Christian Vegetarian Association
Blog
Discussions
Update Newsletters
Take Heart!
Take Heart Contents
| Animal Issues | Articles | Bible | Children | Devotionals | Environment | Food | Health | Opinion | Quotations | Recipes |

Update Newsletters
4 May 2011 Issue

1. Activist Feedback

2. Christianity and Animal Rights, part 7: Human Benefits of Animal Rights

3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

4. New Play in Los Angeles: I’m Sorry

5. Vegan Christian Group in Santa Rosa, CA

6. The May Peaceable Table Is Online

---

1. Activist Feedback

Trish, who leafleted at Winter Jam Tour in Nashville, TN on March 13, writes:

It was raining when I got there which was just as the doors opened at 5pm. I was able to hand out almost 500 leaflets to all people who would take one who were waiting as the line slowly moved forward. After asking "Would you like some free information on food? animals? health? I found that boys responded to the food, girls the animal question, and adults the health aspect. Some men actually jeered me after they discovered the booklet was about vegetarianism and animal cruelty and made crude comments about "cooking some pigs" and "hunting." I am sorry to say that I am embarrassed for people who call themselves "Christian" yet seem to have little, if any, compassion for the planet or the creatures on it. It has increased my awareness that I should show kindness for all because Jesus died for them, too.

Upcoming Activist Opportunities

Contact Paris at christian_vegetarian@yahoo.com if you can help. To find out about all upcoming leafleting and tabling opportunities in your area, join the CVA Calendar Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christian_vegetarian/ .

2. Christianity and Animal Rights, part 7: Human Benefits of Animal Rights

In past essays, I have argued that the Bible mandates that we are called to be responsible caretakers of God’s Creation, and this includes treating God’s animals with compassion and respect. In our secular society, the language and philosophy of animal rights articulates well our biblical duties to nonhuman beings. This is certainly important for animals, who are at our mercy. It is also crucial for humans, who experience profound consequences when they deny to animals basic rights such as freedom from slavery and abuse. In the next essays, I will focus on practical consequences, and then I will address spiritual consequences.

1. The environment. Many people are aware that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that animal agriculture contributes more to global warming than all forms of transportation (including cars and airplanes) combined, 18% versus 14%. A 2009 WorldWatch report concluded that 51% of greenhouse gasses come from animal agriculture. Their analysis included many estimates, but I think it is safe to say that at least 35-40% of greenhouse gasses come from this source. Therefore, moving to a plant-based diet is an imperative component of any serious strategy to address global warming. In addition, animal agriculture contributes heavily to depletion of topsoil, water, energy, and other essential resources.

2. Human health. There is voluminous evidence that animal flesh and other products are deleterious to human health. For people who don’t have access to other sources of protein and other nutrients, animal products are better than malnutrition. But for nearly everyone in the West, plant-based foods offer substantial health benefits. This has been well documented by numerous physicians and dieticians, and sources of reliable information include www.pcrm.org  and www.veganhealth.org .

3. World hunger. Much of the world’s agricultural production consists of feed for animals destined for slaughter. Feeding plant foods to animals, where it is inefficiently converted to flesh and other products, rather than to people raises the cost of food for everyone. This contributes to malnutrition and starvation among the poorest people of the world.

Denying basic rights to animals means treating animals as a means to selfish human ends. As a result, we have institutions of animal exploitation and abuse that also have had serious consequences for human welfare. The harm incurred to humans by denying rights to animals will likely to increase over time as global warming disrupts ecosystems and resource depletion imperils people throughout the world.

Next week, I will argue that humans are designed to be largely if not exclusively herbivores, and the consequences of trying to live differently are having devastating consequences for the entire world, including its human inhabitants.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.

3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

What Is Your Real Wealth?
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons97/s10apr88.html  

4. New Play in Los Angeles: I’m Sorry

The new play, I’m Sorry, written by and starring Katya Lidsky, and directed by Lauren Patrice Nadler, was sold out in January and is back for performances from 4/29-5/22 at The Lounge Theater in Hollywood. Here is a link to a review of the January performance.

To buy tickets, go to www.plays411.com/sorry. Tickets are $10 online, $20 at the door.

5. Vegan Christian Group in Santa Rosa, CA

We have a new group in Santa Rosa based at the Church of the Incarnation. It is called the Animal Ministry group, and we encourage a vegan diet through a compassionate education program on behalf of the relationship between God, humans, and animals.

If you are interested, contact cva@christianveg.org , and I will forward your message to the coordinator, Eileen M. Harrington, MA MDiv.

6. The May Peaceable Table Is Online

Contents include:

* The editorial, "The Good Shepherd," reflects on the ancient Hebrew image of God as the shepherd of Israel, a problematic ambivalence in the image, and the radical resolution of that problem in the Fourth Gospel.

* In the Unset Gem, Lorena Mucke proposes that the heart of the Image of God in which we are made is divine love, which links us to all other beings.

* When time to prepare dinner is short, this Recipe for Soul-Food Greens by Jennifer Weinbrecht makes for a satisfying quick entree.

* Pioneering physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner restored his patients to health with plenty of whole fresh plant food, particularly muesli, and exercise.

To read this issue, go to http://www.vegetarianfriends.net/issue76.html.

We invite readers' responses, as well as suggestions and submissions for future issues.

Toward the Peaceable Kingdom--
Gracia Fay Ellwood, Editor.

Your question and comments are welcome

| Home Page | Bibliography | Blog | Books, T-shirts, Etc. | Community | Contact Us | CVA Board | CVA Videos | Essays and Coloring Book | Honoring God's Creation | How to Help | Links | Membership | Mission | Podcast | Take Heart | Vegetarianism's Benefits |

This site is hosted and maintained by
The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation.

Since