PETA Is Not the Enemy.

[mike_c]

20. I think you misunderstood me....

I wasn't at all offended by your OP. I was responding to your assertion that "PETA is not the enemy." I agree with you that they're not "the enemy," however I find their message misplaced and their methods alienating. My point was that they are free to choose to eat whatever makes them happy, and to use or avoid products they find ethical or unethical, but that they should not attempt to force others to accept those same decisions.

Here's a case that's near and dear to me. I teach undergraduate general zoology, and EVERY year my Dean gets regular phone calls from lawyers claiming to represent PETA demanding that we stop using animal cadavers to teach anatomy and morphology, or requesting annoyance reports detailing our progress toward that end, and so on. It is harassment, plain and simple. We choose to teach zoology this way because we've considered the alternatives-- at length, I can assure you-- and we've decided that this is the best, most effective pedagogy for teaching intro zoology. Yet PETA continues to call, largely because some student members continually make complaints. My point is that they are perfectly free to choose NOT to dissect animals as part of their university course work, but they don't have any business trying to take that option away from others, too.