[Vision2020] Vision2020 Digest, Vol 2, Issue 372

Sun Aug 27 18:04:36 PDT 2006

Megan,

 I do owe you an apology. I was incorrect to assume  that you are doing this because you disagree with a man's religion. It  is clear to me now that was not your intent. However, it was the intent  of the person that notified you by email of the Foli Gras. That person  notified you in the hopes that you would respond in the way that you  have.

 I hope you are aware, the person that emailed you that  email was doing so in an attempt to pit you up against a group of  people she has dedicated a great deal of her time and energies against.  You will also find that a great deal of the people that are supporting  your cause are only doing so because they dislike and want to cause  harm to a man and his business just because of his chosen religious  affiliations. In effect, you are being used for someone else's sinister  and discriminatory purposes. I think it is unfortunate they are using  you for that purpose and you are allowing them to just to get new  members and any type of support. It is kind of like if you were  protesting a business man that also happened to be Black, would you  want the KKK tagging along too? I think not. I think you are best  served by axing not attaching this people to your group that are in it  for other reasons. 

 I think fighting to lessen animal  suffering is a noble and worthy cause, I don't think anyone is going to  disagree with that. Where I disagree with you is not what you are  trying to do, but how you are attempting to achieve those goals. My  point of making the claims against all Moscow eating establishments and  food service companies being involved of animal cruelty was not a plea  that you protest all meat serving restaurants but to point out the  futility of your strategy that will not result in the outcome that you  want.  

 Not one duck will be saved for boycotting or  threatening a local businessman, and it hurts that business and Moscow  to be boycotted and is unfair to single one out when all establishments  are committing the same offense. There is more demand for the duck then  supply, in fact, suppliers cannot even keep up. 

 The goal  should be to get everyone in Moscow on board, here and all over Idaho  to change laws regarding the treatment of animals, for the animals  interests, the environment, and the health of the consumers. Calling  Idahoans who hunt and fish Nazis and murderers, and raising the level  of import of the slaughter of mindless cattle to the equivalency of the  Jewish Holocaust I think is an offensive tactic that turns people away  from helping you and accomplishing your goals.

 I don't think  you are a hypocrite Megan. But I think myself and anyone else that says  torturing a duck is wrong so don't eat at West of Paris, but they then  go and eat meat, which undoubtedly did come from a slaughter house  elsewhere, is a hypocrite. 

 I think focusing in on the  misery of one animal, like a fish, chicken, or a duck, is a bad idea. I  think focusing in on all the animals, and working to make a change as a  whole, on a legislative level, that improves the overall conditions, is  the way to go. I think you will find that a popular idea among even  meat eaters. Asking people to boycott West of Paris, but ignoring the  same mistreatment of other animals they eat is asking people to be  hypocrites, sadly, many Doug Wilson obsessives  will comply, but  not many others. 

  And thanks for taking my call on Tim's show. I appreciated having the opportunity to talk to you in person. 

  Best,

  _DJA

Megan Prusynski <megan at meganpru.com> wrote:  Donovan,
I really don't appreciate your accusation that I am choosing to "pick  
on" West of Paris because of Mr. Foucachon's connection with NSA/ 
Christ Church. As I mentioned on the show, I found out about the foie  
gras and voiced my opinion against it before I even knew where the  
restaurant was or who it was associated with. Do not start putting  
words in my mouth or call me a hypocrite, that is just rude.

I am not trying to single out this restaurant for any other reason  
than that they had foie gras on the menu. I find it to be a  
particularly cruel and unnecessary practice, although cruelty is  
rampant throughout the meat industry, foie gras sticks out to me for  
a number of reasons. One is that it is completely unnecessary. As my  
good friend Kelsey pointed out on the show, people can argue that  
eating meat is necessary for survival (I don't believe this, but  
people can argue it), and it is clear that foie gras, which is a  
delicacy, is NOT necessary. Secondly, I find it particularly  
appalling, and one of the more gruesome aspects of factory farming,  
and I have never heard of it being served here, so I thought with the  
restaurant just opening up that it would be an opportune time to let  
them know that foie gras is not welcomed by members of the community.  
Certainly even meat-eaters or people not normally concerned with  
animal rights can attest to the fact that this is unnecessary cruelty.

