The pests from PETA have gone from being an irritating and annoying nuisance to being an interfering busybody:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A northern Indiana festival that toasts the life of Johnny Appleseed is facing pressure from an animal rights group to honor the frontier apple tree planter's animal-loving ways by dropping meat from its menu.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the frontiersman whose real name was John Chapman was a vegetarian who never harmed animals.
PETA made the request of the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, Ind., where Chapman is buried. The letter urges organizers to honor him by serving only meat-free food during the Sept. 15-16 event.
Well, Johnny also wandered around barefoot wearing a coffee sack with holes cut out for his arms and legs, and he thought slapping a mosquitoe or cutting down a tree was cruel. If you want to base your life on his, be careful how far you go.
I don't mind PETA spreading its propaganda, as outrageous as some of its tactcs are. But it goes too far when it tries to induce another group to limit my choices. Give me whatever evidence you think is necessary for me to make a wise decision about vegetarianism, and I will consider that evidence and make my choice. But do not try to take the decision out of my hands. That's what the federal government is for.
