Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

Cultural differences are very difficult for people of other cultures to understand. If you were born and raised where it was part of your custure to go without shoes and you move to a country or area of the country that has always had shoes to wear then you become an outcast until you learn to wear shoes.

We may believe it is wrong to dog fight or bull fight or cock fight but it is not believed to be wrong in all cultures, even in some cultures in the USA.

I'm not saying what is right or wrong. I'm just pointing out that Goldberg's comments were dead on.

mr bbs
 

Amen.

Of course, I'll go one further.

The main reason people get all touchy about animals nowadays is most people are never around real ones, and we've anthropomorphized them. Thank Walt Disney and his dang talkin' mouse for that.

And the furrier they are, the more like people we think they are.

I love dogs, and I think it takes a particularly hard-hearted kind of person to fight 'em. I don't know if it's "wrong" or not. Some cultures eat dogs, which puts them in a whole other category from "pet."

I love to eat chickens, though -- and a fightin' cock is a chicken, and I don't think there's a dang thing wrong with fightin' 'em.

Oh, and PETA slaps the genuine civil rights movement in this country right in the damn face whenever one of those freaks pipes up about animal rights.
 

What was Whoopi's point? He shouldn't be reprimanded because he's from the South? That the rest of the country just doesn't "get" him? There are a lot of people who were raised in the South who don't think fighting dogs is just a natural part of their culture and no a big deal. Please.



And for that matter, dogfighting ISN'T confined to the rural, backwoods South. It's a problem for Baltimore, New Jersey, the whole east coast, out West, etc, and has been for a long time. It's BIG money and crosses socio-economic boundaries as well as state boundaries. Pretending like it's just part of those crazy, southerner's culture is a cop out, not true, and just another stereotype, IMHO. The South did not come up with this "sport". It orginated in Japan, as far as we can tell, and was and still is common in Europe and South America. It was imported to America and always has been an issue in every state.

I hate PETA, too, by the way. And, I agree with something that was attributed to Vick, although, I can't swear he actually said it because I don't have the quote in front of me, but it was that if he had raped someone he would be in less trouble. Which I think is sad, and probably true.
 

It is a truism that we love our pets more than we love each other.
So, yep, human rape somehow is less problematic to the general public than dog fighting ( I did note however they called the breeding harness, a "rape stand". I wonder what they would call some of the people that artificially insemenate cattle, horses etc. by sticking their arm....?)

I would note that Fenway was bred to fight originally. His kind was bred down to a small sized from the full sized bulls and the terriers so they could just tuck them under their coat when the cops raided a dog fight. Ah, Boston they are such innovative people.

I can't share your hatred of PETA however. After all, any organization that Senator Jim Inehofe hates can't be all bad. Beside I am particularly fond of they way the campaign against wearing furs.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Christy_Turlington_I%27d_rather_go_naked_than_wear_fur.jpg
 

I'd say Whoopi's point was this: As terrible dogfighting seems to most of the country, it does not seem terrible in some specific parts of the country, and for the rest of the country to brand Vick a heartless monster is wrong. If Vick DID think dog fighting was terrible, yet did it anyway, someone might make a case for him being an evil person. Since he did not think dog fighting was terrible, apparently, the only wrong he did was in the eyes of others. Which doesn't make it right necessarrily, but it does put it in perspective.

Oh, and you read waaaaaay more into what she said, Crystal. She said nothing about the backwoods, she did not stereotype (as far as I know) and she didn't say what she said to insult anyone. So simmer down. :-)
 

Simmer down? Ha! I'm running on caffeine, adrenaline, and about 3 hours of sleep every 24 hours for the past 5 days. Simmering "up"is the only thing keeping me awake. :)

Whoopie was more than implying dogfighting was an acceptable custom in the South, which is why Vick was so comfortable with it. My point is that not only is it not unique to the South, most Southerners do not participate in it , so that's a lame excuse for doing it. If you want to take the "south" out of the equation and just say it was part of the environment he was raised in, it's still a lame excuse. The environment/cultural excuse can only carry you so far and if what you're doing is illegal, it doesn't go very far at all.

And, how could Vick have not known it was wrong? What state is this legal in now? Even if he was brought up in an environment where breaking the law is acceptable, surely he had to know there might be consequences if he was caught. To say he just didn't know better seems almost more of an insult to him than to just say up front he was a jerk for doing it. I think it is more likely he thought his status as a pro football player and being a very rich man put him a little further out of reach of the law than most of us.
 

The real crime for the NFL would be 1. gambling 2. real bad PR. Vick has to be toast to keep the others in line.
 

Vick did not make the excuse. Nor did Whoopi. What Whoopi dared to do was try to put the thing in context while the rest of the world mindlessly lynches Michael Vick. Crystal, I reckon you're one of 'em totin' the rope.
 

Whatever. You can throw around words like lynch and carrying a rope all you want, but to deny he wasn't aware he was breaking the law is ridiculous, I don't care what state he grew up in or what "context" you want to frame his actions around. Eventually, at some point, you have to man up to your actions and you can't use the excuse of your environment or how mean your mommy was to you.

Do I think he should go to jail for 20 years? No. But there should be some penalty for it.
 

Yer right, on all counts. But my point is that Whoopi had a point, that's all.
 

Rent the movie: "White Dog" if you want to see some southern dog culture.