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I really hate PETA... Another low for this group.

10K views 201 replies 51 participants last post by  Ilaria 
#1 ·
You know, I really hate this group. They make Howard Stern look respectable.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-...03&ID=s1452714

>>The Spokesman-Review

Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Spokane, WA

Group's Santa ad goes overboard

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn't believe in the ethical treatment of other humans.

Consider.

In its headlong pursuit of animal rights, PETA proved its indifference to decency by comparing the Jewish Holocaust to slaughterhouses. Earlier this year, Spokane got a dose of this strange ideology when PETA brought its "Holocaust on Your Plate" display to the courthouse. Apparently, PETA can't distinguish between the systematic slaughter of a race of people and meat production.

At times, PETA has inaccurately painted Jesus Christ as a vegan, dubbing him the "Prince of Peas." And has stepped on the toes of Mothers Against Drunk Driving with a campaign that claims beer is better for health than milk.

Now, PETA has gone overboard again, reprising the role of an unconverted Scrooge with a billboard on East Trent. The mean-spirited sign features Santa Claus looking down the front of his pants and the message: "Santa's not coming this Christmas." For the adults that don't get the double-entendre, small-hearted PETA gives another hint in smaller type: "Milk can make you impotent. Soy brings joy."

We're aware that PETA embraces controversy as a means to drive home its extreme message. And that we're playing into the organization's hands by taking this space to denounce its latest affront. But we have a responsibility to do so. PETA doesn't represent the standards or viewpoint of this area and should be shunned by reasonable people.

A PETA official told Spokesman-Review reporter Kevin Graman that the Santa Claus campaign is "a light-hearted thing that we're having fun with." Try telling that to children passing through the 5000 block of Trent. Santa's not coming? Only a holiday party-pooper of the first order would pull the rug out from under families after weeks and even years of good-natured Christmas make-believe.

At another level, the message is sophomoric and slightly pornographic.

The attention PETA gets from its outrageous acts probably serves a purpose, that of fund-raising and getting its name out to the public. But we wonder how over-the-top campaigns, such as Spokane's Santa, affect the work of legitimate animal-rights activists and groups. Such tactics can marginalize well-meaning people who work hard to adopt dogs and cats at animal shelters.

Extremism hurts legitimate causes. Anti-abortion efforts are hindered by the fanatic who terrorizes abortion clinics or doctors. Earth First!ers marginalize environmental efforts when they sabotage timber equipment and spike trees. PETA's lack of discretion turns off the public, too.

• "Our View" represents the editorial voice of The Spokesman-Review. It is written by members of the editorial board, who are listed on this page. <<
 
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#3 ·
Well, neither link worked so I can only go by the snippet you posted.

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Would that be the same Howard Stern that has stood up for genital integrity for all children?? Yes it would, I guess we have different values then.
 
#5 ·
I think it's freaking hilarious too Elphaba.

Although I once lived in the conservative farming boonies and I'll guarentee they don't take kindly to their farming practices or products getting negative press. Doesn't change the fact that many farming practices are horrible. I'm so glad I don't live there anymore.
 
#6 ·
That article didn't mention the time PETA pissed off feminists, including myself, with an ad that said "Fur trim: not attractive" under a cartoon of a woman wearing underwear (or a swimsuit bottom, whatever) with her pubic hair sticking out on the sides. A representative from a feminist group wrote a letter to PETA complaining about the ad, and a PETA representative wrote back a really nasty reply, which the feminist representative made public.

Seems like there was a thread on here about it...
 
#8 ·
aw, shucks. i cant help myself. i love peta. guess i never will get rid of that soft spot i have for extremist, underdogs, and people who are unaffraid to be totally offensive for a good cause. the fact that so many hate them just makes em seem more cuddly to me.
and are there kids who are old enough to read and still believe in santa? i am guessing that most kids who still have a total belief in santa arent gonna be able to deciefer the ad.
and let us all remember that it is not so very long ago that the idea of women and minorities as worthy of equal consideration was considered outrageous by the mainstream. thankfully, things keep on a'changin.
 
#10 ·
T Are there kids old enough to read who still believe in Santa? Absolutely. Not that I even celebrate Christmas, but I read well enough at 2 to decipher that ad. My niece learned to read fairly well last year in Kindergarten; I'll wager that 90% of the students in her class could decipher that ad, and that at least 75% are believers in Santa Claus. Kids are much more able than you're giving them credit for.
 
#12 ·
I thought it was funny, too!

I liked the fur trim one, too, though I call myself a feminist. I guess I am a feminist with a funky sense of humor!

Sunbaby said it for me; I just have a soft spot for them. For me they are the Saturday night live of the activist world.

Lori
 
#13 ·
There was an animal "rights" group who burned down I think a BLM building in Oregon with the animals IN it. I first read about it on some donkey list I was member of.

Hows that for ethical?

I agree with NM their shocking tactic do backfire so badly in fact they I feel that it makes those groups look like a bunch of rabble rousters that are just in it for attention getting.

T Nobody seems to care about the poor feelings of all those veggies we eat. Do you really think they like being torn off the vine or out of the ground and eaten?
:
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Nobody seems to care about the poor feelings of all those veggies we eat. Do you really think they like being torn off the vine or out of the ground and eaten?
Yes, there are people out there. They're called fruitists and only eat things after they fall to the ground.
 
#15 ·
PETA doesn't condone those acts of violence like blowing up lab facilities. Those are acts committed by animal liberationists, SOME of whom might be members of PETA (which makes sense) but they are not supported by PETA in any official capacity. It's like saying the Pope condones Christians blowing up abortion clinics. Or something like that.

