Arthur Shimkus appears to have some very original opinions on self defense and what should and should not be consumed in his Feb. 6 letter.

Arthur professes that hunting is completely immoral. Yet what he fails to recognize is the fact that as a society we have elected by the highest majority to eat animals as well as vegetables for bodily sustenance. With that fact in mind, how can anyone disparage the selective taking of animals out of the wild over the lifelong caging and then butchering of livestock? Isn’t allowing the animal to live in the wild, instead of the cage, with only a remote chance of actually being taken by a hunter a better one?

Arthur also states that people should not engage in their own self defense, especially not with a gun. He states that if confronted by danger, it is more preferable to “die being a great saint” than to actually engage in self defense. He seems to think that dead innocent people will actually cause the powers of wickedness to wither more than people actively defending themselves. A show of force will do more to deter criminals than making people completely defenseless targets. Like a wolf, a criminal will always go after the lamb before the lion.

Every person should be allowed to express their opinion. But Arthur harbors a dangerous idea, and that idea is that he is more enlightened than others so others should submit to his higher ideas and morals. He flatly states “that guns are for spiritual babies. Babies must submit to being taught; their guns must be taken away.” He shows that he has no respect for others’ opinions, and if so allowed, would install his opinion in every person he could, and then suppress the rest.

Arthur has a short memory for the past. In the not-so-distant past people suppressed others with the exact same arguments that Arthur makes. African Americans and Native Americans were suppressed and enslaved by European settlers with the arguments that these people were inferior. Like Arthur, those Europeans completely forgot to ask the “lower” species their opinion on the subject. Those early Europeans would probably agree with the arguments that Arthur gave on Tuesday, but I for one do not.

Self defense is a moral right shared by all people. Hunting is simply not wrong, at least not while we choose as a people to eat animals. If Arthur chooses to see me as a spiritual baby because I disagree with his opinions, I will gladly choose to view him as a mental midget because of his intolerance.

JOSEPH NONNEMAN

Computer Science

Senior