that video and all I can think about this disaster is the quote uttered by Mr. Morrison during another one:

"Oh, the humanity..."  (humanity indeed!)

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14