A Word from Bing

From the Department of Strange Coincidences... I was listening to a bit of a Bing Crosby radio show from around 1951, and apparently there had been a news story about a lion on the loose. What surprised me is that Bing Crosby made the comment, "The authorities on lions, you know, the people who really know about lions and who come into close contact with them, they say they're not dangerous at all."

Well, now, isn't that a strange comment? Especially hearing it in the times we live in now, when everything has a warning label (even if the people writing the labels think it's gone too far and boil down all the warnings to "Danger: Avoid Death"), and when our legislators work overtime trying to outlaw every possibility of something bad ever happening.

But Bing's comment is actually closer to what I try to say here than what our society's general mindset is right now.

Take the case of a woman I met, who had a teaching facility with several big cats. The idea was to teach the general public about these wonderful animals, because ignorance breeds fear. When an animal was brought out of its enclosure, there would be two handlers each with a stout rope or chain on the cat--mostly to protect the cat, since the way the laws are, anyone who comes into contact with such an animal has the power to sentence it to death. And at the end of the day, she would take one of the lionesses into the house with her and they would sit together and watch TV.

Take a look again at George Adamson. At Kevin Richardson. At Christian.

I'm not saying that a person shouldn't have a healthy respect for an animal. I'm saying that with understanding comes peace.