Blood Sports Poll

[John Kilduff]

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Why is letting them kill each other for our entertainment any different? What is the basis for this nonsensical argument that animals have rights? There's no environmental threat, and no one here is stupid enough to suggest that it's going to lead to the downfall of civilization (which is obviously completely anthropocentric).

I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.

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Because people feel empathy. Do you deny that someone might sincerely experience pain at the thought that an animal was being tortured? Or disgust that a person gained pleasure from torturing an animal?

Libertarians and ACist seem to routinely dismiss the externality effects of their actions when those actions do not infringe on the "property rights" of another person, especially when the effect on the third party is primarily psychological.

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Exactly. Not to mention that people feel empathy for animals as well as for their owners.

[John Kilduff]

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I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.


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The cat is a more worthwhile creature than any human who would actually do this.

Do you know what sociopathy is? Do you realize anyone who feels absolutely no empathy or compassion for others is actually suffering from a psychological disorder?

[LooseCaller]

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I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.

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change it to a severely mentally retarded human being and see if you feel the same way.

things have the capacity to suffer. i dislike suffering. if i were at the complete mercy of a more powerful being who could torture and kill me, i would prefer he did not. golden rule situation.

not that this should give me the right to run in with a gun and tell you to stop abusing your cat, but it's certainly a legitimate objection to the behaivior.

[hmkpoker]

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I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.

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change it to a severely mentally retarded human being and see if you feel the same way.

things have the capacity to suffer. i dislike suffering. if i were at the complete mercy of a more powerful being who could torture and kill me, i would prefer he did not. golden rule situation.

not that this should give me the right to run in with a gun and tell you to stop abusing your cat, but it's certainly a legitimate objection to the behaivior.

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The only consistent position that is that opposed to suffering is Jainism. No thanks.

[NickMPK]

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I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.

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change it to a severely mentally retarded human being and see if you feel the same way.

things have the capacity to suffer. i dislike suffering. if i were at the complete mercy of a more powerful being who could torture and kill me, i would prefer he did not. golden rule situation.

not that this should give me the right to run in with a gun and tell you to stop abusing your cat, but it's certainly a legitimate objection to the behaivior.

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The only consistent position that is that opposed to suffering is Jainism. No thanks.

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People's feelings do not require abstract logical consistancy. There are obvious evolutionary reasons why people would feel a gut-level repulsion to the idea of torturing animals.

You're question was "Why does anyone care what I do to animals in my spare time?". Not whether is was smart public policy to appease those cares. But do you really deny that most people actually experience these feelings, despite the fact that they seem logically inconsistant to you?

[Metric]

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If you don't feel strongly enough about "activity X" to personally barge into your neighbor's house with a shotgun to get them to stop doing "activity X", then you probably shouldn't be voting for the government to do it either.

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If I thought my neighbor was raping 5 year olds I'd be perfectly happy shooting them with a shotgun. Does that mean I actually have to do it or can I vote for some people with a bit of sense to snatch them up for me?

I don't get it. You want to let people run riot? Do you know what people are capable of doing?

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Of course not. Your feelings regarding child-rapists are entirely consistent -- you vote for the government to have the ability to break in and kick the ass of any child rapist, because YOU would feel justified in doing the same thing. But what if you found out your neighbors had cockfights in their basement? Would you feel entirely appropriate personally kicking their door down and handcuffing them all at gunpoint and setting the chickens free? If so... yipes. If not, why are you voting for the government to do it?

[Metric]

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I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.


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The cat is a more worthwhile creature than any human who would actually do this.

Do you know what sociopathy is? Do you realize anyone who feels absolutely no empathy or compassion for others is actually suffering from a psychological disorder?

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Let's make obsessive hand washing illegal -- after all, only someone with a psychological disorder would do such a thing.

[Howard Beale]

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If you don't feel strongly enough about "activity X" to personally barge into your neighbor's house with a shotgun to get them to stop doing "activity X", then you probably shouldn't be voting for the government to do it either.

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If I thought my neighbor was raping 5 year olds I'd be perfectly happy shooting them with a shotgun. Does that mean I actually have to do it or can I vote for some people with a bit of sense to snatch them up for me?

I don't get it. You want to let people run riot? Do you know what people are capable of doing?

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Of course not. Your feelings regarding child-rapists are entirely consistent -- you vote for the government to have the ability to break in and kick the ass of any child rapist, because YOU would feel justified in doing the same thing. But what if you found out your neighbors had cockfights in their basement? Would you feel entirely appropriate personally kicking their door down and handcuffing them all at gunpoint and setting the chickens free? If so... yipes. If not, why are you voting for the government to do it?

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I wish I were tough enough to kick their door down and take them all on. There would be no need for the handcuffs by the time I finished with my baseball bat. So, yikes, I'd beat them half to death for being worse animals than the animals.

[Shoe Lace]

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Of course not. Your feelings regarding child-rapists are entirely consistent -- you vote for the government to have the ability to break in and kick the ass of any child rapist, because YOU would feel justified in doing the same thing. But what if you found out your neighbors had cockfights in their basement? Would you feel entirely appropriate personally kicking their door down and handcuffing them all at gunpoint and setting the chickens free? If so... yipes.

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In the big scheme of things what's the difference between raping a child and forcing 2 roosters to kill each other?

The child is helpless vs the person who rapes him/her (just like the roosters are, replace rape with forced fighting)

The child's freewill is removed (can we assume the child does not want this to happen?). The roosters are not able to do what they want, they are being forced.

Both activities are happening behind closed doors in the privacy of their own homes.

I see no difference at all here. Both scenarios result in the same moral crime. If anything I'd say the cockfighting is worse because it results in death.

[John Kilduff]

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I'm going to pump my cat full of vicodin, shave it, and slowly peel its flesh off with a razor blade while I penetrate it. I want to hear one good reason why anyone gives a rat's ass about this private activity.


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The cat is a more worthwhile creature than any human who would actually do this.

Do you know what sociopathy is? Do you realize anyone who feels absolutely no empathy or compassion for others is actually suffering from a psychological disorder?

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Let's make obsessive hand washing illegal -- after all, only someone with a psychological disorder would do such a thing.

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Compulsive handwashing is not evil and it does not hurt others. The reason why what hmkpoker is suggesting is illegal is not because it is sick, but because it is an evil thing to do.

Hmkpoker seemes to think that nobody should care that one person needlessly does something horribly evil to another being, making it suffer. I'm trying to point out to hmkpoker that the default, normal reaction to such a thing is not "why should anybody care?" but rather "how could anyone be so sick and lacking in compassion to do such a thing?"

Anyone who has zero compassion for other beings is lacking something very basic and natural in their psychological makeup.