ivory

:sad4: About Ivory

"Ivory is no doubt a beautiful substance. It has an incandescence and warmth unlike any other material used for ornaments or sculpture. But I always feel that people forget that ivory is the tusk of an elephant. The word ivory disassociates it in our minds from the idea of an elephant. One tends to lump it with jade, teak, ebony, amber, even gold and silver, but there is a major difference: The other materials did not come from an animal; an ivory tusk is a modified incisor tooth. When one holds a beautiful ivory bracelet or delicate carving in one's hand, it takes a certain leap of understanding to realize that that piece of ivory came from an elephant who once walked around using its tusk for feeding, digging, poking, playing and fighting, and furthermore that the elephant had to be dead in order for that piece of ivory to be sitting in one's hand."—Elephant Memories, by Cynthia Moss.:sad4: yes man is ruining the earth , just as revelation 11;18 informs us , no wonder that Jehovah God is going to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.

The problem with trying to regulate ivory trade , as I understand , is that it is governed by laws to protect endangered species . Not all ivory comes from elephants . Walrus tusk are ivory too . Plus there is nothing to stop the sell of " antique " ivory . { any ivory taken before 1977 } I believe that ivory from mammoths is also legal to trade in , although I also believe that it is considered a lesser grade of ivory .

The only way to stop ivory trade is to ban ALL trade of ivory . But I assume that would be easy to say if your village isn't being overrun by elephants ? Of course , one could " control " the elephant populate without selling the ivory ... But there still would be the problem of controlling the sell of ivory already in private collections .

Still , an elephant tusk is not a small item . If the money was spent , it should not be that hard to control the poaching . Should it ?

kreeden said:

The problem with trying to regulate ivory trade , as I understand , is that it is governed by laws to protect endangered species . Not all ivory comes from elephants . Walrus tusk are ivory too . Plus there is nothing to stop the sell of " antique " ivory . { any ivory taken before 1977 } I believe that ivory from mammoths is also legal to trade in , although I also believe that it is considered a lesser grade of ivory .

The only way to stop ivory trade is to ban ALL trade of ivory . But I assume that would be easy to say if your village isn't being overrun by elephants ? Of course , one could " control " the elephant populate without selling the ivory ... But there still would be the problem of controlling the sell of ivory already in private collections .

Still , an elephant tusk is not a small item . If the money was spent , it should not be that hard to control the poaching . Should it ?

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it seems that whatever man does it makes problems somewhere. i think the bible is right when it tells me that man was not created to rule himself independant of God. man thinks he is so clever , but all he does is mess things up, and then try to put it right .
I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step. Jeremiah 10;23 war, ruining the earth, destroying wildlife, they are not so clever are they? they were not created to rule themselves, thats why it always goes wrong. i am glad that Jehovah God is going to step into the affairs of man , and do things right.As Daniel 2;44 tells me he will, and i think that Jehovah is not forgetting the animals ,............................... Five sparrows sell for two coins of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them goes forgotten before God. Luke 12;6 yes he sees everything that man is doing .

I have quite a few Ivory statues, and a crucifix, which were all bought in Africa pre the 'No Ivory' regulations. It often occurrs to me that it is absurd that one minute it was 'legal' and the next ' it wasn't'.

People have been using parts of animals with which to decorate themselves for ages........probably since the beginning of time.

michel said:

I have quite a few Ivory statues, and a crucifix, which were all bought in Africa pre the 'No Ivory' regulations. It often occurrs to me that it is absurd that one minute it was 'legal' and the next ' it wasn't'.

People have been using parts of animals with which to decorate themselves for ages........probably since the beginning of time.

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yes that is true , and man with his new powerful light weight weapons, has now been able to gun down not an individual elephant ,but an entire herd. also electric carving tools can swiftly make an item of ivory ready for the market. in the past a carver may have spent a year carving a tusk.ohh we think we are so clever. but we are not clever, we end up ruining the earth instead.

