Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - April 13, 2022
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)


  1. Living in Peace – Withholding Judgment
  2. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

1. Living in Peace – Withholding Judgment

Last time, we considered the role of forgiveness in maintaining peaceful communities. Withholding judgment is a related concept, because we can forgive only those who we believe might be worthy of forgiveness. All but the rare sociopath have feelings of compassion and, more or less, act with kindness. Likewise, all of us have the capacity for evil. Consequently, we should be very reticent to pass judgement on other people. Indeed, Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get” (Matthew 7:1-2).

How can we withhold judgment? A good rule of thumb is to avoid drawing conclusions about motivations. It is very tempting to attribute good motivations to our own actions and those of people we love, and bad motivations to those who have harmed us or who belong to groups we dislike. Such attributions are almost always incorrect to a degree, and often they are badly mistaken.

The trick is to avoid making conclusions about the “why” question. While it is appropriate for detached, disinterested scientists to explore why people behave in certain ways, when we seek to explain why people did things that affected us our interests almost always color our analyses.

We can have honest conversations about how the actions of others have affected us without presuming good or bad motivations. As long as the person receiving the information does not feel judged, they will not be defensive and they can be open to our hearing our feelings, experiences, and stories.

Next, I will consider the primacy of truth in the quest for peaceful communities.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.


2. From All-Creatures.Org Ministry

Were you aware of the ongoing sermon/spiritual contest with cash prizes for any clergy or lay leader who has given a talk/presentation/sermon/lecture about compassion for animals? Please make sure to click on the Interfaith Vegan Coalition article in this week’s newsletter to read about it and pass it to people who might like to enter.

And as always, thank you for your readership and we are delighted to provide you with this week's edition of the All-Creatures.org Newsletter covering up-to-the-moment 2022 topics including GOOD news for animals, thought-provoking AR articles, religious and spiritual vegan information, art & stories, and so much more!

All-Creatures.org Newsletter for April 7, 2022

In the Love of the Lord,
Frank L Hoffman
All-Creatures.org

and

Kindness,
Tams Nicholson
Executive Directress
All-Creatures.org


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