Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - July 28, 2021
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Human Civilization Cannot be Grounded in Lies
  2. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

1. Human Civilization Cannot be Grounded in Lies

Last week, I observed that the massive, society-wide animal exploitation and abuse requires general acquiescence to a set of obvious lies. Many individuals readily parrot these lies because the lies serve their perceived interests. Further, they tend to prefer leaders who articulate these lies and protect deceitful institutions over contenders for power who speak uncomfortable truths. However, people know, deep down, that their mendacious leaders are not trustworthy.

A paradox is that people have almost always been drawn to spiritual leaders who have fearlessly spoken truth and therefore opposed unjust treatment of humans and nonhumans and therefore have (among other things) chosen a plant-based diet. These spiritual leaders talk of God or the gods as being merciful, and they demonstrate mercy in the ways they deal with humans and nonhumans. I think that people want to envision God or the gods as merciful because they believe that divine forces influence their life and determine their fate after death, and they feel very vulnerable. Though they often try to create a public image as upright and honorable people, privately they know that they are deeply flawed and that only a merciful deity will show kindness toward them.

Thus, humans tend to be drawn to two poles. They are attracted to dishonest leaders who confirm their prejudices and justify their selfish desires. But, they know that these leaders are liars, which makes them hesitant to entrust their well-being to the care of these leaders. Consequently, they also want to follow spiritual leaders who speak truth fearlessly, even as the spiritual path seems to demand more self-sacrifice than they are willing to make. This attraction to opposite poles, grounded in individual psychology and manifest in societal institutions, generates an unstable equilibrium that threatens all institutions. If the mendacious side gains dominance, the institutions will fail to serve the general populace and many will suffer as the institutional leaders serve their own needs at the expense of the public. If the side for truth and mercy prevails, institutions needed for peace and order that have been grounded on lies will undergo radical transformations that might, ultimately, be destructive for society-at-large.

I think there might be a way to navigate the difficult waters humanity faces in an age of proliferating weapons of mass destruction, climate change, resource depletion, the corrosive effect of the Internet on our democratic institutions, and other challenges. It starts with a critique of two principal forms of government – autocracy (which is perhaps most generously depicted in Plato’s Republic) and representative democracy.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.

2. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

Please read our all-creatures Newsletters, which we hope you like and share with others to help stop the exploitation and killing of animals.

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