1. Support CVA's Ministry
We believe that our ministry plays a vital role in protecting nonhumans from unnecessary harm and in building communities as we strive toward the “Peaceable Kingdom” that Isaiah envisioned (11:6-9). If you agree, please consider supporting our ministry by going to the bottom of this page to donate: www.christianveg.org/materials.htm.
And, while you’re there, you might want to pick up some CVA merchandise!
2. Why We Need to Follow Christ
If we are to live peacefully and justly, we cannot depend on the police and the courts to keep us from mistreating each other. For our communities to thrive, we must share common values and goals. We do not need to have the same values and goals, but they must be sufficiently similar that we can respect and want to work with each other. Having the faith of Christ – a faith that God is love (1 John 4:8) – can be a common denominator among Christians. It calls us to treat everything with compassion and respect. Importantly, this faith accords with the universal Golden Rule that we should treat others as we would like to treated. Therefore, when Christians talk in terms of following Jesus, we can find common ground with non-Christians when it comes to values and goals.
Many Christians interpret the Pauline letters as saying that we should have faith in Christ. However, the Greek pisteos Christou could be translated as either “faith in Christ” and as “faith of Christ.” Rev. Paul Neuchterlein has argued that “faith of Christ” is likely a more accurate translation (contact me for an elaboration). The difference is significant. If we are called to have faith in Christ, then those who do not believe in Christ are not part of the community of Christian believers. Further, within the community of people who profess faith in Christ, differences of opinion about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection can easily divide faithful Christians into groups who regard many fellow-Christians as outsiders.
Once we have identified a unifying set of values and goals, we must apply them in everyday life. While some individuals feel compelled by their inner sense of right and wrong to behave with respect and compassion toward others, unfortunately it appears that this seems insufficient for many people. Social approval for good behavior and social approbation for harmful behavior helps encourage kindness and compassion and discourage hurtfulness. What we need is social accountability, which unfortunately is often lost when it comes to the anonymity of the Internet. The low standards of how we talk and treat each other on the Internet have leached over to everyday life such that, more and more, people seem to be shameless in how they violate former social norms of kindness and decency.
The only way to regain communal cohesion, which is essential for a democratic state, is to adopt the faith of Christ or its rough equivalent as articulated in other faiths and secular ethics. As long as we countenance injustice toward any part of God’s creation, we deviate from the faith of Christ. None of us is perfect, but a decision to not strive toward perfection is, I think, a sin against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10). While our mere existence in the world results in some harm to God’s creation, we can choose to minimize that harm and we can choose to protect God’s creation, including God’s animals, in ways that far exceed our unavoidable harm. In doing so, we serve as examples to the world about how to live justly and compassionately, and thereby we serve God as beacons of hope and peace for a world that sorely needs these attributes.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. Sister Ministry
Check out
www.all-creatures.org
for a wealth of information about Christianity and animals, including news,
recipes, and inspiration.
All-Creatures.org Newsletter, December 11, 2024
Beavers: nature’s engineers — Veganuary’s weird wonderful marketing — exotic Animal skins banned from London 2025 Fashion Week — Beautiful Turkey bus ads — Man jailed for Monkey torture video network — Silent Night [poem] — war betrays vegan principles — how what food you order impacts people — meat eaters dislike animal pictures on meat/dairy/egg labels — and more…
All-Creatures.org Newsletter, December 18, 2024
A case for compassionate entomology – Primates need better protection – Paul Watson will not be extradited! – a guide to understanding vegans for your non-vegan friends [book] – California wolf restoration past, present, and future – learn about EthicalGlobe.com – A Christmas Prayer for Animals [poem] – concern and hope for the future of 43 escaped rhesus macaques – Iceland grants permits to kill whales – proposal to classify monarch butterflies as threatened – yet another horse dies after race – and more…
Do you have things that you would like to see included in future newsletters? Then send it to us at maddie@all-creatures.org.
In the Love of the Lord,
Frank L Hoffman
All-Creatures.org
and
Kindness,
Tams Nicholson
Executive Directress
All-Creatures.org