Animal Writings

On the morning of November 7, I attended a momentous, long-awaited, and deeply appreciated ceremony in the Canon House Office Building, not far from the U.S. Capitol. Members of Congress, founder Michael Mountain and other staff of Best Friends Animal Society, representatives from many different religious faiths, and supporters who wanted to be part of this event all came together to call on faith-based institutions to include animals in their moral sphere and to substantially change how they deal with animal issues.

The religious representatives issued a proclamation challenging religions to promote and practice kindness to animals instead of excusing and partaking in cruelty. It was a moment to behold and a day for rejoicing.

As I told my wife, this is what going to church should be like—joining hearts and spirits to embrace compassion for all of God's creatures (including fellow humans), to express our joyous thanks for living among such magnificent beauty, and to reaffirm our humble gratitude for being given the opportunity to serve the goodness of Creation, particularly the wondrous and precious animals who share our planet and our lives.

As a vegan, of course the proclamation does not go far enough. It does not unambiguously press people to cease all forms of animal exploitation. It does not directly say "Stop eating them."

But as a citizen and animal advocate, I am overjoyed. Some of the words I heard from the pulpit, as it were, caused me to break into spontaneous applause. It was just so wonderful and refreshing to hear these sentiments from members of the clergy—and of Congress.

[Best Friends has indicated that it will post transcripts and videos of the various speeches on their web site in the near future. In the meantime, I hope the quotes in the rest of the post are accurate; I tried to write them down exactly as I heard them. As soon as the speeches are online, I'll correct any mistakes.]

Representative Christopher Shays, co-author of the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act of 2005 (which was signed into law in 2006) said that animals have been devalued to mere "units of economic production." It was amazing—per se—to hear a high-ranking elected Federal Government official utter words that could have come right out of an animal rights advocacy book.

He also said, when speaking of factory farms, that "global warming isn't the only inconvenient truth." Hear, hear.

Representative Betty Sutton told the crowd: "Cruelty to animals, in all its forms, is morally wrong." Is she a vegetarian? I doubt it. But at least she's saying the right things, and that's a start. Rep. Sutton has also introduced the Dog Fighting Prohibition Act, which will make it easier to prosecute and hopefully eradicate dogfighting. For one thing, it will make attending a dogfight a punishable offense. How's about we introduce similar bills for rodeos—another "tradition" that needs to be retired?

Michael Bruner, director of Best Friends’ outreach to religious organizations, said "Our addiction to oil is nothing compared to our addiction to meat." Powerful.

But he topped that by a mile with: "Animals are the environment."

Right on. How many times have I heard so-called environmentalists support—or engage in—hunting and fishing? The animals and fish they stalk, frighten, pursue, wound, cripple, and kill are the most important part of the environment. They're the sentient component of the environment, that truly feels the effects of humans, on an individualized, experiential, direct basis. They're the part of the environment that looks back at us; that suffers and feels joy, that has interests.

How about this: "As an evangelical Christian, I'm supposed to care about animals primarily for how they taste."

What a slam against the institution of which he's a part. As far as I'm concerned, that's more radical than Martin Luther's complaints. It's an indictment of virtually every denomination.

And then: "Says who? Not the bible. Not Jesus." In other words, the Church is acting in violation of God.

Rabbi Robin Nafshi had these profound words: "The highest wisdom is kindness." Think about it.

I was so riveted by Reverend Steve Keplinger's speech, I couldn't bear to miss one word by making notes. I urge everyone to read or watch his speech. I'll post the links once they become available.

One of his main points was that early in Christianity, the religion lost touch with God the omnipresent spirit who is in everything, and replaced Him with God who is "out there," apart from nature, and that this caused us to be estranged from the rest of Creation. He said that we "must be the impetus" for a "gigantic shift" in Christianity's view of animals and nature, and that there is "nothing more important that we will ever do."

His presentation was impassioned and stirring.

In one sense, the reading of the Proclamation itself was anti-climatic, because I already knew what it said. But then I realized, as it was being read, and as religious leaders—and in my eyes, they are leaders—one by one signed the historic document, that I may have been witnessing the beginning of a sea change in humanity's worldview. It dawned on me, as this procession unfolded, that if the world's religions can join forces with the already-established yet still nascent animal protection / animal rights movement, a truly more peaceful and just world is in sight.

The signers of the document, and other people involved in the creation of the proclamation, pledged to spread their message internationally, and to re-convene in 18 months in Washington, DC. I'll be there, and I hope many of you will be, also.

As I was telling a non-vegetarian but interested friend a few nights ago, imagine a world in which our descendants proclaim "In the dark past we had slavery, the Holocaust, and factory farms. We wiped out the Indians and other native peoples. We hunted species to extinction. We gathered for events in which animals were abused for the fun of it. We exploited, maimed, tortured, and killed the weaker and more vulnerable simply because we could. And it was horrible. And now we don't do that any more, and it's wonderful. The animals used to live in fear and dread of us. Now, to the fullest extent possible, they live in harmony and friendship with us. Things are finally right, and peaceful."

On Wednesday morning in the Canon Caucus Room it was possible to imagine that.

---

It was fabulous to meet Sue Gresham, the driving force behind EpiscoVeg.com, one of my favorite sites on the Internet over the years. She has an excellent write-up of the event, which covers things I didn't even think about, and has some very nice photos and side stories.

It was also my distinct honor and pleasure to meet Jan Fredricks, founder of God's Creatures Ministry, a faith-based, non-profit organization "with a mission for all animals to be treated by people with kindness. We promote compassion, respect and protection of all sentient creatures..." Check out this page. Ms. Fredricks also chairs the Catholic Concern for Animals (CCfA) in the United States. CCfA publishes a remarkable magazine called The Ark. I'll be featuring excerpts from The Ark in upcoming posts.

Unexpected bonus: Sue introduced to me to Weston Cook, a Franciscan who has written elegant pieces that convey compassion not only for animals but for those with differing views, like this: Response to a letter in the Franciscan Times. Mr. Cook, another local activist, and I rode the Metro together, and he shared some of his wisdom and experiences.

Labels: religion advocacy epsicoveg gods-creatures-ministry best-friends