Matthew Scully
Matthew Scully: A Voice for Compassion and Conviction
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Matthew Scully is a renowned American author, journalist, and former speechwriter who has made significant contributions to the world of politics, ethics, and social justice.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born on December 16, 1962, Matthew Scully is currently active in his work and continues to write and speak on various topics.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Scully holds American nationality and has worked as a writer, journalist, and speechwriter throughout his career. He has also been involved in animal welfare advocacy and has written extensively on the subject of compassion and ethics.
Early Life and Background
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Growing up in Los Angeles, California, Scully developed an early interest in writing and politics. He attended UCLA, where he studied English literature and began to hone his writing skills. After graduating, Scully worked as a journalist for several publications before joining the White House staff under President George W. Bush.
Major Accomplishments
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Scully's most notable achievement is likely his work on the Bush administration's policy initiatives, particularly in the areas of animal welfare and conservation. He played a key role in drafting the Animal Fighting Prohibition Act of 2007, which aimed to prohibit dogfighting and cockfighting nationwide.
Notable Works or Actions
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Scully has written several books, including Dominion: The Power of Man, the Struggle for God, and the Future of Humanity (2003) and Persuasive Business Proposals (1997). His articles have been published in various journals, such as The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and First Things. Scully has also worked as a columnist for National Review Online.
Impact and Legacy
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Matthew Scully's work has had a profound impact on the way we think about animal welfare, ethics, and compassion. His advocacy has led to significant policy changes and raised public awareness of issues such as animal cruelty and species extinction. Through his writing and speaking engagements, Scully continues to inspire and educate audiences worldwide.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Matthew Scully is widely quoted and remembered for his insightful commentary on politics, ethics, and social justice. His unique blend of intellectual rigor and compassionate advocacy has earned him a reputation as a leading voice in contemporary American thought. As a writer, journalist, and public speaker, Scully continues to inspire readers and audiences with his passionate defense of the vulnerable and his commitment to creating a more just and humane world.
As we reflect on Matthew Scully's remarkable career, it becomes clear that his contributions extend far beyond his written works or policy initiatives. He represents a beacon of hope for those seeking to make a positive difference in the world – a reminder that compassion, conviction, and intellectual curiosity can be powerful forces for change.
Quotes by Matthew Scully
To the factory farmer, in contrast to the traditional farmer with his sense of honor and obligation, the animals are 'production units,' and accorded all the sympathy that term suggests.
Factory farming isn’t just killing: It is a negation, a complete denial of the animal as a living being with his or her own needs and nature... It confronts us with the animal equivalent of Abraham Lincoln’s condemnation of human slavery: ‘If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
The elephants we have seen taunted and tormented and slaughtered by the likes of Safari Club do not have time to wait while the world’s ethicists work out some centuries-long paradigm shift in moral thought.
Some readers will say that animals awaken fantasy, if not heresy, in those who attach moral significance to them. Yet often I think it is the more violent among us who are living out the fantasy, some delusion in which everything in nature is nothing and all is permitted.
Reforms will come as all great reforms have always come in ridding us of evils against both man and animal – not as we change our moral principles but as we discern and accept the implications of principles already held.
Philosophical theories can in this way become a destructive venture, confusing matters with false choices and sterile power schemes the cruel are only too happy to accept. In hostile hands, they become a pretext for doing nothing, for brushing off real and urgent moral duties in the care of animals.
As sentimentality towards animals can be overindulged, so, too, can grim realism, seeing only the things we want in animals and not the animals themselves.
If we are defined by reason and morality, then reason and morality must define our choices, even when animals are concerned. When people say, for example, that they like their veal or hot dogs too much to ever give them up, and yeah it’s sad about the farms but that’s just the way it is, reason hears in that the voice of gluttony. We can say that what makes a human being human is precisely the ability to understand that the suffering of an animal is more important than the taste of a treat.
If animals are just commodities, then we are just consumers, with no greater good than material pleasure and no higher law than appetite.
Animals have this way of constantly confronting us with ultimate questions – about truth and falsehood, guilt and innocence, God and sanctity and the soul – forcing us to define ourselves and our relationship to the world.