PETA is about educating the public of the horrible atrocities inflicted daily upon millions of sentient beings who feel pain and suffer. Some of their members do take things too far. I totally agree with that. But most of their members are simply trying to end the suffering of noble creatures. Let's not lump them all together.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
elevate animals to the level of humans
What is this supposed to mean? Don't animals have feelings? Don't they feel pain? Don't they feel happy? Dont they feel sad? Don't they have a will to live? Don't they protect and love thier young like just like humans are supposed to do? The only difference I see between animals and humans is that humans can talk. So just what is that statement supposed to mean NM?

Quote:
Nobody seems to care about the poor feelings of all those veggies we eat. Do you really think they like being torn off the vine or out of the ground and eaten?
Oh please, really, is this supposed to be a joke?

Quote:
You know, I really hate this group
Wow, such a strong word for an organization whose only purpose is to stop the exploitation of animals.

What is so wrong with trying to change the way animals are treated? Is everyone so cold hearted they just don't care how animals are treated? Why doesn't anyone care????? I don't understand how people can just not care! I just don't!
 
#17 ·
Peta is one of the few purely altruistic organizations in existence today.

They may put up billboards in poor taste or offend meat eaters with their less than gentle message.

But if you look in the face of a race - the human race- of which 90 percent condone the whlesale torture and killing of animals for human gratification, then maybe you can understand their politics and their psychology.

That Seattle editorial was ill-advised and they are very unaware of the real creed of the animal rights movement. Calling Peta an illegitimate organization is evidence of that.

Until people face the reality of what they are really doing when they support factory farming by buying meat and dairy products, there will be people like Peta and me fighting the fight for the animals. They have no voice. And they have aright to life without being torture and killed for human consumption.

The social hypnosis to eat meat without asking any moral questions about it is ingrained in people from such an early age. The shock campaigns Peta uses are a reaction to that. they are radical because people refuse to be enlightened. I agree their campaigns and tactics sometimes turn me off and I have protested to them on many occassions about it.

But if I have to choose between no voice for the animals and their voice, I will continue to support them.
 
#18 ·
PS

Some "highs" for this group:

1. Their four year long campaign that used grassroots methods to get Mc Donalds to reform their utterly barbaric farming practices to include more human conditions for cattle and the termination of "de-beaking" chickens and throwing away baby chicks to suffocate in the trash

2. The end result of that campaign resulting in Mc Donalds offering a vegetarian menu in its restaurants, including the Mc Veggie burger

3. A year after Mc Donals chose to work with Peta, Burger King followed suit, resulting in the second largest barbarian on the block quitting de-beaking, slaughtering conscious pigs and keeping cattle in disgusting conditions until they die a painful and inhuman death to make $2 burgers

4. their campaign against KFC for their practices of pumping chickens so full of growth hormones that their legs break under the obscene weight of their deformed bodies, de-beaking, and monstrous conditions where they were cramped in cages so small they could not sit or turn around.

Wake up people. Doing these things to animals is a debased practice and a real sin.

Animals have feelings, they love their young, and they love their lives.
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by eilonwy
T Are there kids old enough to read who still believe in Santa? Absolutely. Not that I even celebrate Christmas, but I read well enough at 2 to decipher that ad. My niece learned to read fairly well last year in Kindergarten; I'll wager that 90% of the students in her class could decipher that ad, and that at least 75% are believers in Santa Claus. Kids are much more able than you're giving them credit for.
I have to say my DD is 2 and I don't think she or a kindergartener for that matter would understand the play on words in that ad....

I think their ads are pretty funny...they certainly get people's attention!
 
#20 ·
Well, I do think the Santa ad is funny and I don't know many little kids that would "get" the joke.

I do respect their ideals. I just think they'd be more respected as a group if they tried to make their ideals work in our world.

1. I think their Iditarod stance is absurd.
2. Gotta agree w/them re: aerial wolf hunting.
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by momto l&a
T Nobody seems to care about the poor feelings of all those veggies we eat. Do you really think they like being torn off the vine or out of the ground and eaten?
:
You have got to hear the song "Carrot Juice is Murder" by the Arrogant Worms. Here are the http://www.letssingit.com/arrogant-worms-carrot-juice-is-murder-sdnfw88.html]lyrics[/URL] . It is sung like a passionate folk song, very tongue in cheek.
 
#23 ·
I think it's hilarious. And I love hte idea of the flustered parents trying to explain what the ad means


Why do so many people have a problem with PETA? They're funny, and they have a conscience. Is it out of guilt? I know my animal product tastes a little less yummy after I'm confronted with where it comes from and how it's made.

Would it be easier to eat the stuff if we were lulled into a belief that a cow is almost the same as a tomato, conscience-wise, and that a chicken wing doesn't need a beak anyway?

It the nameless deaths that are really sick, not PETA. jmo
 
#24 ·
I don't think anyone thought the kids who can read would understand the play on words, but the message "santa is not coming this year" would mean exactly that. He won't be bringing presents. I don't live anywhere near PETA billboards thank goodness, but I also don't push the santa issue in our house. I do feel badly for the kids who still believe in santa that see this.

I think it's fine to post any billboard they want that might piss off an adult, but to screw with children's feelings, who don't understand it's supposed to be about drinking milk, is a little cruel.
 
#26 ·
My six year old believes in Santa and can read. She would be upset by the billboard.

I think PETA is plain stupid. They tried a campaign where I live a few years back to get the name of a river changed. It's the Fishkill, and they objected because it advocates violence against fish. Pleeeeeeze. The "kill" part comes from the Dutch for creek.
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