Posted on 06/07/2010 12:07:51 PM PDT by Borges
Factory farming, green living among topics sparking discussion Animal advocates gain ground in religious circles
In Genesis, the Lord created animals, said they were good and then gave man permission to eat them.
While not a universal belief, many Christians traditionally have embraced a biblical stance on animals as a source of companionship, food and labor, but not much else.
"We know from the Bible that God created animals, he cares about them intimately and he wants us to care about them," said Ben DeVries, 30, of Kenosha, Wis., who started a blog, "Not One Sparrow," to encourage his conservative Christian brethren to become more like shepherds than hunters.
During a time when people increasingly treat pets as family members, animal advocates are gaining ground in religious circles. DeVries is among a growing number of people of faith who have joined the appeal for help in promoting causes such as relocating homeless pets, preventing animal cruelty and investigating factory farming practices.
The Humane Society of the United States has started a faith outreach program that, within the past two years, has distributed 7,500 DVDs at church and college campuses on "Eating Mercifully." The DVD and booklets draw on Scripture to remind Christians of their duty to be good stewards of all God's creatures.
But defining what it means to treat animals with compassion ranges wildly across faiths and within denominations. For some, it means trying to end animal abuse, volunteering at an animal shelter, having their pet blessed or pushing for vegetarian diets.
Others seek to fulfill spiritual needs that go beyond a simple desire to treat animals with dignity and kindness. Some religious leaders welcome pets to worship services, memorialize them at death and discuss them as spiritual beings without distinction from humanity — the most controversial ideology...
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I had a pet cat that saved my life. I have no doubt that God has given us animals as a great gift.
I love animals. Especially the ones that are made out of meat.
Distraction.
God commanded the people of Israel to slaughter animals humanely (Kosher).
Of course HE cares about animals and how we treat them.
If he was a true believer, you'd think he would refer to God as "He" not "he" and know the role that fishing and fish played in the lives of early Christians.
While I have no problem with this, it would be interesting to find these peoples' stance on aborting human beings.
God gave us dogs as companion animals. He gave us horses to ride. He gave us cats to clear out vermin. And he gave us livestock to nourish us.
Animals serve us. We should thank them for it.
One look at the Democratic Party will show you that.
Suddenly I’m in the mood for some pork chops.
Rabbi Byron Sherwin, distinguished service professor with the Spertus Institute in Chicago. "Judaism makes a very clear distinction between animals and human beings. Human beings are not really a kind of animal like any other kind of animal." He joins Christian leaders who fear that these practices blur a line that sets humans and animals apart.
That’s a quote of what someone said. Grammatical decisions like which letters are capitalized are made by the person writing the article.
Compassion for animals is one of the many things that sets America apart from the rest of the world and makes us great.
It’s in the religion section of the paper, so they have an atheist/secularist editor for “religion”?
The Humane Society of the United States is just a PETA front group. It’s basic philosophy was formed by Peter Singer. No doubt some Christians will be drawn to this just as some past Christians have been drawn to racism and genocide. They’re just trying to make the world a better place.
Cats make pretty good companions too!
The Humane Society of the United States = PETA!
NOT your local Humane Society that shelters homeless dogs and cats (where the heck are their lawyahs??)
Indeed!
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