Weekly Newsletter - October 7, 2015
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Activist Feedback
  2. Projecting Human Attributes onto Animals
  3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

1. Activist Feedback

Jessica, who leafleted at a Christian concert in FL on October 2, writes:

It went pretty well.  The concert was more sparsely attended than I would have thought for a big place like BB&T center, and they asked us to leave after 30 minutes, so we had to resume at a greater distance, missing some of the people coming from the parking lot.  But we gave out about 400 booklets to very polite people, 98% of whom took the booklet when offered.

2. Projecting Human Attributes onto Animals

Last week, I argued that one reason humans belittle nonhumans is that we do not wish to identify with creatures who seem to lack immortality. This week, I would like to explore another reason many humans have contempt for animals – the tendency to project attributes about which we are ashamed onto nonhumans.

Projection is a common psychological defense mechanism that helps maintain our sense of self-esteem. A good example of projection is blaming women for men’s sexual desires. One of the pernicious consequences of this projection is that women have often been blamed for being raped.

Nonhuman beings cannot defend themselves, and it is tempting to project those human feelings and desires that are socially condemned onto animals. Consequently, we frequently hear that humans who have engaged in vicious violent acts or “perverse” sexuality “acted like animals,” even though the kinds of sanctioned violence and sexual activities rarely, if ever, happen among nonhumans.

I think that what people think about animals – particularly the kinds of animals humans are inclined to kill – generally tells us very little about the animals themselves. It does, however, tell us a lot about what humans think about themselves. I will explore this thesis next week.

Stephen R. Kaufman, MD

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

Heavenly Intent Provides Wisdom

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