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The Invisible Crime
Sheep farmers are members of an oppressed and persecuted minority. They
definitely are a minority whose size is far smaller then other, more well known ones.
The Government is not kind to them. Sheep producers pay taxes at exorbitant rates,
not only for money they earn if they ever should, but also for virtually anything they
consume, in addition to having to pay a head tax on every animal they sell. They get
no subsidies of any kind. The livestock handlers have no interest in promoting their
product, other than to take a fixed amount of money per animal processed by them,
regardless of what prices the market will bear for the animals that the producers bring to
the market.
Shepherds and sheep farmers alike are the butt end of many jokes — totally
undeserved, as anyone who ever handled sheep will ascertain. At various times,
especially in the West, shepherds were the victims of vigorous persecution that resulted
in much loss of life and property. The film producers in Hollywood made enormous
profits from that fact over the years, yet not once was any amount of compensation given
to the poor persecuted shepherds. That adds insult to injuries received. It is
mercenary, economic exploitation of the worst kind of any minority group, ever!
The people producing the animals that are the source of mutton, lamb chops and other
culinary delights derived from the labours of sheep farmers are not being treated well by
society. If anyone ever qualified for the status of an oppressed minority, sheep
producers as a group are it. They, unlike many other groups who claim victim
status, are most definitely the target of hate crimes based on one or more of the
attributes that are used to determine whether any given minority group deviates
sufficiently from normal behaviour to be considered for special status in society.
The persecution and crimes directed against sheep producers are motivated by one or
more of the following: race, religion, political views, and yes, if you give the numerous
jokes about the sexual habits of sheep producers any credence, even sexual
orientation. If you think that the latter is too gross and too far out, consider
some of the sexual practices of some of the other minorities. Moreover, being a
shepherd is not the result of any genetic accident, just like there is no
gay gene. Rather, just like a sexual orientation, being a
shepherd is an acquired habit.
However, to a far greater extent than any other minority, sheep producers have an
enormously redeeming quality: they are kind to the environment. Contrary to the lies
that have been told about sheep producers, sheep are a very effective means for control of
noxious weeds instead of the costly and environmentally damaging application of
chemicals. Not only that, but sheep are fully automated, self targeting, self
motivated, and very thorough in doing their job of exterminating weeds. They are the
most effective way of improving the productivity of any pasture. In addition, they
do provide us with environmentally friendly fibres for a very large variety of
clothing. The latter fact is well known to anyone living in a cold climate.
I have a solution for the travails of the sheep industry: Advertising of
the kind that is being used by other minority groups. Surely, advertising showing
the extent of true and real discrimination against a minority group that is truly
suffering from persecution must be far more effective than advertising promoting victim
status for a group that isn't truly comprised of people who are victims to any greater
extent than the average citizen.
The Invisible Crime
Edmonton police advertise against gay bashing, should any at some point occur
by KEVIN STEEL
Just in case anyone in Alberta's capital city has been asleep
for the last 10 years and has not noticed the elevation of gays and lesbians to the level
of a special class, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is sponsoring an ad campaign to
remind them. For the month of June, 180 Edmonton Transit buses, one quarter of the
fleet, are carrying a poster that states, "Being gay is not a crime. Gay
bashing is." The campaign is being conducted by the EPS gay and lesbian liaison
committee. However, the space for it has been donated by Pattison Transit
Advertising, and someone else donated the poster art. So, even though complaints of
actual "gay bashing" may be unknown to police, no one can say the campaign is a
waste of taxpayer money.
EPS's West Division Superintendent Keith Duggan is co-chairman of the
liaison committee, which was created in 1993. "The purpose of the campaign is
firstly to ensure that in Edmonton everyone understands that assault, whatever the
motivation, is a crime," he says. "And secondly, to assure members of the
gay and lesbian community that whatever the individual opinions or preferences of the
members of the [EPS], if an assault is reported, people can expect that we will view it as
crime. This effort is to help both the community at large and the gay and lesbian
community know that we are aware and sensitive to that issue." Supt. Duggan
says there were four cases of "hate-bias" crimes in 1997.
How much of an issue gay bashing is, however, remains a matter of pure
speculation. Supt. Duggan says the EPS has no readily available statistics on gay
bashing for 1998. For that year, they have six cases of 'hate bias' crime, which
could include any crime motivated by hatred of a race, religion, political views or sexual
orientation. According to the planning and evaluation services for EPS, two were
race-related and the other four are classed as "unknown." In addition,
some of those cases have not cleared the court system. Further, Supt. Duggan has
stated there were four cases of gay bashing in 1997, but there is no way to confirm this
because the EPS has no way of indicating gay bashing on its files.
Politically, police are forced to play this game. If gay bashing
incidents start to happen, homosexuals will claim the notoriously homophobic police do not
care. If they do not happen, the activists claim that the police are so notoriously
homophobic that homosexuals are too frightened to speak up. The only solution is to
advertise how gay-positive the police force is.
So up go the posters, suggesting that the citizens of Edmonton are
struggling with a real problem. 'In fact, it is the police struggling with the
problem of trying to satisfy a community that knows there is no political advantage in being
satisfied," says Roy Beyer, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, a group
monitoring gay rights expansion. "Gays and lesbians have made great strides in
achieving special status in society based on the perception that they are a persecuted
group. The evidence is that they are treated relatively well here in
Alberta."
Alberta Report, June 28, 1999,
Page 26
© Alberta Report
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It was about twenty years ago that someone did a study of causes of
discrimination. Schoolboys in the U.K. were picked at random and divided randomly
into two separate groups. One of the groups in the boy's school received no further
attention and was left to look after its own. The other group was given the illusion
that is was a privileged group, with great pains being taken in the study that the group
was in reality treated no different than the other group. The results were
interesting, to say the least. It took only a very short while for the group of boys
that was ostensibly privileged to become the target of active discrimination by the group
of boys that wasn't.
If that is possible by simply pretending that a group of non-victims is receiving
preferential treatment, what will happen to the level of discrimination against that
group if it does receive preferential treatment?
Shepherds unite! Demand that the truth about sheep producers be
stated on the transit buses of the world:
Being a shepherd is not a crime,
shepherd bashing is.
See also:
- DVStats.org — a search engine,
aggregating research that examines the impact and extent of domestic
violence upon male victims. (Off-site)
This search facility equates domestic violence to intimate partner
violence
between men and women in relationships. It does not provide
information on violence between homosexuals, siblings or violence
against family members other than heterosexual partners and spouses,
such as infanticide, child abuse or violence against elderly in
families.
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Posted 1999 08 19
Updates:
2001 02 04 (format changes)
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