Whaling?..........?

Question

what do you think about whaling in antarctica? cruel?

Answer 1

Billhantz hit the nail right on the head.

However,The problem is not that whaling should be banned but the ability to catch the poachers who hunt whales even though it may be illegal. And poachers wouldn't do it if there wasn't a market. Sort of like drugs....The problem is bigger than just making a new law.

Answer 2

Quite frankly, it depends on how you define "cruelty" and to what extent you address certain other problematic issues. First off, the question of why one does the killing is irrelevant to the issue of cruelty -- the whale is killed in either case, and any substantiative discussion of cruelty must focus on the issue of the "victim." Though this does not preclude a parallel discussion of the perpetrator's motives and their effects on them and the society, those things have no impact on whether the act itself is cruel.

Once you articulate what you mean by "cruelty," you can define the parameters, especially what limits you wish to place. If killing a whale is "cruel," does the same logic apply to swatting a fly or stepping on an ant? The fundamentally-logical extension from one to the other either needs to be addressed or dismissed, as you see fit. Jainism, for instance, believes in a universal egalitarianism of souls. No one being is exalted above another. Therefore, killing a whale and swatting a fly are actions of equal consequence and equal gravity. Most even eschew eating tuber and root plant life because they believe this is an unacceptable destruction of the plant that relies on the roots for sustenance.

So the issue of whether whaling is "cruel" is hard to answer until you define your own set of values, and what levels of hypocrisy are acceptable. "Hypocrisy" isn't used in a pejorative sense here. It's merely the acknowledgment that we are imperfect creatures, and can't be perfectly consistent in all things. I'm opposed to whaling, but not to stepping on cockroaches, for instance, because I consider rareness, intellect and value to the ecosystem to be more important factors than simple vital spirit.

Having addressed these issues (what defines "cruelty," what logical paradigm you prefer, etc), all you're left with is deciding what mitigating factors matter to you. Is the undeniable intelligence of whales a mitigating factor, or do you prefer strict logical consistency? And so forth.

Answer 3

It is cruel if it just people killing whales for their oil and organs for perfumes and other such crap. However, the Inuit and other Eskimo peoples only slay a whale for what they need and then they use everything. Sort of like Native Americans, when they killed a buffalo or deer or bear or any other animal they used the entire animal. Hide for tents, hooves for glue for bows and arrows, etc. So, it is not cruel to the people who depend on whales for their livilhoods as opposed to those who kill whales just to exploit there uses for domestic perfumes.

Answer 4

Sickening

Answer 5

it is so cruel & it should be banned world wide

Answer 6

I think it's barbaric, pointless, and disgusting!

Answer 7

I feel gutted.