Note from the CVA
We are pleased to resume our weekly e-newsletter. We hope you find the
newsletter interesting and/or helpful. If not, please let us know at
cva@christianveg.org, and we will remove you from the e-newsletter list.
1. Richard Schwartz of Jewish Veg Announces a New Book and an Accompanying Campaign
Vegan Revolution: Saving the World, Revitalizing Judaism is now
available from Lantern Books. Author Richard Schwartz reflects on his
decades of tireless animal activism, noting that the ideals and practices
that underlying veganism are crucial in humanity’s leading challenges. These
include climate change, resource depletion, environmental degradation,
hunger, and human-human violence.
Schwartz also announces the “Toward a Pandemic-Free World” campaign. Noting
that many pandemics, which evidently includes the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
have resulted from humanity’s exploitation and consumption of nonhumans. For
more information, go to:
Toward a Pandemic-Free World
2. Estate Attorney Needed
Longtime animal rights and vegan activist Nina Natelson, president of Concern Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) needs an estate attorney to help identify whether estate funds promised to her organization are available. Contact cva@christianveg.org for more information.
3. Justice, Part 10: The Malthusian Dilemma
Thomas Robert Malthus argued that, if unchecked, animal populations
expand exponentially. For example, consider an animal pair who produce four
offspring in the first generation. These four, with four mates, give rise to
16 in the second generation. There are 64 in the third generation, 128 in
the fourth, etc. At best, food sources increase arithmetically. Animals
might find a new field of grass upon which to graze, but this discovery does
not engender a further increase in available food.
Consequently, Malthus maintained, animal populations invariably reach the
point where there is scarcity. It is in the interest of individual animals
to acquire as many resources as they can. In human populations, this is
exemplified by the “tragedy of the commons,” in which individual farmers
have an incentive to graze as many animals as they can on the common grazing
lands to the point that there will be insufficient grazing land to support
them all. Individuals, acting independently in their own self-interest, work
against the needs of the group.
Capitalism requires growth, and Malthus showed that growth is not
sustainable. As populations exceed the resources needed to support them,
there will be suffering and violent conflicts. If we are to avoid great
tragedies, we must find ways to encouraging cooperation and sharing. To the
degree that our society countenances the abuse and murder of nonhumans, it
will be difficult to promote caring, compassionate, sustainable
relationships between humans. The ethics that underly animal abuse are
antithetical to the ethics needed to create harmonious, sustainable human
communities.
Stephen R. Kaufman, MD
4. Recently from the All-Creatures.org Ministry
Newsletter: Here are some recent all-creatures Newsletters, which we hope you like and share with others to help end the exploitation and killing of animals.
Recent Sermons