Whither Innocence?

Now a ten-year-old is bullfighting in southern France.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE learning about and experiencing other cultures. In fact, it's a bit of an obsession, if you'd like to term it that.

But I've been to a bullfight.

There was nothing glorious about it.

Instead, I felt like a conspirator to murder for paying to watch this poor bull bleed to death. I heard later that we "got a bad bull." I just think we did a bad thing. And on the occasion that I hear a bull gets even, it really doesn't bother me.

Bullfighting is one tradition that - no matter how old it is, or how dear it is to however many hearts - needs to go, and yesterday.

Yes, the meat is frequently donated... yes, I'm sure it has its roots somewhere in legitimate hunting.

But part of ethical hunting is to make a quick, clean kill; and bullfighting simply isn't either of those.