Addressing Animal Cruelty in Egypt

A few weeks ago, a man decided to bludgeon to death a few newborn puppies for no reason whatsoever. Normally, this would surprise anyone – anyone with a heart and a soul. However, in a world that lacks the basic understanding of humanity and is unable to feel compassion towards other species, this has become a regular occurrence.

Studies in criminology and psychology indicate that cruelty towards animals goes hand in hand with cruelty and aggression towards human beings. According to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, people who repeatedly torture and kill animals have high levels of aggression towards people as well.

Another study done by MSPCA, Professors Arnold Arluke and Jack Levin of Northeastern University and Carter Luke examined the relationship between violence against animals and crime in the general public. The study results indicated that 70% of those who committed crimes against animals are involved in other violent crimes.

The law addressing animal cruelty in Egypt is article 357 in the penal code. It states that a person is fined a whopping 200 LE ($US 25) or imprisoned for up to six months. To put it bluntly, this law is a joke because if we don’t have a more severe punishment towards cruelty, then any moron with a knife or a blunt object will continue to kill animals needlessly.

Also, the Egyptian government is known for its horrific murders of stray dogs due to “over population” by poisoning them using strychnine – a deadly pesticide, and shooting them. In fact, this disgusting and miscalculated campaign is currently running. If the country’s own government does not respect life, and we have a pathetic law against animal cruelty, how will the public ever change?

A country and its government, to put it quite simply, has the responsibility to protect all living beings living on its land. Not just human beings.

Another issue people need to address is our educational system. We do not teach children about animals and their rights. We do not teach them that animals are intelligent and are able to feel pain physically and emotionally. We fail miserably at teaching them their due responsibility towards animals because we lack empathy.

Everyone is born with compassion. Reclaim it and use it to educate your children and the generations that are yet to come.

World of Fools.

“How many times have people used a pen or paintbrush because they couldn’t pull the trigger?”

—	Virginia Woolf, from Selected Essays

What I am about to write next, is nothing inspirational or special. What I am about to write next is simply what I’ve been thinking about all day, everyday for quite some time now.

I feel nothing – not an ounce of happiness or an ounce of sadness. I’m just overcome by this feeling of emptiness, the pure deep hollowness that takes over a person when they have nothing to lose and nothing to live for – I am struggling to regain my faith in humanity and the world.

It’s tragic really, how the world and how we, supposedly the most civilized and advanced beings to roam this earth, function in this day and time. We go about our daily routines and pretend we’re intelligent and aware when really, we’re either a bunch of ignorant morons or depraved assholes who’s sole purpose is to get rich.

How intelligent are we, as a species, if we’re defined and controlled by a mere piece of paper? We have become grotesquely enslaved that we barely notice it. And why? Is it because we have become too self-centered and self-absorbed with our own problems to get to the root of things? Think about it really, it’s like we’re programmed to believe in something and we have become nothing but machines with an expiration date.

There are kids dying of hunger and thirst and others dying of obesity and yet we refuse to share. There are animals going extinct and our seas are toxic and dying yet we refuse to change the way we function. There are men, women, and children getting raped or assaulted and yet we refuse to educate. There are people buying million dollar mansions and others who are dying out in the freezing cold. There are kids who are killing themselves because they’re treated like pariahs and yet we refuse to accept them the way they are. There are people who are ashamed of having mental disorders and yet we deny them the very kindness, love and support they need.

We bully. We lie. We kill. We burn. We destroy. We abuse. We judge and we betray. We hate and we discriminate. – That’s what we, human beings, excel at.

We value nothing but materialistic things and go out of our way to satisfy our worldly desires. We care more about money than about feeding the hungry and sheltering the poor. We care more about breast sizes and numbers on a scale than the actual soul of a human being.

We are nothing. We spread like cancer and we over-populated the planet – we filled it with so much hate, ignorance and intolerance.

We don’t understand the meaning of life – what it means to live and to love. We don’t understand what it means to selflessly care and be kind. We don’t even have the ability to understand one another.

So here I am, using a pen instead of a gun, a paintbrush instead of a bomb, and my words instead of fists because I refuse to be silenced – I refuse to join this world of fools.

Why Rape Jokes Are Not Funny

People who suffer from any sort of violation, especially rape, lose their innocence. There are millions of people out there who are victimized by rape and sexual assault. Even though they have physically survived the act of being sexually violated, it is a long and hard road of recovery, both psychologically and mentally.

There are a few reasons why rape jokes aren’t funny. For starters, making light of a horrible situation only adds insult to injury. You don’t know what it’s like to be pinned down and have things shoved up inside you. You don’t know what it’s like to be scared of sleeping because of the goddamn night terrors and nightmares. You don’t know what it’s like to not want to get out of your house because you’re too damn scared to be violated again. You simply don’t know what it’s like to be a victim of rape.

Rape victims might survive the act itself. Their physical wounds will eventually heal and with much needed therapy and support, might actually be able to put the past behind them. One thing they don’t leave behind is the psychological pain that sneaks up on them every once in a while. Every rape victim will remember details of their attack and can tell you exactly how they felt during every second it lasted.

The Egyptian Center for Women Rights stated that only 200,000 rape cases are reported annually in Egypt. The exact number or a close estimate to the actual number of rape and/or sexual assault towards women is unknown due to the fact that most rape cases go unreported because of the ”shame” that comes with it – a social stigma that almost all societies in the world created.

Another reason why rape jokes aren’t funny is because while you’re acting like a class clown and cracking a wise joke about rape, there’s a high chance an individual who was raped before is sitting right next to you. While you’re laughing, a person next to you is getting flashbacks and is going through the whole ordeal in their heads again while pretending that there is nothing wrong. While you’re sitting there being a complete insensitive little bitch, the person next to you is living their worst nightmare over and over again.

Additionally, when you laugh about rape and/or joke about rape, not only are you’re giving a rapist an excuse to be proud of what they’ve done but you’re actually encouraging the act itself. If we, as a progressive society (supposedly), do not stand against rape but in fact, make light of the situation every chance we get, how the hell would it ever stop?

Next time you decide to crack a dumb joke that is useful to no one, think about the people that are around you because you might be doing more harm than good.