Purrs 4 Peace Week 24: Announcement - Hunting for Peace not Animals

I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her.
-- Ellen DeGeneres

In the midst of deer season, we devote the purrs this week to ending the barbaric practice of hunting animals.

"Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it." - Mark Twain

I understand the overpopulation argument for some hunting activities. To that I say, can we not deal with such issues without killing animals? The U.S. is one of the most technologically advanced in the world. We have some of the greatest brains on the planet. The answer to our problems doesn’t have to be killing or torturing.

I was appalled to discover that more than 100 million animals are killed during the “sport” of hunting each year. Just as shocking, is that for every animal killed two others are hurt and not recovered by the hunter. Many suffer slow and painful deaths by blood loss, infection or starvation. Others suffer permanent injury.

And what of the cost to the humans involved in this activity? There must be a price to the SOUL of a person who enjoys killing an animal. Certainly, we know that serial killers of human beings begin by practicing their cruelty on animal victims. I am not saying that all hunters will become serial killers, but there is a certain resistance within to the taking of life. When one takes the life of an animal, part of that resistance is chipped away. It is easier to take human life once a person has killed an animal. Therefore, why do any human parents think it is a good idea to train their children in such blood sport?

"Killing animals for sport, for pleasure, for adventure, and for hides and furs is a phenomena which is at once disgusting and distressing. There is no justification in indulging is such acts of brutality"

Week 24 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week twenty-four’s appointed time is Sunday, November 22, 2009.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 3 p.m. EST (U.S.) which is 8:00 p.m. (20:00 hrs.) GMT in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

This week we purr to end the barbarity. We purr to sustain life. We purr for the emergence of love. We purr to spread peace.

Purrs 4 Peace Week 22- Be Kind to Circus Animals...and everyone else.

Welcome to week 22 of Purrs 4 Peace. This week we purr to end cruelty to circus animals specifically, animals of every kind generally, and peace for the world globally.

My religion is simple. My religion is kindness - Dalai Lama

Think about it...if everyone in this world did what is KIND, not necessarily was their feelings or even logic would tell them to do in a situation, this world would be a peaceful place. Sometimes it may not be the easiest thing to do...I know because I have a canine in my house...but KINDNESS is always the right thing to do.

We all know that if everyone involved in circuses were practicing KINDness...there would be no more circus animal acts...and the existing animals would be retired to safe and nurturing habitats.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind. ~Cleveland Amory

YOU are the army of the purry kind. You are the purry peace warriors. You are the are a force pouring positive and kind energy where there is a sore deficit...as pouring water into an empty cup.

10:59 a.m. Get ready to Purrrrrrrr.

SET.

11:00 a.m.

Confucius Cat say: GO!

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, Feel the purrs. As the sound builds feel the spirit of kindness within you grow.

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, Purring.... Send your purrs out like a bolt of electricity. charging the universe with love, compassion and kindness.

Purrrrrr.purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr... Where there was fear let it be replaced by compassion. Were there was hate let it be replaced by kindness.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Purrrrrr.purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr.. Imagine circus animal free to live out the rest of its life in an appropriate, nurturing and loving habitat.

Purrs 4 Peace- Week 18 - Poverty makes us all poorer.

Big ConCATulations to Barak Obama, winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. It is an honor for the United States that its President has been recognized as standing for the cause of world wide peace.

Welcome to week 18 of Purrs 4 Peace. This week we purr to eradicate poverty and the hunger that accompanies it.

“The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share.” - His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

Part of what contributes to hunger in this world is the incredible waste of resources and inefficiencies in food production that results from raising animals for food. If all humans became vegetarians, not only would animal suffering be reduced, but hunger could be virtually wiped out.

According to www.goveg.com, it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat. The cattle of the world consume enough grain to feed 8.7 billion people, which is more than the entire human population of the Earth. So the biggest tragedy of world hunger is that there is more than enough food to feed everyone. Instead over 840 million people in the world are hungry. So “meat means misery for the world’s hungry” - www.goveg.com

As George Monbiot of The Guardian in the U.K. observed in a 2002 column about the connection between meat production and worldwide famine: “It's impossible to avoid the conclusion that the only sustainable and socially just option is for the inhabitants of the rich world to become, like most of the earth's people, broadly vegan”.

Confucius Cat must admit he is not vegan. As a fish eater he can only claim to be a pescatarian...and his mummy so far has only been able to attain the status of vegetarian. But Confucius Cat believes that a vegan lifestyle is what we should all aspire to achieve.

"Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free." - His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.

2:59 p.m. Get ready to Purrrrrrrr.

SET.

3:00 p.m.

Confucius Cat say: GO!

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr,

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr... Purrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Purrrrrrrrrinnnnnnggggg wealth, purring abundance, purring prosperity into the universe.

Purrrr.... The suffering are comforted, those in need are satisfied.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Purring....Those who are sick, receive medication, those who are homeless, have shelter, those who hunger, are fed.

Purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purr

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Imagine the headline: poverty eliminated as whole world prospers.

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, ...........

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

Purrs 4 Peace- Week 12 Announcement: Stop Hating Strangers

“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength” - Dalai Lama.

A hate crime (aka bias-motivated crime) is violence which targets a victim because of his or her gender, race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation. According to the FBI’s uniform crime report there were 7,624 hate crime incidents in 2007 in the U.S. and it is thought that there were more that went unreported.

In the U.S. and around the world, hate crimes and membership in hate groups has markedly increased according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In the report it released earlier this hear, the SPLC stated that the number of hate groups has grown by 54 percent since 2000. The study identified 926 hate groups (i.e., groups with beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people) that were active in 2008 in the U.S. alone.

Anecdotally, membership in such groups has exploded since the fall of 2008, which has been attributed to the election of the first African-American President, Barack Obama, illegal immigration and difficult economic conditions. Certainly, there has been a confluence of events that has made “scapegoating” of others attractive to some humans. A way of coping with their own fears and vulnerabilities.

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of scapegoating others for our problems or the problems of the society at large. Indeed certain media figures hype their ratings...and thus their own financial gain...by ginning up these prejudices and ideas that “the other” is hateable. These media figures with their hatespeak tell their listeners that some person, group, race, gender is not to be tolerated. Intolerance allows a person to feel that it is acceptable to target the victim for violence. Thus, there is a link between hatespeak and hate crime.

Confucius Cat says if someone is telling you to hate...if someone is telling you to fear...that someone is the one you should fear and from whom you must run at the fastest rate possible. We cannot have peace in this world while humans continue to hate people they don’t even know.

Week 12 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week twelve’s appointed time is Sunday, August 30, 2009.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 9:00 a.m. EDT (U.S.) which is 2:00 p.m. (14:00 hrs.) BST in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

Confucius Cat says: no more hatespeak, no more hate groups, no more hate crime. So this week, instead of speaking hate, we will purr love. Instead of speaking intolerance, we will purr compassion. Instead of speaking prejudice, we will purr peace.