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What One Church Camp Thinks about Torturing Animals

Of course, not all church camps would agree that torturing animals is great fun, but this one apparently does. What follows is a song which was sent by a young woman. Her summer church camp leaders taught it to over 300 girls:

Well, I had a little chicken that wouldn’t lay an egg
So I poured hot water up and down it’s leg.
Oh the little chicken cried
And the little chicken begged
And the little chicken laid a hard boiled egg.

Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
Do-wop Do-wop, some egg
Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
And the little chicken laid a hard boiled egg.

Well, I had a little chicken that wouldn’t lay an egg
So I poured hot oil up and down it’s leg.
Oh the little chicken cried
And the little chicken begged
And the little chicken laid a fried egg.

Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
Do-wop Do-wop, some egg
Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
And the little chicken laid a fried egg.

Well, I had a little chicken that wouldn’t lay an egg
So I poured hot chocolate up and down it’s leg.
Oh the little chicken cried
And the little chicken begged
And the little chicken laid a cadberry egg.

Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
Do-wop Do-wop, some egg
Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
And the little chicken laid a cadberry egg.

Well, I had a little chicken
And she wouldn’t lay an egg
So I poured gun powder all around her leg
And the little chicken hollered and the little chicken begged
And the gosh darn chicken laid a hand grenade!

Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
Do-wop Do-wop, some egg
Do-wop Do-wop, some chicken
And the little chicken laid a hand grenade!

The chicken is one of the animals most forgotten, it seems, by almost everyone. Folks who extend great compassion to dogs and cats and even cows often find the chicken to be laughably unworthy of respect, let alone kindness or care. That is why any and all support extended to chickens is especially appreciated by all of us who believe justice is for all of us, not just some of us.

15 comments to What One Church Camp Thinks about Torturing Animals

  • The disconnect is painful. :(
  • bravebird
    Disconnect. That’s a perfect word…..
  • I also find it so frustrating when people say they aren’t quite vegetarian, but they “only eat chicken,” as if that is somehow better than eating other animals. Not only do they not understand that chickens are just as worthy as cows, pigs, and others, but they don’t realize that they are causing even more suffering by “only eating chicken,” since chickens are smaller and more of them have to die to less “food.”
  • Sorry, that last phrase should have been “for less food.”
  • bravebird
    Very good point about chickens. Not only do so many people not think of them as actual animals/birds, but they don’t think of them as meat either. Very interesting psychologically, actually…..
  • […] Eastern Shore Sanctuary Blog: What One Church Camp Thinks about Torturing Animals […]
  • I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Betty

    http://adoptpet.info

  • I agree with the comments about disconnect and disrespect / apathy for chickens. In addition, as you know, many people who consider themselves “bird lovers” eat chickens and their eggs.
  • bravebird
    Betty, thanks for reading and I’m so happy you will continue to do so! More blogging ahead…

    And yeah, Gary, the power of the human mind is, well, mind-boggling. If only we could use that power to disentangle our own destructive natures. Well, we COULD do that. Whether or not we will choose to do so, in a critical-mass sort of way, remains to be seen….

  • Hey good stuff…keep up the good work! :)
  • bravebird
    Thanks Bill, we will do our best, and we hope you keep reading!
  • MaryS
    This is actually a very old song. It is one that old folks sang when I was just a child and I am 71 now. I don’t think anyone really ever poured hot water on a chicken’s leg as a result of this song. It was meant to be silly and presented to children as a silly song. No amount of hot water on a chicken’s leg leg would produce a hard boiled egg and everyone knows that. Seventy-five to one hundred years ago nobody had ever heard of sensitivity, vegans, etc. I don’t think anyone meant any harm by singing this song when I was a kid. It definitely did not make me grow up torturing animals.
  • bravebird
    Well, the only way I can answer this is to make a suggestion. Substitute the words “little girl” everywhere you see the word “chicken.” Would you still find the song silly and fun, even if no one actually poured hot water on little girls’ legs as a result of hearing the song?

    Not until we view the suffering of other animals as equally intolerable as our own will we live on this planet in peace with anyone else.

  • happened along
    yes, if it said “little girl” instead of chicken AND was PRESENTED as being a silly song (context is everything, here), i would certainly find it silly and fun.

    if i am a child and this song was being presented by someone who was offended by it, i would probably pick up on that and not find it silly and fun. children are perceptive. and they are also smart. just because it says somethinig about pouring hot water on a chickens leg, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will do it. and just because you may be offended by it, it doesn’t mean they are, but they will pick up that anxiety from you, and may turn it into fear (and guilt that they should be feeling bad about something when they actually don’t).

  • bravebird
    We can agree to disagree that it’s acceptable to have little girls sing about their legs being blown off, but I do have to say that anxiety is not the emotion at play here. Anger, perhaps, that anyone finds it amusing or silly to sing about the suffering of other creatures, but anxiety — not really.

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