Whale's crush on boat breaks rudder
So, up there in British Columbia, you have this lonely, orphaned whale that's separated from its pod. It trying to get, uh, friendly with boats because these whales are social animals, and it's not natural for them to be isolated like this. It's also sinking, or threatening to sink them, albeit inadvertantly. Now there is a plan to remove this whale from the river, and reunite it with its pod. All would be well, one would think.
But no.
A local Indian tribe, for I presume that's what the First Nation is, has blocked this, saying the whale is the embodiment of its dead chief.
So a potentially deadly menace to navigation is now prevented from being removed. And a lonely animal (and a reasonably intelligent one at that) is prevented from being returned to where it belongs, and where it would without doubt be happier and better off, all because of some nutty religious belief.
Really, this is a great example of how harmful religion can be. No one benefits from this, apart from some local Indians who will derive some vague, intangible "spiritual" satisfaction - at the expense of endangering boaters and forcing an animal to continue to be miserable. If they want to "commune" with their presumed chief, let them take a boat out there where this whale will sink it.
I'm all for respecting peoples' right to belive what they want. But I draw the line when that means harming other people, or even animals.
