Boycott rodeos

Thanks to Laura Simcox for her thoughtful critique of the recent sacrilege at the Bluegrass Rockin’ Rodeo at the Kentucky Horse Park. Shameful. Like Alabama’s Judge Roy Moore, it gives Christianity a bad name.

As a native Kentuckian and 1963 graduate of the University of Kentucky, I too was appalled by the reported xenophobia. Like Simcox, I’ve been attending rodeos for 30-plus years, not as a fan, but as a critic.

Every major animal-welfare organization opposes rodeo due to its inherent cruelty and the negative message sent to impressionable children. Most of rodeo is bogus. Real working cowboys never routinely rode bulls, rode bareback, wrestled steers, or practiced calf roping (babies) as a timed event. Nor did they put flank straps on animals, or work them over with “hotshots” in holding chutes. For most of the animals, rodeo is merely a detour en route to the slaughterhouse.

Rodeo is a macho exercise in domination. It belongs in the dustbin of history. To present this cruelty under a Christian banner is truly sacrilegious. What would Jesus say, pray? Boycott all rodeos.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Boycott rodeos."