1. Activist Feedback
Rick Hershey writes:
I handed out 1700 CVA booklets at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for Winter
Jam. Most of the booklets went to kids. A couple people remembered me from
last year. Windchill was 20 degrees, and some people wouldn’t take their
hands of their pockets to accept a booklet.
2. Looking for a Moral Compass: Stories
Humans tend to retain information better and to be more emotionally
affected by stories than by statistics or abstract ideas. Whether or not the
stories are historically accurate, throughout human history stories have
provided frameworks that help people discern what goals they should pursue
and how they should interact with others. For Christians, stories about
Jesus’ interactions with friends and detractors can provide guidance for how
we should live.
Jesus encouraged love, compassion, and mercy, and the Bible never depicts
Jesus harming a human. Jesus’ interactions with nonhumans are somewhat more
ambiguous. While there is certainly evidence for compassion and concern for
nonhumans, there are also passages in which animals appears to be harmed,
such as Jesus’ assisting his disciples in capturing fish. While there are
different ways to understand such stories, the general thrust of Jesus’
ministry strongly favors kindness toward nonhumans.
The Hebrew Scriptures have many passages than forbid cruelty to nonhumans,
but today people seeking to justify harming nonhumans often focus Genesis
1:26, in which God gave Adam “dominion” over the creatures. While Genesis
1:29 prescribed a vegan diet for Adam, demonstrating that “dominion” should
not be equated with tyranny, many Christians have held that Genesis 1:26
gives humanity license to treat nonhumans as humans please, including
horrific cruelty. For example, when there is a fear that avian flu might be
present among a flock of chickens imprisoned in large shed, farmers
routinely chose to simply shut off the fans and let the animals die slowly
and painfully from the heat and toxic fumes rather than by more humane, but
more expensive, options.
Are there stories that might inspire humanity to pursue peace rather than
violence, which has been routinely perpetrated against nonhumans and, not
uncommonly, against fellow humans? I will continue to explore this question.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. From All-Creatures.Org Ministry
All-Creatures.org Newsletter, February 1, 2023
Can you believe it is the first week in February!
Where does time go? For us humans time can pass quickly, but for all
tormented creatures it is a lifelong experience of suffering and hell made
by humanity. So let us make sure to make each day count by helping bring
God’s heavenly will to earth.
This week’s newsletter is filled with many things you can participate in and
things you can share with others. It contains up-to-the-minute good news for
animals, action alerts, vegan/animal rights stories, poetry, and prose,
thought provoking articles, vegan religion and spirituality, recipes,
events, and much more!
Enjoy!
All-Creatures.org Newsletter, February 8, 2023
Did you hear about the Utah juror who spoke up against the new anti-rescue bill? Read this and so much more in this week’s newsletter. It contains up-to-the-minute good news for animals, action alerts, vegan/animal rights stories, poetry, and prose, thought provoking articles, vegan religion and spirituality, recipes, events, and much more!
Enjoy!
Do you have things that you would like to see included? Then send it to us at veda@all-creatures.org.
In the Love of the Lord,
Frank L Hoffman
All-Creatures.org
and
Kindness,
Tams Nicholson
Executive Directress
All-Creatures.org