Harvey's Hotline #3 (11/12/11): On the Extinction of the Western Black Rhino

Harvey’s Hotline # 3

In the past few days, several crises and events have shaken me deeply. They had to do with the violation of God’s law and the destruction of our essential humanity, from what is happening to the brave martyrs in the towns and cities of Syria as they struggle against the bestial regime of Bashar al-Assad, and what is taking place on the Horn of Africa, as the children starve to death, to the growing tragedy that is Penn State.

We now learn that the violation of God’s law has now been accompanied by the violation of natural law. More specifically, we have been informed by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) that Africa’s western black rhino, last seen in 2006, is now  “officially” extinct. Even worse, other rhinos, including Africa’s northern white rhino and Asia’s Javan rhino are teetering on the brink of extinction due to continued poaching and lack of conservation. What lies ahead?

The first thing I thought about was the fact that your children (and my future grandchildren) will never again see many beautiful animals, which human beings have destroyed. G-d only knows how many more beautiful parts of our world will be exterminated by us in violation of natural law and as part of the world’s injustice perpetrated against itself.

We can do better, can’t we? We can do better than Bashar al-Assad. We can do better than allow people to starve. We can do better than abuse and molest innocent children. We can do better than let the delicate balance that is our planet be destroyed.

And so it is not enough to grieve the death of so many and so much.

Yes, let us grieve; but “let us not look back in anger nor forward in fear, but around in awareness” (James Thurber).

Yes, let us grieve; but let us “leave the rest to some good angel and ask that time soon teach us all the truth (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).   

As my cherished mentor and closest friend Riccardo Picchio always said, “Avanti! Coraggio!” (Forward! Courage!).  

With all my love, always,

Master G.