Word: sharfsteins
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...writing in response to an article by Joshua M. Sharfstein, entitled "Of Mice and Men," which appeared in The Crimson on January 18, 1989. In my opinion, this article, besides lacking proper substantiation of its claims and failing to take many quite important issues into consideration, illustrates the ignorance and biased asumptions which are truly the greatest enemies of the "animal rights movement...
...Sharfstein's argument is based on the new Heritage Dictionary's definition of murder. What Sharfstein unfortunately overlooks is the fact that the issues which he raises hinge on a moral dialogue, and that such a discussion should not and cannot be based on literary definitions. Whether the killing of animals can be called murder or not does not change the fact that the lives of the animals are being taken from them, and that the motivations for this killing (and the mistreatment which frequently precedes it) arises quite often from the moral vacuum of purely economic considerations rather than...
Because humans "can understand morality, can reason, can conceive of [their] own existence [and] can fully comprehend pain," Sharfstein's argument implies, the death of another species of animal is less significant than the death of a human. However, it is precisely because of humanity's ability to understand morality, reason, and its own existence that it must bear the burden of responsible conduct toward other creatures in this world. Furthermore, the criteria (mentioned above) which are the basis of Sharfstein's unenlightened argument fail to take into account the circumstances which surround many of the issues to which...
...realization that even in the face of 40 years of Arab aggression, Israel has not only remained free and democratic, but also fully modernized, industrial, learned, cultured and proud, should not cause observers such as Sharfstein to hold Israel to "A Higher Standard." In proving that external threats do not justify internal repression, Israel has indeed been a "light unto nations." Yet it must never be judged as such. Criticism of Israel is a healthy sign of democracy; few people criticize Israel more than the Israelis. Yet such criticism should not be waged indiscriminately, as Sharfstein suggest. Jews...
...Sharfstein's conclusion that "Jews have an obligation to insist on Israel's adherence to higher principles," while perhaps an idealistic dream, can only prove self-destructive for a state under seige. His presumptious knowledge of what is "morally right for Israel" seems at best, equally disturbing. Glen I. A. Schwaber...