To Shout Or Not To Shout That Is The Question

I like Ruth’s chant. We could come up with others like it. I think all chanting together is better than a leader shouting and we answering back. It sounds less angry that way, but still accomplishes everything you want to accomplish with chanting.

Thanks for the reminder about free speech, Michael. Sometimes I feel we don’t really have it anymore. At the very least it is under attack. I attended a rally to protest high taxation and the newspapers called us an angry mob. It wasn’t like that at all. People were friendly, it was an orderly event and everyone picked up after themselves. It was a very classy event. Recently an attack by a mentally ill gunman was blamed on people like myself who speak out against high taxes and runaway spending. The charge was that our political discourse pushed him over the edge, so we need to stop. There is talk of bringing back the “fairness doctrine” and basically killing conservative talk radio.

If you say what people don’t like you are called mean spirited or crazy, no matter how calmly or rationally you make those arguments. The idea is put forth that sure, we have freedom of speech, but not this particular speech. I don’t think our protest will be immune. We will be called all kinds of names and accused of being emotional instead of rational.

We need more people like you in the world, Michael, who can listen to all sides, including those you don’t agree with and value other viewpoints, or at least the right of others to hold and express those views. You are very diplomatic with all of us who visit and contribute to PoC and those of us who are working with you on this protest.

My thought is that if you are secure in your views, it’s easy to be polite to those who hold opposing views. When hearing other views creates cognitive dissonance, that’s when the opposing viewpoint has to be silenced. Hearing the truth about declawing is going to cause a lot of cognitive dissonance among the vets. Things could get interesting.

Thanks Ruth for the chant. Nice one. I like it. We’ll use it if there is an agreement that we chant!

Chanting properly can not be called shouting and I think chanting is good because the message reaches peoples brains by being repetative.
I think singing Ruth’s songs and chanting in between songs will send a powerful message across and attract a lot of attention.
Listen to some Taize music and singing on YouTube to get the idea, it’s so beautiful and repetitive it sticks in your brain. You’ll find yourself singing the words later even if you think you can’t remember them.
I can picture the public and even the vets with a refrain like this stuck in their minds for days/weeks after:

Paws need claws, declaw no more
Paws need claws, declaw no more
Paws need claws, declaw no more

A subtle brainwashing !!!

I know this is the wrong place but anonymous will hopefully come back to this page and I just want to educate him/her here incase he/she doesn’t see the other pages.

Point 1,YES declawing IS many times lightly done. A supposedly last resort operation is routinely done to little kittens as young as 11 weeks. Their toe ends are amputated JUST INCASE they scratch.
I’d call that extremely lightly done anonymous.

Point 2, yes some cats WOULD be better off dead than suffering from the mental and/or physical problems declawing can cause. Please read up on declawing problems anonymous and how many cats are suffering. Also look on petfinder.com and see how many declawed kittens and cats are in Shelters, relinquished by the same ignorant people who had that done to them.
Remember too as you look, that the numbers don’t include the declawed cats killed on admission to kill Shelters or caged for life in no kill Shelters because they are unadoptable.

Point 3, you say the declawed cats you’ve seen ‘seem’ perfectly fine to you.
You obviously don’t know that cats adjust to living a disabled life because they have no choice, nor do you ‘seem’ to know that cats hide their pain because to show it makes them feel vulnerable.

Why do you think declawing is banned as animal abuse in many countries ?
The answer is of course because it IS animal abuse, it is pre-meditated abuse at that.

PLEASE read the many articles here on PoC, look at the pictures too, then tell us if you still think declawing is EVER justifiable.

Thanks for the comment but this page is about the demonstration and how to do it! There are many other pages where you can discuss the topic that you have raised which by the way is a false argument.

While I agree with you that declawing should not be lightly done, what is your basis for thinking that is is lightly done? Do you really think cats are better dead than declawed? For some, that is the choice.

I have known some declawed cats, and while I would not myself declaw a cat, I understand why these cats owners took that action. The cats seemed perfectly fine to me.

Thanks Ruth for your comment. I believe that chanting is non-threatening. It is quite loud because a large number are doing it but it is an example of freedom of speech, protected under the first amendment.

An exception to the first amendment is “speech that incites imminent lawless action” (Wikipedia). But the chanting that I mention cannot be described as that in my opinion, particularly if the chanting is drafted sensibly.

That said I am in the hands of the protesters and their views and will comply with their views.

I think we have to be careful with the chanting, that indeed it stays chanting and isn’t shouting. I hope there is a difference. I think there can be if we are clever in what and how we chant. If we appear intimidating or threatening we can run afoul of the law. If we appear angry we can turn people off. I still think we’re better off singing than chanting. I’m working on some simple protest songs. We have to be careful about just writing new words for existing tunes, but I’m trying to create very accessible tunes. Some familiar tunes which should be public domain aren’t and if we record and transmit those via YouTube we would be breaking copyright law. I’m all for singing, so long as it is original or public domain, but I’m a little hesitant about chanting unless it is very clever and doesn’t degenerate into angry shouting.

I love Ruth (Monty’s mom)’s idea to sing !!! She composes and sings too, I’m sure she could compose an anti declaw refrain !
If I was able to come I’d certainly sing along with her.
Chanting is good too, it attacts attention, lots in cat costumes would be good with no finger ends.
I can hardly wait to see you all on YouTube.