Thursday 2 May 2013

ANIMAL ACTIVIST RAYE REJECTS 'HATE' CHARGE BY HUNTER: WHAT THE LEADER DIDN'T PUBLISH



Oh how self-righteously they bleat their feigned agonies to the media...

On April 30 2013 a journalist from the St George and Southerland Shire’s “Leader” newspaper contacted me via email. The email invited me to respond to allegations brought against me by animal welfare activist Sylvia Raye. Her complaints pertain to statements made about her lobbying activities, which I criticise in my blog post The Doctrine of hate. The journalist invited me to respond to the following questions: 
  • Ms Raye feels she was unfairly targeted in the post [The Doctrine of hate] and questions why there is so much hate directed to her - do you think she was unfairly targeted?

  • She has received intimidating emails since this post went live - do you think by naming her you have incited harassment towards her?
     
  • Do you think by linking terrorist attacks with someone's right to express an opinion you are vilifying Ms Raye?


Of course given the spurious nature of the allegations I was happy to respond, despite being given only a 12 hour window of opportunity in which to do so.

The Leader has published Ms Raye’s complaint today. It also published excerpts from my response. Given that my response was edited so strategically, I thought it only fair that I should publish it here, just as it was submitted to The Leader (see below).

Note that noting I have written on the topic of Ms Raye’s activities, either in my response nor in my original blog post, seeks to deny Ms Raye's right to freedom of speech or her right to lobby conscientiously for a cause she feels is just. My criticisms lay only in my concern for her use and promotion of dehumanising hate speech as a tool for achieving her goals

For the record, I do not condone retaliation with hate-mail as a response to her activities. We must be above such childish and socially irresponsible activities, which can only serve to damage our reputation as responsible citizens, and our cause as conservators of the ancient art of hunting and its associated skills and practices.

And now, for your information, my response to The Leader, uncut:

Ms Connolly,

Miss Raye has extensively promoted a poster via social media and other activities, depicting a hunter - Mr Robert Borsak - referring to him as "this sub human”. This version of the poster was not posted on the Hunters Stand because I refuse to promote culturally vilifying literature with the gay abandon demonstrated by Ms Raye. 

"Sub human" was the epithet applied to the Jews by the Nazi Party to promote their demonization and to mitigate responsibility and guilt for their slaughter. It is a term used today by the Ku Klux Klan to justify persecution and cultural hate activities perpetrated against African Americans and Jews.

Freedom of speech does not include the right to demonise or vilify a cultural group, and many hunters identify themselves as people preserving skills and practices as part of their cultural heritage.

As a man who grew up in The Shire, I am proud of the hunting heritage passed down to me by my grandfather and father, both also long term and socially responsible, contributing residents of The Shire. 

Ms Raye names herself and promotes her causes and philosophies broadly and inclusively via social media.  In the case of the poster she disseminates, she identifies herself proudly and asks that others pass on her message of intolerance and hatred by promoting the “sub human” poster. One respondent claims 10,000 shares. 

I recently contacted Ms Raye via facebook, requesting that she amend a lie that she posted on a National TV celebrity's facebook page, in which she accused Mr Robert Borsak of "giving the crowd the finger" at a recent No Hunting in National Parks rally in Sydney. At the time of the demonstration, Mr Borsak was hundreds of miles from the Parliament House balcony that Ms Raye claims he gave the crowd the finger from.

She did not respond to my request and I did not pursue the matter.

I refute that I have ever associated Ms Raye or her activities with acts of terrorism. I have, however, pointed out that when people peddle messages of hatred in a manner that dehumanises their target, such messages have the potential to insight irrational and often extremely violent acts in response, the inspiration for which they are quick to deny all responsibility for.

I note that among the many aspirations for violent reprisal registered in association with the poster Ms Raye promotes on her facebook page, the following is included: “Actually I think I'd rather shoot him [Borsak] in the spine and leave him suffer.” Ms Raye responds, "What a good idea." (see attached) and makes no attempt whatsoever to moderate other similarly violent statements.

