Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - August 4, 2022
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. The Threat of Partisanship, Part 1: the Problem
  2. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

1. The Threat of Partisanship, Part 1: the Problem

Nothing brings people together more firmly and more passionately than a perceived existential threat from outsiders. They will readily sacrifice truth, justice, and compassion in favor of unity against the enemy. They will seek to follow a strong leader, even if the leader is obviously corrupt and cruel and even if much of what the leader says is obviously false. They generally fail to recognize, however, that corrupt, cruel, and dishonest leaders always abuse their followers after they destroy their enemies.

Sometimes the threats from outsiders are very real, such as the threat to Ukraine from Russia. More often, however, leaders use fear of external or internal “enemies” to obtain and maintain power. If successful, such divisive leaders will cleave society into two groups – followers and opponents of the leader. In democracies, would-be autocrats first seek to undermine the institutions that are essential for maintaining democracy, such as free and open elections, the free press, and the judicial system. Though no institution has ever been perfectly devoid of political influence and corruption, autocratic leaders assert that these crucial institutions are fundamentally corrupt and are participants in the existential threat against the leader’s followers. Then, autocratic leaders, freed from the constraints of elections, the press, and the judicial system, use violence and threats of violence to secure power.

Historically, democratic institutions have emerged from under the boot of autocracies, but often at great price. Many die in the struggle to overthrow the autocratic regimes, often after agonizing torture. Times have changed, and for the worse. As China demonstrates, modern technologies have empowered autocracies with effective tools to control the populace. In China, everyone must carry a cell phone, which allows the government to track where they go, who they talk to, and what they say and text on the phone. This complements surveillance cameras, which use facial recognition technology to track movements. These technologies are empowered by artificial intelligence, which always gets better and better at identifying potentially subversive behaviors. It can even learn to recognize when opponents of the regime are trying to trick the AI.

It appears, therefore, that once a nation loses its democracy, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get it back. The prospects for free elections in former democracies such as Russia, Turkey, and Hungary, are bleak. Will the United States and other longstanding democracies come to resemble North Korea? This would be a nightmare for all but a handful of humans, and there would also be significant implications for nonhuman animals. Next, I will consider the implications for nonhumans, and then I will reflect on how this dystopia might be avoided.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D. 

2. From All-Creatures.Org Ministry

Don’t miss the August 4th issue with the new free vegan book download PDF entitled The Way It Is: Hard Facts and Despicable Truths, The Drivers behind Veganism by Nymph Kellerman.

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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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