Most of the time, I stay out of arguments on this list because, in my
opinion, they are usually counterproductive. I'm not talking about the
scientific discussions about species or rabies, I'm talking about the
emotional struggles over shelters and breeding practices and money and
writing styles and who's right and who's wrong. These arguments nearly
always end up in someone heaping blame on someone else, and the other
heaping blame back, and sympathizers of people on both sides heaping blame,
and so on.
The purpose of this list is to benefit ferrets; my approach therefore is to
take what I like and leave the rest. It was the need for veterinary help
that brought me to this list, and I am very grateful for it. If I happen to
benefit from something else on this list, it's icing on the cake. Sometimes
the icing is nice.
Because of the personal attacks on this list, I understand that yet another
person may stop posting. To me, this would be a terrible loss because this
person makes a great difference in the lives of ferrets and their owners who
need help. I benefit greatly from reading about this person's shelter and
rescue work, as I benefit from reading about others who rescue and care for
ferrets. I don't spend a great deal of time thinking about whether this
person or others who share their experiences here are sincere, because I
have no reason to believe there is a problem. As a rule, I think it is
better to trust people unless I have some clear reason not to do so.
Yet in today's FML, I read -- and I am paraphrasing here -- that there is no
way of knowing whether this ferret-rescue person is a scam artist because we
have never met this person. And I wonder, how is this statement any
different from just coming out and attacking someone? This statement is no
less defamatory just because the writer cloaks the message behind a veneer
of "niceness" and objectivity while twisting the knife. The writer
apparently believes it is important to protect people on the FML. That's
understandable, if we are truly being threatened. Even so, the last time I
checked, we still had a rule in this country that a person is innocent until
proven guilty.
Maybe I haven't been reading my FML's very carefully, and maybe there are a
lot of incendiary notes being passed around off line, but I also understand
that the shelter owner -- Dayna -- has been accused of bragging for sharing
rescue stories with the rest of us. In my opinion, that's just jealousy on
the part of others who would like to be sharing such stories themselves.
It's always easier to point the finger at someone else than to take personal
responsibility for the things we don't like. It's much harder to change our
own lives than to insist that other people change theirs.
There's no reason for anyone on this list not to share a personal experience
involving ferrets. Let me share with you a quote that someone else shared
with me. This is from Nelson Mandella's 1994 inaugural speech:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that
most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of
God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing
enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around
you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light
shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we
are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates
others."
Powerful words for the 1990s. I would challenge everyone on this list --
myself included -- to dare to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous.
And in doing so, to give others room to do the same.
Linda
[Posted in FML issue 1618]
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