The World Wildlife Fund has been placing billboard ads all over America. One of the most attention grabbing is a close-up of a tiger’s face. The tag line is quite simple: “I am not a rug.”
According to the WWF website, these tigers are in danger of extinction. The text reads: “Every part of the tiger—from whisker to tail—is traded in illegal wildlife markets. Poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. In relentless demand, their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol in some Asian cultures.” The WWF depicts the practices that endanger such tigers as inhumane, and its campaign receives a wildly amazing amount of financial support, as do most animal rights groups.
When I first saw the billboards, a tragic thought crossed my mind. It occurred to me that the pitiful eyes of endangered or abused animals appear to be the sort of thing that tugs at the heartstrings of many Americans. Advocates of the organization describe the violent actions against such animals as vicious, violent, and unbelievable. But when it comes to a preborn baby, there is no such reaction. On the contrary, Americans demonstrate with picket signs in favor of killing children. The majority of Americans actually support the killing. Of course, such folks do not consider abortion to be an act of murder, but rather one choice on the cafeteria line that may be selected by the pregnant woman. This is why abortion advocates never say the words “expectant mother.” These two words would give away the undeniable fact that, when a woman is pregnant, she already is a mother! And that is a truth no properly indoctrinated abortion advocate would ever want to admit!
Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion business argue not that the act takes the life of a fellow human being, but rather that aborting your child may be the best “choice” for you. At the very least, it is an “option” when you are deciding what to do about a pregnancy!
Here rests the dichotomy between the advertising that engenders sympathy for the tiger that could become a rug and the public apathy toward the preborn human being who is not even thought of as a fellow human being. The wild animal would seem to have a corner on human emotion, whereas the preborn child is just an “issue” that should be dealt with either in a positive or a negative way. The emotion appears to be absent for many, if not most, of us.
Perhaps this is why academics seriously discuss whether or not animals like the tiger noted above should actually be granted the status of having “personhood,” whereas human babies who are not yet born don’t seem to garner the same level of support when it comes to their protection as persons deserving of equal rights under the law.
And it is not only academics who pose such arguments, but the common man as well—including the fellow who suggested that Fido is a “person” too.
Far be it from me to suggest that every animal rights activist should take a time out. They have every right to argue their case, as do the hundreds of thousands who argue for the rights of the innocent human being prior to birth. It’s just that, while it does happen that a tiger can become a rug, it should never happen that a person could become a piece of trash.
Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. Each individual is unique and has an unrepeatable DNA code at his creation; he is a message from God that He loves all of us equally and eternally.
Why can’t our fellow Americans get that?
God forbid that the day might come when there would never be another tiger skin rug produced, but there would be more babies killed by inhumane acts of abortion than there are babies who are born alive.
It’s time to stop the destruction of the human race!