[Parker]

I dont know why it shocks me so much to see people openly wish violence or harm onto people with whom they disagree, but it shocks me every time.

I dont want to align myself with any person or organization who does, condones, or thinks this behavior is ok - I would rather spend my energy on positive things, people, and organizations.

I've seen this behavior across the board, from all walks of life, from Conservatives to Liberals, from LGBT to anti-LGBT, from pro-choice to pro-life, and everything in between.

Most recently, I saw a post on my FB from a rescue I work with talking about a dog who broke her leg when she fell out of a truck. She recently had puppies and while the owners wanted to keep the puppies, the took the dog with the broken leg to the vet to be euthanized. The rescue I work with was looking for a foster home so they could work on getting the dog transported up here (WA) from CA.

Almost immediately, the comments went to a violent place with people making threats against the owners and wishing violence and horrible things upon these people.

Now, of course I disagree vehemently with euthanizing a dog just for a broken leg and I think the owners are idiots for (a) having their dog in such a position that she could fall out of a truck like that and (b) for wanting to euthanize a dog with something that can be fixed; but we know nothing about these people, their money situation, or how they came to the conclusion to euthanize the dog.

One would think that maybe instead of threatening these people, wishing harm upon them, or even committing violence against them, we would educate them and others on how to best handle a situation such as that.

I am pretty poor and if something catastrophic happened to one of my dogs, it would be very very difficult for me to afford a vet bill and I would do everything in my power to make sure my dogs got the care that they needed; but in the mean time, I do my best to keep them out of harm's way so that the possibility of their getting injured like that is lower.

But again ... to wish violence on someone just because they dont know what else to do? Get angry with them, make a passionate plea to them, maybe even help them financially if you can, and above all, educate them; but violence?

What kind of world is this where our first instinct is to wish harm on those with whom we disagree?