Would you intervene or let nature run its course?

Home Forums Decaffeinated Coffee Would you intervene or let nature run its course?

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #611063
    WIY
    Member

    I saw a video clip where a heron ate a baby duckling right in front of the mothers face. Not for the faint of heart. Anyway it got me thinking. What if I was witnessing such a thing taking place in real life? Would I try to save the duckling? Should I try to save the duckling? Maybe it is wrong for humans to mix in to the way Hashem created nature to exist? What do you guys think?

    #988506
    ikno
    Member

    its the question asked every time you see a pic of anything like that happening, like seeing a man slipping off a roof. why u standing there taking pics?! maybe save his life!

    its possible that this was all photo-shopped…. and yes, of course you should try to save it, because its possible that the reason you witnessed this was bec hashem wanted you to be there, see it, and do something about it…. He’s got a plan for each of us every minute!

    #988507
    Outsider
    Member

    Sometimes I think it’s best to let nature run it’s course.

    Let’s say you managed to scare the heron, but…..

    G-d forbid if you did interfere, and the baby duck ended up with a broken limb and ended up in a hole and starved to death slowly, or other such scenario. When animals are hungry they kill quickly, and that is the way it should be.

    And even if you did manage to get the baby duck to a vet. Are you prepared to pay the vet bill for an animal that will only let be let out into the wild?

    #988508
    WIY
    Member

    Hmmm

    #988509
    Redleg
    Participant

    News flash! Some animals eat other animals (so do we, for that matter). HaShem made it that way. Anthropomorphizing cute little baby ducks and baby lambs (lamb chops) is not only juvenile, it is, in effect, telling G-d that you have a better way to run the universe.

    P.S. If you think that “nature, red in tooth and claw”, is upsetting, I suggest a visit to a shlacht house.

    Leave nature to the Author of Nature.

    #988510
    golfer
    Participant

    What if the mother heron was flying home to its nest with freshly chewed baby duckling parts for the baby heron chicks waiting hungrily for their dinner?

    #988511

    Redleg: but we have so many mitzvos and halachos like shiluach haken, shechitah and tzaar baalei chaim, which demonstrate that we SHOULD care about what’s happening in nature and do our best to not cause unecessary suffering to animals or the beriah.

    #988512
    akuperma
    Participant

    If it was your duck, I’m sure you would intervene. Most ducks live coddled lives until WE eat them.

    #988513
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    But what if the guy standing behind you wanted to save the poor hungry heron from you trying to starve it to death

    #988514
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    What’s a heron?

    #988515
    HaLeiVi
    Participant

    In binary logic the above would suffice. However, we do find that Rabbeinu Hakadosh was punished 13 years for not having Rachmanus on a calf that ran to him for protection when it was about to be slaughtered. He said to it, “Go. You were created for this.” The pain that Rebbe was inflicted with only left him when he had Rachmanus on a mouse.

    What Rabbe told the calf was true. Rebbe didn’t stop eating meat after this. However, it’s not always about the rules. The calf came running to him and it was supposed to invoke Rachmanus. He wasn’t supposed to quench his Rachmanus with logical big picture reasoning.

    If someone would run into Bais Medrash and yell, “Rabbosay, there’s a heron attacking an innocent duckling!!”, I would not run out with lights and sirens to help the poor family in distress. However, if I was standing there, observing the cute family of ducklings, and suddenly a big predator attacked, especially as the mother looked on, I would probably intervene. Although, as mentioned above, once it started attacking there is no point in intervening.

    #988516
    HaLeiVi
    Participant

    Popa, perhaps it’s a female hero.

    #988517
    WIY
    Member

    golfer

    It swallowed the duckling whole I was shocked. I didnt know that herons eat ducklings!

    #988518
    WIY
    Member

    HaLeiVi

    The way I understand that Gemara, Rabbeinu Hakadosh was censured for 2 reasons:

    1. The animal came to him for shelter and he didn’t try to save it.

    2. Because he is Rabbeinu Hakadosh and on his level it was some sort of aveira.

    If the cow came to us for shelter we would not be punished for saying what Rebbe said simply because its true the animal was created for shechita to feed humans.

    So to answer my own question, I think if an animal is in danger (not a situation of shechita) and runs to me for protection I am obligated to intervene. Otherwise, its not my business. Hashem created the briah with a food chain and there are predators and prey. Its not our place to mess around with it. That is how the wild works, stronger eats weaker. So in conclusion I think if the animal doesn’t belong to us or isn’t specifically “asking” us for help we should stay out of it.

    #988519
    WIY
    Member

    popa_bar_abba

    Google it.

    #988520
    writersoul
    Participant

    This question drove Kevin Carter to suicide.

    (Well, not exactly. Other people asking this question drove Kevin Carter to suicide.)

    It’s a really depressing story.

    #988521
    WIY
    Member

    writersoul

    How can you compare saving a human to saving an animal?

    #988522
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    It is all right for a heron to eat, however, it should eat only in private and not with you watching. Therefore you may resscue the duckling to spare yourself the scene.

    #988523
    pixelate
    Member

    if you were a vegetarian and you saw someone about to eat meat, would you intervene?

    eating eggs are a form of abortion

    there is a larger picture here. chickens are never dressed alive, and surely never had the joy of smoking.

    after they kill pigs, they feed them an apple.

    so there is the afterlife

    (kudos to Amelia bedilia &the avenged sevenfold band)

    #988524
    Outsider
    Member

    If you don’t know what a heron is, you might need to spend a little more time out side in the fresh air, to appreciate the beauty of the world that Hashem gave us.

    #988525
    Outsider
    Member

    double tap. delete please.

    #988526
    anon1m0us
    Participant

    No such thing as nature. Hashem wanted that duckling to be eaten same way he wanted you to watch it so maybe you’ll stop watching videos. So think of it this way, that duckling died because you were watching a video! If you were not around, this whole scenrio would not have happened. Now please cancel your internet/cable service so more innocent animals don’t die on your behalf.

    #988527
    writersoul
    Participant

    WIY: Sorry, I wasn’t clear. Of course I don’t equate the two. I was responding mostly to the question in the thread title.

    #988528
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    It is not polite to eat messy food in public. The heron can eat when you leave.

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.