See No EvilChristian Cruelty: An Unfortunate Reality
Church Silence Promotes Violence: An Article Series From All-Creatures.org

Church silence promotes violence to humans, to animals, to our environment, to our economy, to our education, to our finances, and to our health.
By: Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman

Letter from Michelle - 10 Jan 2005

Hello.

I saw your site, and I would just like to thank you for changing my view.

I used to think ALL Christians were ignorant killers who held animal life to no more of a non-living object rather than the feeling, breathing, heart beating creatures they actually are. I myself do not have a particular religion, but my disgust for the way Christians treated animals was immense.

It seemed only Christians looked at animals as inferior. They thought they had the right to kill animals because they believed animals were put here by God to be exploited and used by them. I know there are non-Christians who think this way too, but the majority of animal abusers and murderers are indeed of the Christian faith. Their treatment of animals made me bitter toward the whole human race. To treat our fellow mammals in such cruel and barbaric ways is absolutely unacceptable. It's too bad these people don't stop for a minute to think: What if they were that animal?

I am a vegetarian. I'm very against all forms of animal testing, and everything else that has to do with animals being treated as inferior. I respect all religions, but I hated Christians because of their view of animal life as not being equal, or sacred in any way. Because of your website, I now see that not all Christians are ignorant, and there are some who aren't thick-headed Neanderthals who carelessly throw animal life away. Thank-you for letting me see this. For it is a fact, not just an opinion, that torture and any kind of intentional cruelty to all species is evil.

Thanks for reading. :)

Go on to: Reply by Frank and Mary Hoffman
Return to: Christian Cruelty: An Unfortunate Reality
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Church Silence Promotes Violence
The intent of this series is to wake up and encourage the Church to greater works of love and compassion (John 14:12).  It is not to condemn the Church, in general, or any individual, any more than Jesus condemned the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus said to her, "...go your way.  From now on sin no more." (John 8:11)  And this is our message to the Church:  Recognize our sins of the past and go forth seeking to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), correcting the sins of the past, for that is the only way we can truly show the world that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, might, and mind, including the whole of creation, which includes our neighbors whom we are to love as ourselves.