This page was last updated on August 29, 2013.
Extend the message of Dr. King to animals; Lester Himber; Beaver County Times; August 29, 2013.
Previous letters from Lorraine Himber were entitled “Changes needed to sustain environment” and “Healthier meals a must.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“This week marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, and it is being observed with marches, speeches and speculation on what causes Dr. King would embrace today.”
[RWC] As I wrote in my critique of Lorraine Himber’s previous letters, I’ll go out on a limb and guess Mr. Himber would not like readers to know he likely did not write this letter. A quick Google search found this same letter tweaked by different “authors” on SentinelAndEnterprise.com (Fitchburg, MA), NJ.com, MTStandard.com (Butte, MT), and many other websites around the country. I did not find the source of the form letter but it’s fair to suspect it came from a vegetarian and/or vegan advocacy group. Media outlets usually don’t like to publish form letters.
“He would certainly continue to work for racial equality. But he would also likely advocate for a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan, workers’ rights, gay rights and animal rights.
“Yes, animal rights. Although he is best known for advocacy of racial equality, Dr. King opposed all violence, like the Vietnam War. And there is no greater violence than that perpetrated each day against billions of cows, pigs and other sentient animals in America’s factory farms and slaughterhouses.
“The day before his assassination in 1968, Dr. King came to Memphis to champion the most oppressed human beings in America: the African-American sanitation workers. Today, it would also be about the most oppressed living beings in America: animals who are raised for food, experiment and entertainment.
“Although Dr. King never lived long enough to extend his circle of compassion, justice and nonviolence to non-human animals, his wife Coretta Scott King and his son Dexter Scott King did by embracing the vegan lifestyle. A great way for us to honor the King legacy is to follow their lead.”
[RWC] Though readers probably figured it out by now, it’s fairly clear the Himbers are vegetarians or vegans and want to force their lifestyle choice on others. In this case, the Himbers use the image of Mr. King to provide cover for their agenda.
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