THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 2, 1996 TAG: 9608300009
SECTION: FINAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 24 lines
In response to your article on Aug. 18, ``Yosemite questions scout troop after bear cub's stoning death,'' I would suggest that it is not surprising that the Boy Scout troop be under suspicion for the stoning of a 1-year-old bear cub.
The Boy Scout handbook, The Trail to Eagle, is a melange of mixed messages in which a child is taught to be kind and trustworthy and yet is required to participate in animal science projects. Scouts are required to decide between such options as, ``feeding market cattle for slaughter, kill(ing) and dress(ing) two birds,'' and ``tell(ing) how wool is processed from shearing to the finished product.''
Compassion and kindness must apply to all creatures. The violent behavior which these children are learning in the Boy Scouts may well have led them to believe that it was correct to murder an innocent bear cub. Who knows what species this kind of learned violence could translate into next?
KELLY NICHOLS
Norfolk, Aug. 21, 1996 by CNB