The reason we can condemn an asshole who goes halfway around the world to kill a lion is because it’s a safe thing to condemn. It is safe to say animal cruelty is bad. It is safe to say what he did doesn’t really count as hunting. It is safe to say rich people can get away with stuff.

It isn’t like the killing of a person. That’s too political, too complicated. People, we say, can “deserve” it.

Animal killing is a step removed from the truth. It is a step that gives us cover to find out what we really think of murder. Any murder. All murder.

Talking about actual events as they really are is too close, too on the nose. Share on X

Take for instance the difference between works of science fiction and history. Through science fiction, we can explore all aspects of the human condition, our history, and discover parts of the true nature of humanity without thinking it is “too political”; all because we are talking about aliens in a made up universe that happens to be eerily similar to our own.

History, unlike sci-fi, divides us. Look at South Carolina’s raising of a rebellion flag in 1962 in the midst of integration, right at the same time they promoted and supported segregation but now, 50 years later, they say it’s “heritage, not hate.”

See? Too complicated. Politics. Bleh! But really, we refuse to see it in the now, in the culture, in ourselves. Talking about actual events as they really are is too close, too on the nose.

These moments allow us to see into our souls, unencumbered by the political complexity. We can see what we truly believe, not what we’re supposed to because of our allegiances. We can see that this isn’t about liberalism or conservatism; it isn’t about which amendment is our favorite; it isn’t about what our members of congress will or won’t do; it isn’t about the innate ideology of the people we are told to argue with. It is about the zeitgeist, the recurring cultural flashpoints and the moral confusions. It is the facing and the avoidance of our demons and our jealousies. It is what’s really going on.

And what I see is that people think killing is morally wrong. All killing. Deep down, we all agree on that.

So how about we start there and damn the politics?