The New Face of Hatred

May 1, 2002

by Mack P. Bray and Tom Mazzarisi

"Prejudices are what fools use for reason." - Voltaire

Hate, defined as an "intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury" continues to be a thorn in the side of 21st century man.

As a society, we are haunted by images of burning crosses, concentration camps, murder based on race, religion, or sexual preference, and the tragedy of September 11th. Hate is organized into a variety of groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, religious fanatics, militias, and even anti-wolf groups.

Wolf-haters are afraid the wolf will kill all the elk, moose, and deer in the world. Their irrational thinking culminates into a paranoid mythology where the wolf becomes a monster bent on killing and whose taste for blood will eventually lead to the death of children.

Elk For Tomorrow, a Wyoming group, has organized its prejudices of wolves into a hate group.

Elk For Tomorrow, self-proclaimed "friends" of elk, claims killing wolves is the ultimate solution towards preserving a future for elk. They falsely portray all wolves as predators that regularly kill elk for "sport." "Sport" hunters, ironically, kill tens of thousands of elk annually.

Hitler murdered Jews in order to preserve a future for his "master race." Imagine the Nazi Party renamed "Jews for Tomorrow."

What is the difference between Elk for Tomorrow, which hates wolves, and groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which hates other races? There is no difference. Both use propaganda to sell their message of hate and call for desperate measures to defend their "cause."

Elk for Tomorrow stated in a recent ad: "Without drastic wolf control methods, by 2010 all elk, moose, deer, sheep, and goats will be gone, smaller animals such as ground-nesting birds, rabbits, gophers and anything else edible will be wiped out."

Elk for Tomorrow should present evidence to the public where wolves have hunted any animal to extinction. If this were possible, early American settlers would have found a continent void of all the wolfs prey. Man, the deadliest predator on earth, is the only animal that is capable of hunting its prey to extinction.

Is it possible Elk for Tomorrow has the ear of the Fremont County commissioners? The commissioners voted to outlaw grizzly bears and wolves from inside their county lines. They said they would take "any and all actions necessary to protect its citizens" from wolves, grizzlies, and other "unacceptable species."

As long as hatred of predators factors into political decision-making, western states will continue to prove their ineptitude in ever providing unbiased predator management.

Biological diversity should be embraced, not outlawed.

"Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented (Elie Wiesel)."

Those of us who appreciate wild places with a full compliment of wildlife cannot remain silent. Those of us who despise hate and cherish all life must speak up and let our elected officials know hate has no place in determining the future of the wolf.

May the hateful voice of Elk for Tomorrow be overwhelmed by the howl of the wolf.

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Mack P. Bray is a resident of Jackson, Wyoming and defends public lands and wildlife. Tom Mazzarisi is a resident of Jackson, Wyoming and has a passion for wild predators.