In Cruelty to roaches? Fr. Martin Fox asks:

Other than being utterly revolting, will someone please explain the objection to this?

PETA upset at Six Flags roach contest

GURNEE, Ill. – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants Six Flags Great America to scrap its Halloween-themed cockroach-eating promotion.

A spokeswoman for the animal rights organization says the contest at the amusement park’s FrightFest is “gratuitously cruel.”

The park in Gurnee, Ill., is joining other Six Flags parks in offering unlimited line-jumping privileges to anyone who eats a live Madagascar hissing cockroach. The bugs are up to three inches long.

The contest begins next month.

Amusement park officials are defending their menu choice. Great America spokesman Jim Taylor says the bugs are nutritious, high in protein and fat free.

Now, I am definitely not a PETA person. I like my steak, pork, chicken, veal, fois gras, lamb, and many other delicacies made from living stuff.

God gave the earth to sentient beings —“ us, i.e., human beings —“ not to animals. Animals were given to us, to serve us. At the same time, we bear the responsibility of stewardship for the resources we have been given.

I didn’t want to take up Fr. Fox’s comment boxes with a long post so I’d like to answer his question here.

I think the whole issue —“ and PETA has it right in this case —“ is that the event is gratuitous. It’s just another one of those ‘anything goes’ tears in the fabric of society. Some will laugh, others will be grossed out. Regardless, the essential question goes to purpose. What is the intent, the purpose of this exercise?

• Is it to earn money for the contestants —“ then my question, Is money enough of a reason?
• Is it to entertain —“ then my question, Is entertainment enough of a reason?
• Is it to get all native (well the tribe of such-and-so exotic place eats these all the time) —“ then my question, Why not do a National Geographic about it?
• Is it to educate —“ then see the previous question.

Fr. Joseph Huneycutt stated in Practical Tips for Orthodox Living:

2 – A blessing (grace, we called it) is said by the head of the family before a meal, and a prayer of thanks afterward.

Thus the objection (at least mine). Fine, kill all the cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, and other annoying insects. That would be appropriate (and appreciated). Just doing something for the sake of doing it doesn’t fit with our faith nor with the proper ordering of our relationship to the world. It is right to the Pope’s most recent comments. Faith and reason cannot be separate.

As an aside: When I was in seminary I had a classmate who would have made a perfect PETA spokesman. He fully believed that animals are sentient, had souls equal to human souls, and that they will go to heaven; this from a person who considered himself to be ‘orthodox.’ He said more rosaries than I could count, probably for the repose of the ‘souls’ of animals.

As a second aside: Recent reporting notes that the amusement park industry is really hurting. Six Flags has been divesting itself of parks across the country, keeping only those that provide the best bottom line. I would assume that this reasoning has a lot to do with the event —“ get the guests in no matter what…