Dear Editor,

Should cockfight be banned? After reading the answers to that question, I will not give my opinion whether yes or no, but I will ask a few questions in relation to that question.

Should horse racing be banned? Should dog racing be stopped? Should boxing be stopped? When we see and hear what is done to those animals in order to get them in top performing condition, is there any difference what happens to the cocks? When millions are invested to finally see two seemingly sane human beings beat each other to a pulp as we would say, is that any different from what happens to those cocks?

We live on an island on which almost every street there is a church or two or three and instead of this converting itself into a more Christian-like feeling among the inhabitants, because there is money involved, we cannot seem to ration anymore and being reasonable has sped through the door. For a few dollars more we sell our votes make it possible for people to be at the helm, not thinking of the consequences.

Because of money we cannot determine whether putting two cocks to fight till death is wrong. But, yes, we can determine that parents are wrong for spanking their children, in order to carry out a warning from the Almighty that if you spare the rod you are going to spoil the child.

How many churches did I say? By the way in "ROOTS" there was cockfighting also. Ask Chicken George. The thing of it is that in those days spanking was allowed or even promoted. So probably if spanking is ruled out, cockfighting , boxing etc. should also be ruled out if we remain consequent. But as I often say: " Whose toes would we be stepping on and how many votes is that going to cost me."

Russell A Simmons