i. hate. complaining. {venting}

i really didn't want to write something about this but here i am, writing about it.

for some reason, some people think that fighting for animal rights and being okay with the abortion of human fetuses go hand in hand.

your first instinct might be to say, 'uhh i've never heard anyone say that, rachel' - but they do. i promise. i have had countless discussions with people about animal rights and many times, as SOON as i mention that i'm a PETA member, i hear, "5000 abortions take place in america every day".

the more passive aggressive person will put up a status quoting scripture or say something like, "hey PETA, i'm really enjoying this bloody steak. read Genesis ya morons!" or my favorite, "people care more about animals than humans. sad."

all because we believe in the ethical treatment of animals?

i'll pause to acknowledge that some animal rights activists are crazy. i am not. so we're not talking about everyone here. we're talking about me. and you.

yesterday, a tragedy occurred. right here in ohio. i am crazy thankful that no humans were killed by the animals that were freed. crazy thankful. however, my heart is broken that they were killed. my heart is broken that they lived here to begin with. a family is grieving their loss. i don't know why that man had these animals, i don't know why he let them go, i don't know why he took his life but he did. and i feel sorry for his family.

being an animal lover and animal rights supporter, seeing the pictures of the animals lying dead was devastating. but guess what? abortion devastates me too. i saw so many articles, so many facebook statuses today that criticized the people mourning the loss of the animals yesterday. ya know, cause that's constructive.

however, a lot of those people that often put up links to statistics about abortion or links to petitions you can sign to help fight abortion in our courts, do so from behind a desk at the computer, doing nothing.

newsflash: abortion isn't go anywhere legally in this country. it would be scary if it did. the amount of back alley abortions that would begin to take place again would bring about SO much death and disease. so instead of writing letters to your congressman or talking about how 'pathetic' america is that we care more about animals than human life, do something.

if you feel that passionately about it, don't try to convince a senator, spend your free time with some teenage girls. we spend so much time talking from behind a computer screen that it irritates us when someone cares about something seemingly more than they care about what we think they should care about.

it's so easy to complain. it's so easy to point fingers and say "shame shame" on america. it's so easy to criticize people's passions and concerns. it's really, really easy to do that. you know what's not easy? criticizing someone who's out changing a world they're not happy with.

so turn off your computer. stop acting better than people. leave your house. change the world.