The Goddess Of Compassion, by whatever name you might prefer to call her, has been busy this year. Starting with the Asian Tsunami, and ending with the Afghan earthquake. And a whole lot of shit in between, most notably, at least from an American perspective, the Gulf Coast hurricanes, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.
Of course, the presence of the Goddess is severely lacking in a good many people, and her absence from their lives stood out like a sore thumb, at least during the height of the Gulf Coast disaster brought about by Hurricane Katrina.
A good many of the people of our country rose to the challenge and were quite admirable in the way they exhibited the Goddesses presence in the form of donations, in many cases not only of money, but of time. Some even took people into their homes. (Frankly, I wouldnt have done this).
A good many people, unabashed animal lovers, went out of their way to rescue animals, pets that had been abandoned to what would certainly have eventually been a sorrowful fate. Although many animals lives were lost, a great many more were saved. Some people even refused to leave their pets behind. Very commendable, and admirable, in my own opinion. This I probably would have done myself, and would like to think I will, if ever put into such a position. How could I go off and save myself when the animal I purport to love, depending on me for it's welfare, it's survival, watches helplessly, begging as I go off into the distance, to safety. Nope. Not me. I'll go right ahead and die with it. If that sounds crazy, well, okay, too bad. But you see, I happen to like animals better than people anyway, and so,without further ado, I reveal the Goddess of The Year, the Goddess who epitomized the utmopst in this year of compassion, not only for mankind, but for all creatures great and small.
Artemis. Who else? True, Artemis sanctions the killing of wildlife for food and clothing, but at the same time mandates responsibly doing so, in a manner that the species is thinned out without being in danger of extinction. But htis can hardly be considered as wholesale cruelty and callousness, such as that which was sanctioned by the likes of Bill O'Reilley, who opined that the residents should be forcibly removed from their homes, if they tried to remain to be with their animals. When one woman e-mailed a complaint to his show over this callousness and asserted that she herself would remain, O'Reilley said forcifully, "And you would die, Maddam"
Duh! Get with the program, O'Reilley, and all so likeminded. What the hell is life lived with a guilty conscience. To you, they are just animals. To us, you should have known and have hopefully by now learned, they are our friends and companions. Nothing less.
But of course when you are dealing with peabrains who make their living running their mouths, or government agencies, you can't expect much in the way of compassion and understanding, as their lives are all too self-absorbed, evidently, to warrant any time for love and companionship.
