Bull fighting is like dog fighting, it seems to me. It is cruelty for sport. True, there is also the spectacle and the tradition, etc. But it is the last remaining vestige of the Roman games in which humans and animals were set upon each other to satisfy the blood lust of the crowd.
Now Catalonia,may have had enough. From the story:
Bullfighting in Spain could suffer its biggest setback to date on Wednesday when the local parliament in Catalonia votes on whether to ban the practice in the separatist-minded northeastern region. The assembly is scheduled to vote on the issue on Wednesday morning after animal rights activists campaigning under the platform “Prou!” or “Enough!” in the Catalan language, collected 180,000 signatures in Catalonia on a petition calling for the motion to be debated and voted on by the assembly. The most recent indications are that a majority of the 135 lawmakers in the regional assembly are in favour of the motion to tighten Catalonia’s animal protection law to remove an exception for bullfights from a ban on the killing or mistreating animals in shows. If approved Catalonia, home to Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city, would become the first region in the country outside of the Canary Islands to ban the practice and it could inspire other regions to follow its example.
Not animal rights: Animal welfare. This measure doesn’t elevate the bulls to moral equivalence with people. It is people exercising human exceptionalism by recognizing their duty not to treat animals cruelly. I hope it passes.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…