An old cemetery in the small town of Roanoke, Virginia, was in the flood zone. There were about 100 graves, 40 of them with tombstones. The organization, which I will name below, decided to notify the owners of the graves about the upcoming transfer of the cemetery and the reburial of the remains.
The work was not easy. In some cases no documents have been preserved. However, at a cost of approximately $XNUMX, the organization was able to notify approximately half of the owners. Most of those informed were grateful for the information. “I know that my father often came here to sit,” said one of the relatives. “Now that my father is dead, I will come to a new place.” Now it’s time to name the organization: Society for the Protection of Animals. In this cemetery, respectively, pets are buried.
I can imagine that for someone in Russia this story may meet with misunderstanding and even indignation: “What? To bury dogs in a cemetery and erect monuments to them is sacrilege, a parody of the rite. The soul of animals dies with the body, so burying is right, but putting up tombstones is not. It would be better to give these seven thousand dollars to our pensioners, if they don’t want to give to their homeless people.”
The reaction is understandable, but I want to stand up for the American animal rights activists. When they talk about the lack of spirituality of the West and the spirituality of Russia, I answer: the lack of spirituality of the West is a myth, if we compare how children, dogs and disabled people are treated in spiritual Russia and in the spiritually West.
Indifference to animals can speak about something else – our life in general.
The first shock coming from Russia to America is the complete absence of stray dogs, crying children and a huge number of actively living disabled people. American cats, dogs, deer and squirrels often approach people trustingly because they know no one will hit them or tie a tin can to their tail. In Russia, they tend to run away. American children rarely cry.
A typical picture in Russia – parents are dragging a stubborn and roaring child. As for the disabled, not a single building in America will be built, not a single municipal vehicle will enter the road unless access for the disabled is provided: buses will be equipped with wheelchair lifts, all important signs in public buildings will be duplicated in ABC Braille, often with sound signals, etc.
So, before being perplexed or ironic about the sentimental owners of cats and dogs who erect monuments to their pets, everyone can think about themselves: do we not combine indifference to animals with the same attitude to life in general?