Tilikum

What if we called the Orlando killer whale Spartacus instead of Tilikum? Would it put things into a perspective more people might understand?

Or, perhaps we could look at it this way. Someone swoops down and grabs you while you are outside one day. They take you away and place you in a lovely enclosed acre with a nice house and some other people they nabbed in other places. You have a pool, a gym, a park like area to walk in. They feed you chicken and okra and stuffing with hot rolls almost every day and treat you with bits of lobster dipped in butter when you learn to do flips for them, or dance for the sight seers who come to look at you. They do not ask if you like okra, or if you miss sweets. They do not even know if you are a vegetarian, or if you hate lobster. They assume they know what is best for you. If you are sick they give you exquisite care. Sometimes they make you come over to the edge of your acre where they rub your back, or make you submit to the touch of strangers in order to show how tame you are. They allow you to breed with the other people in your acre and in general treat you like much beloved pets who are still dangerous and must be controlled.

You are the same person you are today. How would you feel?