Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas

Job 15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity:
for vanity shall be his recompense..


Pit bulls are reflections of their owner's vanity.

Status symbols.
 
Dogmen, who create monsters in the desire
to own and create the best fighting dogs.
Bloodlines which will forever trace to their names
In the pits, seeking legend and vanity
Shedding blood in the name of immortality.

The thugs who seek to intimidate,
using a dog as a symbol of the power of violence.
A weapon for the sadist. 

 

The fragile egos who need to compensate. 
Dogs as living cod-pieces.
Totems of mojo and rebellion
Mascots of the anti-social. 



 
The advocate who claims to rehabilitate,
Who re-Christen the fighting dog as an emblem
of second chances, rescue, and redemption,

but in reality redistributes cruelty and mayhem
  All in the guise of  good intention.
 


In the arts, vanitas is a type of symbolic work of art especially associated with still
 life painting in Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries, though also 
common in other places and periods. The Latin word means "vanity" and loosely translated corresponds to the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly
 goods and pursuits. Ecclesiastes 1:2;12:8 from the Bible is often quoted in conjunction 
with this term. The Vulgate (Latin translation of the Bible) renders the verse as  
Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas.^{[Eccl. 1:2;12:8]} 

The verse is translated as Vanity of vanities; all is vanity by the 
King James Version of the Bible. Vanity is used here in its older (especially pre-14th century)
 sense of "futility". 

 Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless is the rendering by
 The New International Version of the Bible.

Pit Bull Awareness

 

By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom.
By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind.
"The Sutra of Hui Neng"

What is the essence of advocating for *awareness?

Is it telling the truth, the real history, or should it consist of half-truths, or making up dangerous fairy-tales?  What best serves pit bulls and people who desire to be good stewards for their dogs?

Pit Bulls were once called "Nanny Dogs".

Pit Bulls have better temperaments than most breeds of dogs. 

Temperaments for what, exactly?

Pit bulls are the only breed of dog selected for non-human aggression.  

All the man-biters were culled.

Is it advocacy to resort to the ridiculous? 

Lightning, bath-slippers, and coconuts kill more.

It's impossible to identify a pit bull.

There is no such thing as a pit bull.

Is it advocacy when you have to find another name that for which you advocate?

Pibbles, Pitty, Staffie or St. Francis Terriers......

or just call it a "Lab-mix", a mutt from the pound. 

Is it advocacy when you have to call your opposition names like racists, Hitler, and Haters?

 Some of them were once in your shoes.  

Their pit bull whispered to them by shedding blood and shattering bones.

Is it advocacy when you blame the media for reporting another attack? 

Doesn't the same media you blame also report incidents of hero pit bulls,

and feature them on "adoptable pet of the day" segments?

 How many pit-bull shows do we need on the Cable networks? 

Is it advocacy, when you blame victims for their own attack, 

when you search high and low for scapegoats,
and the answer is simple:

D.N.A..

Is it advocacy, when that being for which you give so much time, money, and effort to....
rehabilitate an image,
doesn't care because it's just a dog.

Just a dangerous dog.

 Is it advocacy to condemn those who created the beast in the first place, 

and then to peddle their unwanted wares by appealing to others 

to their good intentions and idealistic values:

 Rescue, rehabilitation, redemption, second chances, eradicating stereotypes, and philanthropy. 

You make it easier to hide their evil deeds. 

The pit bulls are spreading their awareness in their own way.

They are being...the truth of their essence is radiating forth.

They are educating us in their ways, and you don't see it. 

You refuse to look.

You refuse to listen.

How much more death and misery will it take until you "advocates" get it?

What is it called again, when you do the same thing over and over and over again,

and you still get the same results?

  Or worse. 

 Is it advocacy?

Is it awareness?

Or is it insanity?

May all beings be well and happy,
May all beings be free from strife.

I wish that for the pit bulls too.

गते गते पारगते पारसंगते बोधि स्वाहा

Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā.

There are over ten million hits for the Google search "Pit Bull Awareness".