About Elephants


Elephants are immensely powerful, and when they are angry, the earth trembles. An elephant can seize you with its trunk and fling you through the air like a stone. Yet, an elephant can also caress you with its trunk or gently take food from your hand. Elephants are intelligent, complicated, and funny. They display strong family loyalty and will tend each other's wounds, stand watch over their sick, and react to the death of a family member. While ignoring the remains of other animals, they recognize the bones of other elephants and react by scattering or burying them.
Appeared in Awake! March 22, 1998

The future for India’s endangered creatures does not appear bright. The evidence is overwhelming that humans have been selfishly ruining the earth, which has included the destruction of much of its magnificent wildlife. What will happen? The authoritative word of God, recorded in the Holy Bible, indicates that the time is near when the following prophecy will be fulfilled: “The nations became wrathful, and your [God’s] own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”—Revelation 11:18.
What will be the effect when the earth has been cleansed of all those who have despoiled it and its marvelous wildlife? What a wonderful time that will be! Humans will no longer endanger any animal species. This will take place under the rule of God’s Kingdom, for which Jesus Christ taught humans to pray.—Isaiah 11:6-9; Matthew 6:10.

michel said:

I have quite a few Ivory statues, and a crucifix, which were all bought in Africa pre the 'No Ivory' regulations. It often occurrs to me that it is absurd that one minute it was 'legal' and the next ' it wasn't'.

People have been using parts of animals with which to decorate themselves for ages........probably since the beginning of time.

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I agree Michel . I wear leather and have no problems doing so . I have woren bone , horn and fur also . The only difference being that elephants were on the endangered list . And could return to that list .

Although I don't share May's religious believes , I do agree with most of what she is saying . I am lucky enough to live in an area where I have had Deer , Moose , Bear , Foxes , Coyote , even a Cougar once , as well as other smaller animals , in my front yard . In my driveway and enough on my walkway . { twice had a Bear looking in a window at me }. On the other hand , I once was visiting a friend and we went out to a " wilderness area " in a city . All the while there , I saw one Squirrel . And never even hear a bird . Guess which life I perfer ....

There is a line between using an animals parts respectfully and driving an intellignet species to extinction out of greed.

Once the Elephant wasn't on the verge of dissapearing off the face of the Earth... now it is. The real absurditiy is that it had to be made illegal to protect them in the first place... greed and ignorance will kill us all.

wa:do

painted wolf said:

There is a line between using an animals parts respectfully and driving an intellignet species to extinction out of greed.

Once the Elephant wasn't on the verge of dissapearing off the face of the Earth... now it is. The real absurditiy is that it had to be made illegal to protect them in the first place... greed and ignorance will kill us all.

wa:do

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no worries ,God is going to step into the affairs of man , and the animals will be brought back into harmany with man.
The Bible speaks of the "restoration of all things." (Acts 3:21) It shows unmistakably that the miserable experiment in independence from God will shortly come to an end.

he's a bit late for the thousands of species already gone by our hands. We can't expect God to fix our mistakes, we need to change ourselves.
God won't save the elephant from extinction, that is up to us.

wa:do

Maybe the end of this 'experiment of inependence' as May puts it is less a return to 'God' per se as a return to a balanced existence that isn't forged at the expense of everything else.

painted wolf said:

he's a bit late for the thousands of species already gone by our hands. We can't expect God to fix our mistakes, we need to change ourselves.
God won't save the elephant from extinction, that is up to us.

wa:do

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the bible tells me that God is going to bring to ruin those ruining the earth......... revelation 11;18 he will never allow us to completly ruin the earth , but if left to our own way of doing things for much longer we would do just that in the end. its true that we have to change ,we have to listen to Gods way of doing things .

Quoth_The _Raven said:

Maybe the end of this 'experiment of inependence' as May puts it is less a return to 'God' per se as a return to a balanced existence that isn't forged at the expense of everything else.

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yes ,we need a good rulership that is just and righteous and the bible promises that Jesus will do a good job of it Isaiah 9;6-7