Moral inferiority

"The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." 

~Mark Twain 

Photo credit Aaron Paul

Making a trip to the zoo has been on the "things to do in Philadelphia bucket list" and we finally went yesterday. It was amazing to see these animals... but I'm still not sure how I feel about zoos. Especially after seeing the gorillas. Gorillas should not live in cages.

Animals and ahimsa

My dad wrote this op-ed piece on CNN.com in response to the tragic death of the orca whale trainer this past week.

I especially like the quote by the late Jacques Cousteau:

"There is about as much educational benefit to be gained in studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary confinement."

I watched The Cove last night, which I think everyone should see. There is an unbelievable amount of horror and violence occurring, which we unknowingly support by our consumption of seafood and our marvel of beautiful animals at zoos and aquariums.

I couldn’t agree more when my dad writes:

“The best, most compassionate way for us protect, learn about and appreciate the beauty of wild animals is to watch them from a distance, but never, ever touch. We need to leave them alone -- in the wild -- and stop interfering in their lives.”

This all comes back again to the fundamental yogic principle of ahimsa, or non-violence.