It strikes me, after reading something of Ms Raye's activities in the animal welfare sphere, that she is very happy to vilify people whose philosophies she objects to, while claiming that she is the injured party should anyone dare to challenge her right to use social media to openly vilify.

A recent review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 found in favour of wide interpretation of 'discrimination', such that it may be wise for Ms Raye to consider the implications of her use of dehumanising and vilifying terminology in pursuit of her goals.

Garry Mallard OAM

I'll get outa ya way now.....and as always, feel free to leave your comments below.



15 comments:

  1. Oliver Leitch2 May 2013 at 11:26

    Well written Garry,

    Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts so eloquently.

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  2. keep up the good work mate. You speak for more than you may realise..

    cheers

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  3. Very nicely done. To the point, truthful and insightful.

    Keep up the great work you do for all of us.

    Nature Pete.

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  4. its sad when you get interviewed for a newspaper and they only use stuff that will sensationalise their piece of a story into a load of crap, and making it more intense than what it is.
    i will never again be interviewed for a paper.. total bullshit.
    just to make it a good read, and not be honest.. !!

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  5. Mr Mallard ..I want a word or two with you.. I as a daughter of a War Veteran and Grand daughter of a War Veteran do know what unnecessary shootings and killings do also I am a wife of a War Veteran...I experience everyday the truth of what killings have done to my husband....
    Sylvia Raye is a saint compared to you she has achieved more honour in her life than you could ever do as you shoot something that can't shoot back..
    You probably will not publish this as you didn't my last one.
    Some are born brave others follow and kill innocent animals.
    Youn seem to think Borsak is a hero, he is a elephant murderer and other animals he has slaughtered. Only shows his cowardice.

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    1. Oh dear, and here we go again with the loooooong bow and the misrepresentations. You say I seem to think Robert Borsak is a saint. Produce for me one word that I have written to that effect? I have not expressed a single view on the ethics of elephant hunting, nor on the virtue of Mr Borsak.

      You, on the other hand, say that Ms Raye is a saint. A woman who promotes the use of terms associated with Nazi Germany and the KKK in order to incite community hatred. A woman who says, in response to the suggestion that a man should be shot in the spine and left in agony, “What a good idea”.

      I respect and will in fact defend Ms Raye’s right to express her opinions, but to promote hate material and to wish evil upon another human being, and to egg-on others who threaten physical violence against him, regardless of the fact that she may feel justified in doing so, is simply inexcusable.

      Finally, you share your family’s military history by way of evidence that you know what violence is all about. Well, as a man who has engaged in aid work in one of the most violent locations on the planet; as a member of a family with a very long history of British and Australian military service; as the grandson of a hunter who won Australia’s highest award for bravery on the shores of Gallipoli and co-founded one of Australia’s earliest RSL clubs, I solute you and wish you well in all your endeavours.

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  6. Mr Mallard
    Firstly please do not treat me disrespectful, as I read your response I felt you had no respect for the wife of a TPI Veteran...
    Well You say that you are a Grandson of Australia's
    highest honour
    66 were awarded the V.C at Gallipoli
    you say your Grandfather was the co-founder of the RSL
    I only know of Gilbert Dyett as the founder.

    I hope you have the V.C as that is a very great honour.

    My worry is your hatred shown towards a wonderful brave woman.

    I also pray that Mr Borsak gets severely hurt just like he has done to elephants and the other animals he so cowardly has murdered.
    No one on this planet has the right to slaughter such a magnificent animal.
    I suppose you will call me a hateful person when I find a person who has actually murdered an elephant gets away with it scot free. He has no conscience just bravado.

    I have an orphaned baby elephant I sponsor as her mother got slaughtered by man so I am very passionate about Mr Borsak photo with the dead elephant after he had shot it.

    You have a lot of military pride in your family which I find strange that you would go and shot an animals my husband will never again hurt anyone or any animal that is what war did to him and I am so happy and proud and we both can go to our maker with the knowledge of non killings after such a repulsive war.
    But I suppose to actually kill a human and endure watching your mates die changes your views on killing...

