Chat with a Cockamaniac

Crow-Magnon Christian Explains His Mission

From an email exchange between UPC president Karen Davis and Grit and Steel magazine publisher Joe Skinner, who wrote to Karen in response to her op-ed, “Combat unnatural for roosters,” in the Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington, Kentucky on June 20, 2005.

JOE: Karen, the problem is that you have been deceived. You’ve never been around a “Game Rooster.” If you would like to read the truth, you might consider reading Romans chapter 1 of the Holy Bible. The Lord talks about you there. You see, it has nothing to do with chickens, birds or animals. Hope you can see the light and be set free!

KAREN: Joe, what does “it” (the truth) have to do with, then?

JOE: Karen, you see, God created all the animals. He makes the dog chase the rabbit. He makes the big fish eat the little fish. He even makes the “Game” rooster fight another “Game” rooster to the death. You and I don’t have anything to do with it. The difference between you and I is, He gave me a love for the “Game” rooster. You see, He gives us all different dreams and desires. Some are doctors, lawyers, ball players, dads, mothers, etc. The fact is that He loves us all and He wants us to accept one another and to love one another and to share the Truth [that] while we are still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

KAREN: Based on his sermons and parables, and the seriousness of his life, I don’t see Jesus spending his time training animals to fight each other for human entertainment. Where, if anywhere, in the New Testament is cockfighting specifically approved of or even mentioned?  Maybe for cockfighters the Bible is a cloak for impulses too dastardly and dumb to confess.

JOE: Like I said before, it has nothing to do with rooster fighting, animal rights or trying to justify the things we do. When it is all said and done, all things are temporary and must die. I’m not preaching to you, I’m just trying to share with you something that you are searching for – love. If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven or hell?

• In April, the United States Senate unanimously passed SB 382, the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, a landmark bill to increase penalties to a felony level for the illegal and cruel practice of cockfighting, dog fighting, and hog-dog fights, where dogs are pitted against hogs in small, enclosed spaces. Now the companion bill, HR 817, is in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Your voice is urgently needed to make sure this bill – endorsed by 377 law enforcement agencies – become law. Please contact your Congressional House Representative today and urge him/her to co-sponsor and support the Animal Fighting Prohibition Act: Write to:

  The Honorable ___________
  United States House of Representatives
  Washington, DC 20515
  Dear Representative ________

• To learn your House Representative, call the Capital Switchboard: 202-224-3121. Or visit www.house.gov. To email a letter of support to your House representative online, visit www.hsus.org. To learn more about cockfighting, the natural behavior of roosters, and rehabilitating former “fighting” cocks, visit www.upc-online.org/cockfighting.