LETTER: Is Cecil's story part of a larger picture?

Only someone living in a spiritual vacuum could escape feeling a deep sadness about the ruthless killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe last week. A worldwide torrent of outrage was sparked by the American dentist and trophy hunter who lured Cecil out of a protected area to shoot him with a crossbow. Cecil suffered for hours until he was tracked down and killed.

While I’m wholly part of the wave of sadness and anger unleashed across the world by Cecil’s brutal murder, I’m at the same time troubled by a nagging feeling that there is something incomplete and selective in our collective condemnation of the violence that claimed Cecil’s life.

Wanton violence to both human and non-human animals is pitiably routine across every culture. But every once in a while a story comes along that has the potential to change something fundamental about the way we live our lives. Is it possible that Cecil’s story has the power to open our eyes to the violent and dark side of human nature?

What if we were so moved by Cecil’s story that we began to live our lives without recourse to violence? And then, when we have awakened to the interconnected reality of person, planet, and lion... one Life, one World, one Existence... we will all be Cecil. —Bob Muth Sr., Kalispell