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    1. This will be my last interaction with you as I refuse to engage with people who openly lie in order to make their arguments relevant.

      I did not say, nor have I ever said, that any relation of mine co-founded the RSL. I said he co-founded an early RSL club, where his medals, sword etc are displayed today.
      I have never expressed a single word of hatred against Ms Raye. I have criticised her for her use of dehumanising hate language associated with the KKK and Nazi Germany, against another human-being and I would criticise her for that regardless of whom she aimed her hate language at. I have criticised her for encouraging people in violence by suggesting that to shoot another human being in the spine, and later still in the head, is a good idea. And I criticise you for suggesting that Mr Bosak should be severely hurt. Clearly your claim that your husband’s experience of war has given you a greater insight into the folly of violence only extends to people you like. You are only too happy to wish ill on someone when it suites you, and in that respect you have a great deal in common with Ms Raye. Bravo!

      I have never expressed a single word on the topic of Mr Borsak’s hunting activities, despite your suggestion that I think him some kind of hero. This, again, is another lie, which you deploy in support of your argument, based on nothing more than your belief that if you think it, it must be true.

      Finally, I made not a single disrespectful comment in my response to your initial angry, misrepresenting email which began so antagonistically. The fact that you “feel” disrespected does not make me guilty of disrespect. Rather, it demonstrates your inability to be objective and your dedication to finding reasons to be a victim in justification of your cause.

      I wish you long life and happiness.

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    2. Mr.Mallard,
      The Lady that wrote the above Comment is the Wife of a War Veteran if you have such a such a Military Family History as you claim ,you would know that respect is offered to our Veterans and their Wives and Children.

      I can not understand your willingness to counter attack anyone who writes a word against Hunting defenceless Animals.

      It would be different if the Animals were used for food, tell me just why do you hunt them?
      Bounty Hunters are paid per pelt.
      So that knocks out the conservation theory , as it is already done and paid for by the Council.
      So you don't kill for food , you don't kill for the conservation of Animals, as that has been done.
      Then there is just one reason left, for the thrill of it.

      Yes for the thrill of holding a rifle , and aiming and watching if you hit it, and my god I hope it is a clear shot.

      Nothing I will say will make one bit of difference to you will it?

      As for Miss Raye how may comments are made on Face Book,
      millions of them , some in jest , and I think you have blown this so far out of proportion it has become ridiculous, read other Face Book sites,so many comments are said as they are not face to face.

      Get over it, I doubt Miss Raye actually meant it literally !!!
      and you know it don't you?

      I hope this will end , you know it was a comment , that is it , and you have overreacted just to justify what you do , hunt Animals for sport.

      Shame on you , and your like.

      Promise this though I can't stop you , please for Mercies sake make it a clean shot.


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    3. I don’t know why I bother, honestly…

      Why do I 'disrespect' people who disagree with me? I do not. But I will not accept in silence, stories the uninformed make up to suit their own ends. Being a vet or the wife of one, does not give you the right to mislead or misrepresent.

      Fact – ‘bounty hunters’ are not paid by the pelt in NSW. In fact there are no bounty systems in NSW at the present time, haven't been for year, thanks to animal welfare advocates.

      About all the business of why I kill animals, considering I don’t eat the meat etc…have we met? No, of course we haven’t. Otherwise you might know that you have just posted a pack of lies on this blog.

      Fact – your claim that I kill for the thrill of holding a rifle. I do not own or use a gun. Damn, your theory right is out the window there, isn’t it! I am a traditional archer, homemade bows and arrows, like in prehistoric times…even make my own stone arrow heads, which you’d know if you’d bothered with a little research, rather than making things up.

      Fact – I eat everything I kill! I tan its skin…I use the hooves to make glue for my arrows and other crafts. I use its antlers to make handles for knives and I use its sinew for binding and bone for carving etc., etc., etc.

