Much has been written about proposition 127, which prohibits the hunting of bobcats, lynx and mountain lions in Colorado, and many of the position papers presents a number of reasons for supporting this proposition. I would like to add one more reason: progress.

One needn’t look too far into the past to find practices that were once legal such as bear-baiting, cock fighting, public executions, and the list goes on. In my own lifetime I’ve witnessed the banning of smoking in enclosed spaces both public and private, and even in restaurants and bars where cigarette smoke used to create a haze.

Why do we choose to prohibit activities that some faction of the populace finds enjoyable? What principle guides these legislative and societal decisions? I would say that it is the belief that one being’s pleasure should not come at the expense of another being’s suffering.

If you are undecided on proposition 127, ask yourself where your values lie. If you want to live in a world in which people are free to harm for fun, then vote against the proposition. If you want to live in a world in which humane values are lived by as much as possible, then vote for the proposition. That is the real question the voters will decide on November 5.

Tina Eden, Niwot