Calling you out

I’m a big fan of the philosophy, “Live and let live.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean I necessarily think that everything everyone does is correct; quite the contrary, in fact. I have pretty strong opinions on what I think is the right thing to do in most situations, but I recognize that my opinions about such matters are usually better kept to myself.

Except.

Except when someone is being hurt. And ESPECIALLY when that someone is a child. Then, not only do I feel obligated to step in, I’m actually mandated by law to do so (as part of my social work license).

Unfortunately, I can’t do a whole hell of a lot when something happens in a different country. All I can do, really, is bring people’s attention to it on this blog. So to those adults who allowed a TWELVE-YEAR-OLD to get in a ring with a live, full-grown bull, I say to you:

You are fucking morons. If the child has parents, they should be stripped of their parental rights and the boy handed over to custody of the state, or to another adult who actually has his best interests in mind. The adults in charge of that spectacle need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Unfortunately, it’s my understanding that there’s no law regarding minimum age of bullfighters in Colombia (and believe me, I have never been so ashamed of my heritage as I am today).

Oh, you say you didn’t know about this story, dear readers? Well go here and you can watch the video of it. The boy was gored, TWICE. He even went back in the ring after being gored the FIRST time, and AGAIN after being gored the SECOND time. Fortunately, he didn’t sustain any serious injuries… yet. But I don’t think it’s crazy to demand that he not be allowed to re-enter the ring until he reaches adulthood. See, that’s called “good parenting” – the crazy notion that it’s your JOB as PARENTS to do everything you can to keep your child from being harmed.

Man. Just when you think we’re evolving as a species, crap like this comes along and you realize we’re only getting dumber.