      Fact – Councils do not address feral animal issues in national parks or state forests, or even on private lands, except when the landowner refuses to. Then they use poison baits – 1080 and the like. A nice, slow, agonising death that both the RSPCA and Animals Australia condemn as inhumane. It keeps giving too, as all the animals they feed of the carcass cop a dose of 1018 for their trouble. Oh yes, a most responsible alternative is the poison bait.

      Golly, that’s a perfect score of none! You have succeeded in one thing, though, and that’s to demonstrate how willing the uninformed are to criticise and ridicule others, despite being in possession of not a single fact.

      It doesn’t matter how many comments may have been on your heroine’s facebook page. All that counts is what she said. We have demonstrated her willingness to use hate statements and wish violence on others….until she was caught out.

      Finally, to the matter of my family’s military history. You draw that into question, with your barely veiled “if you have such a military family history as you claim” accusation of deception. Well, I do, and it can be confirmed by anyone who bothers to do about 5 minutes homework. But what is perhaps more relevant is what those men would say if they read your notes about hunters. Yes, every war hero among them was a responsible hunter. So each time you denigrate hunters, you slag off at the veterans of the past you claim should be respected, and the wives and families who were so very proud of them. Bravo…good for you…I’m sure all that you say and do is justified by your religious fervour for your cause.

      Look, its been fun, but please don’t waste my time with any more emotive, fact-free rubbish. This blog is for the debunking of lies, rumour and gossip, not for promoting it.

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  7. dont stop writing garry someone needs to keep speaking out against these people

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  8. Well said Gary, you were much more polite to the two ladies (Slyvia Raye and Glenny Howarth) who would wish harm upon their fellow human being than I would be. Where you stand on the issue of hunting is irrelevant to this discussion, I have some very close friends who do not approve of hunting, those who would described others as "sub-human" and wish harm upon them are beneath contempt.

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  9. Gary Mallard ,
    I think you have laboured long and hard over the response from Sylvia Raye , what she said I doubt was meant.
    Stop comparing her words to the Persecution of the Jewish People.
    The Nazi's were known for the most horrific cruelty and for exterminating a Race in history, please do not offend the Survivors and their Descendants by comparing a comment written on a Social Media Page and what happened at Auschwitz.
    How you can say that is offence to me and my Family.
    So stop bringing it up.
    Grow up , it was a comment nothing more.
    You have no idea what you are talking about, the other Woman certainly knows as Her Husband was in a War Zone, and He knows just what killing does.
    Let it go and stop offending People, especially Jews and the Wives of our War Veterans.
    Miss Raye made a silly comment on Face Book, so do millions of others, I am positive it was just that a comment.
    I agree on the issue of killing defenceless Animals shame on you.

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    1. Oh I agree with you, all dehumanising comments associated with Nazi Germany are offensive to Jews and their decedents, of which I am one. Yes, put your self-righteous, presumptuous hobnail boot in that one didn't you.

      There is no excuse for using offensive epithets and insults in debate. Either the cause has merit on the facts or it does not. Next you’ll be telling me that if some offensive fool were to call her a ‘slut’ that would simply be silly, and unworthy of outrage. I would defend her against such offensive statements, and in fact I have!

      Your heroine did not simply “make a silly comment on facebook”. She enthusiastically promulgated a poster displaying a dehumanising hate statement. She proudly asked people to distribute it far and wide and she endorsed threats of violence against a fellow Australian on her facebook page e.g. "actually I’d like to shoot him in the spine and leave him to suffer" said one of her buddies, to which she responded, “What a good idea”. If that was just "silly" as you contend, one wonders at your concept of levity.

      You have no argument, just uninformed rhetoric and excuses for the unconscionable.

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  10. Most elephants are killed illegally by poachers. They are the menace we need to be worried about. Some hunting of elephants is allowed in regions where their numbers are getting out of control and represent a threat to local communities. Hunters pay a premium price for the privilege of culling such animals and the money is ploughed back into local communities and conservation --- but you can't help the bambi syndrome among some of us !!

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