TWRA and their lame excuses of public safety, how about the danger of discharging a rifle in a crowded city? Don't we get enough of that from the miscreants running around armed to the teeth?
It would have taken a little more time, a little more money to trap the bear and then it could have been humanely euthanized or better yet given a second chance.
We all know these state officers have more important things to do, like harassing people over fishing licenses or conducting unauthorized traffic stops on Highway, 58 and Birchwood Pike. I went to the Police Academy with some of these bozos, college educated hunters (killers) are what they are.
Pulling back on the broad brush I'm painting with I'm sure a few of these people take their jobs seriously, the conservation part. If God had not loved these animals He would not have put them on the Earth and given us idiots dominion over them. Now some people will say dominion means that we use them for our own ends, for sport and all the other things we use them for, but if you accept that God loves all His creations it would seem as a society we should use a little more heart when dealing with the other creatures that inhabit the earth with us.
Let's not forget that in Genesis God instructed that the fruit of the trees shall be as meat for man and beast. Just because Adam and Eve screwed it up for everybody doesn't mean that we give up trying to have compassion.
Life is death and violence is the way of the fallen world for now but that will change someday and all of us will be held accountable. Having faith and knowing this gives me pause to try and be a better person. Lord knows I have my faults and not enough compassion for my fellow man is one of them, but I view animals like I view children, they know not what they do.
If Chattanooga had a 400 pound five year old on the rampage in the city, would we call TWRA in to put "it" down?
As Jim Malone says "Thus endeth the sermon."
Mathew Hopkins
* * *
I agree with you about the sanctity of all life, sir. Child, adult, animal, born and unborn are all miraculous. But we humans are brutal, ugly creatures who choose to be blind and stupid as opposed to reasonable and willing to see.
That said, I happen to have had a brief, scary experience with a "big bear and oblivious fat guy meet at the front bumper" situation. In Cades Cove on a bicycle. I did the most reasonable thing I could think of and made like Road Runner and shot off in the opposite direction. The bear must have known I was a knucklehead because he did the equivalent eye roll of the hockey mask chainsaw killer in the Gieco ad.
Now Chip Chapman? His bear had foam at the mouth in front of the Walden Club! Rocket science is not required to assume that something just could be deadly wrong with that animal. Big bear + either not afraid or very sick + foam at the mouth + downtown Chatt = SOMEBODY GOTTA DO SOMETHIN'!!
Poor bear. I feel terrible for him. I really wish it had not happened and it really does make me sad. However, I like what the TWRA guy did based on what little I know. He had to do it. I bet a dollar he isn't one of those killers you describe and I bet he didn't want to do it. How much time did they have to round up a humane bear trap in Chattanooga for cryin' out loud? Three or four hours at least. But what do I know? Not a whole lot.
I do know that bears are big and they eat meat and they are wild and not to be messed with. Feeding bears is as stupid as dropping off reticulated pythons in the Everglades. Don't do it.
Poor guy.
Savage Glascock
* * *
The snake convinces Adam and Eve to disobey their only commandment from God, and eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The commandment they disobey is God's commandment to them in Genesis 1:28 to "Be fruitful and multiply." Adam and Eve disobey the commandment by eating from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, instead of from the allowed Tree of Life--the forbidden tree's next-door neighbor in the midst of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). They eat from the wrong tree. Thus, they commit a double disobedience: they fail to procreate by doing what they are forbidden to do, while at the same time, they fail to procreate by not doing what they are commanded to do. Both failures occur simultaneously.
Confusion ends at the First Scandal blog online. And your news story about this long-forgotten exegesis that begins in Genesis 1:28, continues through Genesis 2 and Genesis 3, and ends in Genesis 4:1 begins at ....
Good luck.
Robert Hagedorn
* * *
I too am saddened about the need to dispatch the bear. However, I take exception to Mr. Hopkins’s attack on wildlife officers and hunters. The comments are hyperbolic, ill-informed and inappropriate. I have several family members and friends who are involved in wildlife law enforcement, wildlife biology, and wildlife management. They are devoted professionals that I choose to respect.
It is a well-documented fact that hunting (and fishing) license/permit fees, ammo taxes and other financial burdens have funded wildlife recovery efforts for nearly 100 years. Our wildlife resources system works.
So, instead of slamming wildlife officers and hunters, consider thanking sportsmen (for the funding) and wildlife officials (for their dedication). The next time you see a deer, hear the sandhill cranes, and enjoy other wildlife in our area be grateful. People like my family and friends made it possible.
Adam Webster