Also, as mentioned on the radio interview, we ARE making efforts to  
protest other restaurants, and protested in front of KFC twice in the  
last year because the way they raise their chickens is exceptionally  
cruel. I personally advocate vegetarianism at any opportunity and  
don't support the meat industry in any way shape or form, but in this  
town there are no places offering ONLY vegetarian food, so I have to  
eat somewhere, and the Co-op is a far better alternative (and one of  
the only places I can get organic produce) than any other grocery  
store in my opinion, so I shop there, and they do have more options  
for us herbivores than any other store in Moscow. Also, Compassion  
Speaks, the student animal rights group, just started last year and  
hasn't had much of a chance to recruit a large number of people yet,  
so we will certainly make an effort to branch out and protest the  
meat industry at large. But I think it's pretty unrealistic to assume  
we can protest every business selling meat and actually get them to  
discontinue it. Foie gras, because it is a delicacy and very  
expensive, isn't nearly as big of a deal to remove from a menu, we  
simply want to let West of Paris know that there are some in the  
community that don't support the practice of force-feeding animals  
and inducing liver disease. Also, it's a great way to educate people  
about what foie gras is (many don't even know) and use this issue to  
bring larger animal rights issues into the forefront and open  
people's eyes. Hopefully we will have many more protests,  
demonstrations, etc. to follow that keep animal rights issues in  
discussion. You are certainly welcome to e-mail Kelsey at  
compassionspeaks at hotmail.com and join us at KFC. :)

For you to insinuate that I am "singling out" Mr. Foucachon is just  
ludicrous, and I do hope that you will consider apologizing for your  
accusation that I am discriminating against him.

By the way, thank you for calling in, as I am pretty sure that was you.

peace!
~megan

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:30:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Donovan Arnold 
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fwd: Is there a correlation between
 "ForeGras"Killing Babies!
To: Tom Hansen , "'Saundra Lund'"
 , vision2020 at moscow.com
Message-ID: <20060827223049.75447.qmail at web38109.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Mr. Hansen,

  That article says else where it happens earlier  on as well. It  
WELL by the late gestation, which means it starts long  before. I  
chose that particular passage because it is clear enough even  for  
you to read. There is plenty of other professional research   
conducted to suggest that fetuses experience pain as early as seven   
weeks into development--which is before most abortions take place. I   
suggest you do some Googling.

  Planned parenthood DOES  NOT offer assistance in raising a child if  
a parent cannot afford to  raise one. Most of their site is dedicated  
to not raising a child, not  parenthood.

  I am glad you listened to Tim's radio show. I  hoped you learned  
something. And to answer your questions, yes, the  Co-Op does  
purchase items from companies that practice what PeTA  considers a  
violation of animal rights. But that isn't a hard  definition to meet  
considering that PeTA considers eating animals, even  fish, a  
violation of their rights too.

  While I am opposed  to unnecessary cruelty to animals, I am also  
opposed to targeting and  picketing one local business man because we  
object to the owners  religion. I have no doubt that Megan herself,  
did not target West of  Paris on her own accord, somebody vehemently  
opposed to them pointed  out the Foie Gras issue in the hopes that  
she would target this man,  she has unwittingly complied. I find this  
behavior appalling and  hypocritical. And no I am not a member of  
Christ Church, and I think  eating liver is gross.

   To target a man because he has a religion we disagree with is  
discrimination.

   To cast a stone at a man for a crime (purchasing goods from  
companies  that abuse animals) we are all committing ourselves is an  
abomination  and a new height of hypocrisy in our community.

   Best,

   _DJA

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