I’m A Liberal Who Loves Hunting. Allow Me To Change Your Mind

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I’m a liberal who loves hunting. Allow me to change your mind

When I killed my first mule deer, I felt deep reverence for the animal. It showed me hunting can be more honest and sustainable than eating factory-farmed meat

www.theguardian.com

"Murderer! You’re a murderer!”
That is what my French mother shouts down the phone line – right after I tell her I had grouse for dinner.

“Grouse?” she gasps.

“Yes,” I say, using my nonchalant voice. “We went hunting and shot two of them. Plump ones. I braised them in a mushroom broth and served them with stewed apples and potato mash.”

She shrieks.

“I can’t believe you killed an animal!”

“Mom! Didn’t you just make lamb tagine?”

Pause.

“Yes, I cooked a Moroccan tagine with raisins, green olives and a lot of cinnamon,” she replies defensively. “I made it with lamb I bought at the farmers’ market. What’s your point?”

“My point is,” I say, “where do you think that lamb came from? Did it magically appear on your plate?”

It was not a conversation I was going to win, not even with a French woman living in the land of duck foie gras, cured pork sausage and snails – all of which was killed far less humanely than the grouse on my plate.

That is what I was trying to tell Mom: hunting may be morally complex, but it is a far more honest and sustainable way to consume meat than the factory-farmed products most people eat.

I am not arguing for everyone to go out and hunt their dinner – that would be absurd. But the reflexive disdain for hunters on much of the left feels misplaced.

Let me explain.

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There are several liberals who hunt and own guns. The problem their voices are drowned out by the extreme people.

 

[sgt_zim]

There are several liberals who hunt and own guns. The problem their voices are drowned out by the extreme people.

The real problem is they're self-sabotaging via their electoral choices. And it is those electoral choices that give so much voice to the nutters.

 

[Russ16]

Just because someone is pro second amendment doesn’t mean they really support hunting either. I mean really in the sense that they support conservation. Many pro-gun politician also support policies that negatively impact game habitat and hunting opportunities.

As with most things it is far more nuanced than the shirts and skins arguments that rule the day right now.

 

[rblum]

“I like to argue about silly things”. Change my mind.

 

[akrifleman]

I look at the bright side. Here you have a liberal author that is making a point to a liberal audience that hunting is no more evil than the circle of life. That audience is so disconnected from everything they consume. If she influences some people that think "Likes" are more important than on the ground conservation, and understanding where all meat comes from, then good for her.

Perhaps along her journey, she'll come to other realizations.

 

[Newboomer]

I'm Canadian. First things that hits my brain when someone says they are Liberal is rage, disgust and sadness. Look what the Liberals have and are doing to Canada. Worse dumb Liberal Canadians keep voting for more.

MB

Same here in USA.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

There are people who support some Conservative policies and some Liberal policies. So it’s hardly surprising that more than a few American Liberals exist who support hunting, although most of them have a very flawed view of the Second Amendment (thinking that the Right To Bear Arms extends only towards hunting instead of being able to protest against a tyrannical government).

Me for instance: I largely support American conservative ideologies. I’m pro hunting, pro gun ownership, pro Israel, believe in only two genders, consider homosexuality to be nothing to be proud of (although I obviously don’t advocate for any sort of violence or discrimination against homosexuals) and believe that Christian values are an important backbone of America which should never be allowed to erode. At the same time, I’m sympathetic towards abortion (but only in cases where the woman was raped or delivering the child might bring any risk to the woman’s well being or safety). So what would that make me ?

 

[RLD]

There are people who support some Conservative policies and some Liberal policies. So it’s hardly surprising that more than a few American Liberals exist who support hunting, although most of them have a very flawed view of the Second Amendment (thinking that the Right To Bear Arms extends only towards hunting instead of being able to protest against a tyrannical government).

Me for instance: I largely support American conservative ideologies. I’m pro hunting, pro gun ownership, pro Israel, believe in only two genders, consider homosexuality to be nothing to be proud of (although I obviously don’t advocate for any sort of violence or discrimination against homosexuals) and believe that Christian values are an important backbone of America which should never be allowed to erode. At the same time, I’m sympathetic towards abortion (but only in cases where the woman was raped or delivering the child might bring any risk to the woman’s well being or safety). So what would that make me ?

You are an excellent example of why simplistic labels do more harm then good. IMHO

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

The real problem is they're self-sabotaging via their electoral choices. And it is those electoral choices that give so much voice to the nutters.

I think the real issue is that gun owning liberals don’t weigh gun rights very highly against the other issues they care about while conservatives do. A liberal may support gun rights but will always vote for that secondarily to other issues like abortion or social programs. On the other hands, conservatives in the US weigh gun rights very highly among issues they care about and will vote on that issue over others. Fairly weak conservative candidates will beat out others based on their resistance to gun control.

And since liberal gun owners tend to prioritize other issues, it makes their vote in the matter worthless within their political parties. Why should party leadership yield on guns when liberals will vote for them anyways over gay marriage? Supporting gun control will torpedo a Republican’s campaign so they have every incentive to be pro gun, or at least stay silent on gun control.

This isn’t even necessarily about being a single issue voter but the reality is that for many, or perhaps even most, liberal gun owners, it is a low tier political priority and their party can safely ignore them.

 

[MS 9x56]

There are people who support some Conservative policies and some Liberal policies. So it’s hardly surprising that more than a few American Liberals exist who support hunting, although most of them have a very flawed view of the Second Amendment (thinking that the Right To Bear Arms extends only towards hunting instead of being able to protest against a tyrannical government).

