Permit to Kill Bald Eagles

[Whizz Bang]

Billy,

Respectfully, I think you are missing the point here. We can use this, a door has been opened and we would be foolish not to capitalize on it.

We need to create a religion whose most sacred rituals, holy rites of great importance, rely on freshly killed and locally procured pinnipeds.

I am thinking that maybe we should call it the Church of the Holy Mackerel. From my Google search, the old expression probably dates from the 19th century as a derisive term for the Catholic practice of eating fish on friday, but what if there is more to it? What if the Mackerel is not just Holy, but perhaps worthy of deification? How many of us lowly fishermen have been fed from the ultimate sacrifice a Mackerel makes on the terminal end of a fly line? That ultimate sacrifice absolves us of the sin of being a less than perfect fisherman, and in so doing, feeds the multitudes that constitute our family and friends.

There may be other practical benefits to this as well, the church would have tax exempt status and while I am no expert with regard to what a 501(C)(3) organization is actually exempt from, I am angling toward fishing gear (our tithing could comprise of costs associated with time on the water etc.).

The more I think about this, the more sense it makes..."All Hail the Holy Mackerel".


Post script: These momentously profound ceremonies will probably require the burning of computer keyboards and checkbooks obtained from environmental wackos. Just a thought, or maybe, just maybe, it was divine inspiration. Mackerel knows it would not be the first time a religion was created from divine inspiration that conveniently benefited the prophet.