CVA Blog
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

Have a Gentle and Joyful Thanksgiving Celebration
November 24, 2014

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog!  In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

  1. Point of View
  2. Famous Quote: Leo Tolstoy
  3. Why Not To Eat Turkeys
  4. Bible Verse: Genesis 2:18-19
  5. An Open Letter to Pope St. Francis from Tom Regan
  6. This Week’s Video: Butterball Abuse

1. Point of View
By Shel Silverstein

Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless,
Christmas dinner's dark and blue,
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.

Sunday dinner isn't sunny
Easter feasts are just bad luck,
When you see it from the viewpoint
Of the chicken or the duck.

Oh, how I once loved tuna salad,
Pork and lobster, lamb chops, too,
Till I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view.

2. Leo Tolstoy quotation

“This is dreadful! Not only the suffering and death of the animals, but that man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity—that of sympathy and pity towards living creatures like himself—and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel.”

3.  Why Not To Eat Turkeys

Read about the many reasons why not to eat turkeys (or any of God’s animals!). Share these reasons with friends and family!

  • Newborn turkeys search and call for their mothers, but sadly never get to be with them
  •  Turkeys love to be petted
  •  Turkeys form deep friendships and emotional bonds
  •  Turkeys are sexually molested and abused
  • Young turkeys are brutally mutilated without painkillers
  •  Life in factory farms (including many “free range” farms) is living hell
  •  Domestic turkeys still share much in common with wild turkeys
  • Turkeys suffer horribly during transport and slaughter
  • Nearly 1 million turkeys and chickens are “accidentally” boiled alive every year In U.S.
  • “Humane” turkey slaughter just doesn't exist
  • Compassion toward all animals doesn’t have to be taught; it is only untaught. Which lesson are you teaching your kids this Thanksgiving?
  • Delicious plant-based turkey alternatives abound

Please visit 12 Reasons You May Never Want to Eat Turkey Again

4. Bible Verse
Genesis 2:18-19 (RSV)

“Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”

These verses suggest that God made animals as Adam’s helpers and companions and not as mere commodities to be exploited. In fact, Adam named the animals, which we might interpret as concern and friendship. Simply put, we don’t name the animals we eat.

5. An Open Letter to Pope St. Francis from Tom Regan

Tom Regan, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University, wrote an open letter to Pope St. Francis calling the Pope to honor the name he has chosen “St. Francis” and be the voice of God’s animals who are routinely exploited in egregious ways by humans.

Please visit An Open Letter to Pope Francis from Tom Regan.

Christianity’s core values are those of compassion, mercy, justice and love; clearly values inconsistent with the way God’s animals are treated by many industries including the food industry. However, it’s us, the consumers, who truly must align our values with our choices. If there’s no demand for animal products then God’s animals would not be exploited and killed for food.

6. Butterball Abuse - video

Hidden-camera video taken by an undercover investigator with Mercy For Animals at Butterball -- the world's largest producer of turkey meat -- shows baby turkeys being routinely mutilated without painkillers, ground up alive in a macerating machine, and carelessly thrown, dropped, and mishandled by Butterball workers.

Please watch Butterball Abuse

See CVA 2014 Blogs - Index
See CVA Blog Past Issues