Me for instance: I largely support American conservative ideologies. I’m pro hunting, pro gun ownership, pro Israel, believe in only two genders, consider homosexuality to be nothing to be proud of (although I obviously don’t advocate for any sort of violence or discrimination against homosexuals) and believe that Christian values are an important backbone of America which should never be allowed to erode. At the same time, I’m sympathetic towards abortion (but only in cases where the woman was raped or delivering the child might bring any risk to the woman’s well being or safety). So what would that make me ?

I believe that makes you a very sensible person!

 

[Flewis]

If you want to change my mind all you have to do is change your vote.

 

[AC@NC]

What does hunting have to do with being a liberal or a conservative? I can understand if someone is a vegan. If you eat meat, it's coming from killing an animal. Either you are killing it or someone you pay kills it.

And I remember someone telling me something funny - you go far enough left, you get your guns back. I wonder where liberals stand.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I was going to offer to let the author share the blind with me and try to and convince me, until I realize she must’ve used her English degree while asking AI to create the image of her hunting

 

[Spearhead]

There are people who support some Conservative policies and some Liberal policies. So it’s hardly surprising that more than a few American Liberals exist who support hunting, although most of them have a very flawed view of the Second Amendment (thinking that the Right To Bear Arms extends only towards hunting instead of being able to protest against a tyrannical government).

Me for instance: I largely support American conservative ideologies. I’m pro hunting, pro gun ownership, pro Israel, believe in only two genders, consider homosexuality to be nothing to be proud of (although I obviously don’t advocate for any sort of violence or discrimination against homosexuals) and believe that Christian values are an important backbone of America which should never be allowed to erode. At the same time, I’m sympathetic towards abortion (but only in cases where the woman was raped or delivering the child might bring any risk to the woman’s well being or safety). So what would that make me ?

To me, that makes you a like minded man.
I am hopeful that just maybe (not holding my breath) that her article posted on that lib website might reach at least one person and make them think.
There is a huge difference in hunting and pulling the trigger, than a mere trip to the grocery for some disconnected from reality wrapped pieces of meat.

 

[LivingTheDream]

There are people who support some Conservative policies and some Liberal policies. So it’s hardly surprising that more than a few American Liberals exist who support hunting, although most of them have a very flawed view of the Second Amendment (thinking that the Right To Bear Arms extends only towards hunting instead of being able to protest against a tyrannical government).

Me for instance: I largely support American conservative ideologies. I’m pro hunting, pro gun ownership, pro Israel, believe in only two genders, consider homosexuality to be nothing to be proud of (although I obviously don’t advocate for any sort of violence or discrimination against homosexuals) and believe that Christian values are an important backbone of America which should never be allowed to erode. At the same time, I’m sympathetic towards abortion (but only in cases where the woman was raped or delivering the child might bring any risk to the woman’s well being or safety). So what would that make me ?

Normal, you would be considered normal.

 

[MS 9x56]

What does hunting have to do with being a liberal or a conservative? I can understand if someone is a vegan. If you eat meat, it's coming from killing an animal. Either you are killing it or someone you pay kills it.

And I remember someone telling me something funny - you go far enough left, you get your guns back. I wonder where liberals stand.

I can count on one hand how many liberals I know who hunt. I know a few who target shoot but they are all veterans. Just an observation.

 

[Russ16]

I think the real issue is that gun owning liberals don’t weigh gun rights very highly against the other issues they care about while conservatives do. A liberal may support gun rights but will always vote for that secondarily to other issues like abortion or social programs. On the other hands, conservatives in the US weigh gun rights very highly among issues they care about and will vote on that issue over others. Fairly weak conservative candidates will beat out others based on their resistance to gun control.

And since liberal gun owners tend to prioritize other issues, it makes their vote in the matter worthless within their political parties. Why should party leadership yield on guns when liberals will vote for them anyways over gay marriage? Supporting gun control will torpedo a Republican’s campaign so they have every incentive to be pro gun, or at least stay silent on gun control.

This isn’t even necessarily about being a single issue voter but the reality is that for many, or perhaps even most, liberal gun owners, it is a low tier political priority and their party can safely ignore them.

I thinks that’s overly general. I have many conservative friends who don’t care about gun rights at all. They believe in smaller government and conservative economic policies but don’t even consider gun rights when voting. It’s I a happy coincidence that many of the politicians who they support do support gun rights.

Remember at its peak NRA had a little over 4 million members and about 15 million people who identified as gun rights supporters. There are many more conservatives than that.

The political power of the gun rights movement comes from the fact a significant number of that 15 or so million rank it as the number 1 issue.

My point being not every conservative is pro gun and not every liberal is anti gun.

 

[Rubberhead]

The problem I have with liberals goes far, far beyond their stance on hunting.

 

[DillonG]

I’ve always been confused that, in general, liberals are appalled by hunting/killing an animal in any circumstance. How can an entire political party hold that view, yet celebrate killing babies. The moral conundrum must be blind to that faction of the world.

 

[rookhawk]

Beyond guns, the biggest difference between a conservative and a liberal across the board is bedside manner. A conservative does two things: 1.) Conserves liberty, 2.) Understands every system is complex and that it must be carefully analyzed before any changes are implemented. Liberals on the other hand: 1,) Are guided by feelings and envy, and 2.) Believe systems need to be fundamentally transformed and/or require revolution.

Since 90% of changes to systems typically backfire, you can imagine its why every well intentioned liberal idea has a tragic failure rate.

Apply all the above to guns, tax policy, military, entitlements, or any other topic.

Liberals suck at the analysis phase and immediately jump to the solution phase of every problem.