FW: From Animal-net (CN) An Appeal from one Chinese person to 1.4 billion

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animal_net [animal_net ]

Thursday, May 24, 2007 6:15 PM

animal_net

 

 

Wed May 23, 2007 1:25 pm (PST)

 

Anthony Marr anthony_marr

 

Fellow activists:

 

If you agree with what I wrote below and think that it will make a

difference, please forward it far and wide so that it will reach as many

Chinese people around the world as possible. Thank you.

 

Anthony Marr.

 

An Appeal from one Chinese person to 1.4 billion

 

Dear fellow Chinese people of various nationalities (mine is

Canadian):

 

Now that the Beijing Olympics is looming over China, there are

several things that all Chinese people should know about our reputation in

the eyes of the world. I have lived in Canada for over 40 years. My first

language is Chinese (Cantonese), but I use English a hundred times more.

Almost all my personal friends are Caucasian. I am one of the very few

people of Chinese descent who are embraced whole-heartedly by the

international wildlife preservation, animal rights, animal welfare, and

environmental movements. I have written a book (Omni-Science and the Human

Destiny - see book section of www.HOPE-CARE.org) and it is in English. I

have given hundreds of speeches in four countries on three continents, and

they, too, are almost always in English. I may even talk in my sleep in

English. My point here is that I know the Western view point intimately, and

have seen more of the Chinese image in the eyes of the world than I care to

see. And, like any other civilization on Earth, we Chinese have a lot

to be proud of, yet a lot to be ashamed of, and certainly, a lot that we

must change.

 

To be proud of:

 

1. Our long and continuous history, which, in comparison to the

war-plagued European history, looks almost benevolent and benign.

 

2. during the three centuries between 1400 and 1700 AD, the

Inquisition burnt up to 9 million people at the stake (lowest estimate is

450,000), mostly women, almost always after severe and crippling torture for

forcing confessions, whose properties were then confiscated by the Church,

making it astronomically wealthy. I can say unequivocally that the

Inquisition, pertaining to Christianity, is the most evil movement in human

history, religious or not, by far, by which human history as a whole will

forever be tainted, as it is being tainted by such modern forms of savagery

as the Canadian commercial seal hunt which kills over 300,000 baby seals a

year for their fur. Neither the Inquisition nor the seal massacre were/are

of Chinese origin, nor did/do they occur in China. The Chinese may take some

passive pride in this.

 

3. Western people hold the Chinese students at Tienanmen Square

(1989) in high esteem, and Wong Wei-Lin, the lone man who halted a whole

column of tanks, whose fate today is unknown, is one of their greatest

heroes and an icon of the Power of One.

 

4. Chinese people are generally considered to be disciplined,

industrious and smart (though I have a couple of times proven them wrong!).

 

5. Chinese martial arts rule the kung-fu movies popular in the West

(though, knowing some kung fu, I still got beaten up by a white hunter).

 

To be ashamed of:

 

1. The Chinese government is notorious for their human rights abuses

both at home and abroad (e.g. Tienanmen and Tibet).

 

2. The Chinese people are notorious for their unusual and cruel

treatment of animals - caged bears (for bile-tapping), dog/cat torture in

the dog/cat meat industry (+ Korea), the cat/dog fur industry, massive dog

slaughter as a means of rabies control, use of endangered species parts

(e.g. tiger bone, rhino horn, bear gall) for medicine, the shark-finning

industry, the hideous deviancies such as consuming live monkey brains (does

this still happen?)..., which gives the appearance that the Chinese people

are devoid of kindness and compassion.

 

3. Although most of the tiger poaching and rhino poaching and

shark-finning and seal hunting are done by non-Chinese people, the Chinese

people is nonetheless seen at least as being responsible for being the root

cause of the problem by demanding such products.

 

4. And Canadian seal fur. Even though the European countries have

one after another declared their decisions to ban Canadian seal products,

China is fast becoming the major market of Canadian seal fur and, shame,

shame, shame, seal penis. This gives the appearance that China is always at

odds with the rest of the civilized world - on the wrong side of the fence.

 

5. Once upon a time, peaking during the Ming Dynasty when a huge

Chinese armada of five-masted vessels made landfall in Africa, China was

considered the most advanced civilization in the world. Since then, China

has suffered humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat. By the 20th

century, China had fallen.

 

To change:

 

Now, we're making a mark in the world again, but what kind of a mark

do we want it to be? Currently, it is one of economic prowess. But is the

economy the be all and end all of all values? Not to me. Compassion is much

closer to the heart of the matter.

 

Do we Chinese people have compassion or not? I know as a Chinese

person myself that I do. How about you? Imagine a new China where compassion

is the law of the land. Imagine further that China leads the world in

compassionate matters. Wouldn't that be something.

 

How many years or centuries are we Chinese people currently behind

the times in the field of compassion? As soon as we have taken the lead, we

shall know.

 

Anthony Marr, founder

Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE - www.HOPE-CARE.org)

 

--------------------

 

Anthony Marr, founder

Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE - www.HOPE-CARE.org)

Deer Options Enterprise (DOE - www.DeerOptions.com)

Western Canada Anti-Sealing Coalition (WCASC - website pending)