Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Karma: Fox Shoots Hunter


The fate of hunters ("Far Side" by Gary Larson)

In a case of "man bites dog," the tables were turned on a hunter in Belarus. In this case a hunted fox, already wounded and about to be killed, turned and shot the hunter. Fox shoots man.

BELARUS - The hunter, having wounded his prey, got on the wrong end of the rifle when he approached the fox in a grisly attempt to finish it off. The fox shot the man, now the laughing stock of the hunting underworld, then got away. (Although it escaped, the fox probably died of his injuries shivering in the brush, taking little comfort in having sent the hunter to a warm hospital bed to recover).

Is it karma ("intentional action")? It is certainly the hunter's bad karma to be shooting foxes, whatever the provocation. It is certainly the hunter's horrific karma to approach a wounded fox with the intention of killing it. (Even euthanasia cannot be performed without the unskillful motivation of aversion, dosa, usually manifesting as pity or disgust at the sight of a living being's suffering).

That the ordeal led to a scuffle during which the fox pawed the trigger and shot the man -- it's hard to see that as an intentional act on the part of the fox.

Struggling to preserve its life, and not understanding guns, it seems the whole situation was brought about by the hunter's ill done deeds motivated by:
  • greed (for a pelt or meat or hunting glory),
  • hatred (anger at varmints or at being a poor shooter), and/or
  • delusion (the sense of entitlement to act as a steward for nature by killing it or getting off by hunting cute, unarmed woodland creatures).

Fearful police cause fear then are surprised by suspect's fearful evasive behavior. But when caught, having been knocked out in a car accident police caused with a pit maneuver that didn't hurt any officer, the police illegally take revenge with batons, fists, and feet on an already unconscious victim. Police throughout the department then secretly circulated this video among themselves.

Armed and Dangerous
It's eerily similar to US police and soldiers who illegally shoot, beat, and regularly kill "suspects" (we assume to be innocent until proven guilty, who haven't even been charged with anything). They feel threatened and react to their fear with violence. But somehow they're surprised or stunned that the victims might feel and do the same. If a suspect dares to attempt to preserve his/her life and in the process injures the outlaw officer illegally engaged in felony crimes under color of law, no one is blames the authority figure. But we can certainly not stand for a "peon" daring to challenge authority. It's hard to imagine how such police live with themselves. Hello PTSD, suicidal ideation, and escalating rogue mentality behind the uniform.

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