1. Helped Needed for the Ohioans for Humane Farms
Ballot Initiative
A. We Need Ohio Volunteers
B. We Need Ohio Pastors
C. Wanted – Full-time Petition Gatherers
D. Why the Ohioans for Humane Farms Initiative Is
Important
2. Prof. Deborah Jones to Speak in Cleveland
3. Religion and Animals Course at Harvard – Seeking Enrollment
4. Activist Feedback
5. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
6. The May Issue of The Peaceable Table Is Now Online
1. Helped Needed for the Ohioans for Humane Farms
Ballot Initiative
A. We Need Ohio Volunteers
Ohio, a large producer of pork and one of the nation’s largest
producers of chicken eggs, abuses 38 million land animals in factory
farms annually. Ohioans for Humane Farms aims to eliminate some of the
worst abuses, including battery cages for hens, gestation stalls for
pigs, cruel deaths for “downer” cows, and strangulation as a means of
killing pigs and cows on farms.
We need volunteers in Ohio to gather petitions by June 30 in order to
get this important measure on the ballot. This legislation would not
make animal agriculture “humane,” but it would make the lives of animals
on farms much less miserable. And the legislation has national
implications. Other states have enacted similar reforms, and if enough
states join them we will soon reach a “tipping point” where these state
standards become national standards. To learn more (and to read Dr.
Michael Greger’s outstanding essays explaining the benefits to animals,
communities, and human health from this measure) go to
www.ohiohumane.com.
B. We Need Ohio Pastors
We need pastors of all denominations who are willing to endorse a
letter to fellow pastors of their denominations in support of this
initiative. Please contact
[email protected] if you might be able to help.
C. Wanted – Full-time Petition Gatherers
The Justice for Animals Fund has kindly offered to sponsor 2-3
full-time petition-gatherers from now until the end of June. If
interested, contact
[email protected] .
D. Why the Ohioans for Humane Farms Initiative Is
Important
Next week I’ll post the second part of my commentary about free
speech. This week I want to discuss the Ohio ballot initiative, and why
it’s important. Factory farming commits animals to unrelenting pain,
stress, and misery; frustrates all or nearly all the animals’ natural
behaviors; and typically involves great suffering to and in the
slaughterhouse. Further, it promotes development of antibiotic-resistant
diseases; facilitates the spread of potentially disastrous epidemics
(such as SARS, swine flu, and others); sickens millions and kills
thousands of people in the United States annually from what is often
mislabeled as “stomach virus”; causes asthma and other diseases in
people living near the huge waste lagoons; ruins groundwater; pollutes
rivers; contributes heavily to greenhouse gasses; and depletes scarce
land, water, and energy resources. In short, factory farming is a
disaster for humans and animals. The Ohio ballot initiative won’t
eliminate factory farming, but it will reduce many of the economic
incentives that have promoted the most cruel and environmentally harmful
megafarms. These megafarms are also destroying rural American lives by
rendering the smaller, more sustainable, and far less abusive family
farms obsolete. Unfortunately, animal agribusiness interests are strong,
and nothing will happen unless we work hard. I call on our Ohio members
to rise up to the challenge!
2. Prof. Deborah Jones to Speak in Cleveland
Elizabeth Farians is trying to get Catholic theologians to deal with
the animal issue. She has invited Deborah Jones from England, author of
the new book School of Compassion, a Roman Catholic Theology of Animals
to speak at the annual convention of the Catholic Theological Society of
America. Financial help is greatly needed. Tax free donations can be
made to APE (Animals, People and the Earth) c/o Elizabeth Farians, 8540
Lynnehaven Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236.
The convention is in Cleveland this year and it would be helpful is
anyone could provide housing for Deborah on Sunday evening, June 13 to
Wednesday morning, June 16, when she leaves the area. She is vegan. She
and would also need transportation to the airport. Any help would be
greatly appreciated. Contact me at the email address or at 513 984 8062.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
3. Religion and Animals Course at Harvard –
Seeking Enrollment
Paul Waldau, Barker Lecturer in Animal Law at Harvard Law School and
author of The Specter of Speciesism: Buddhist and Christian Views of
Animals, is offering a summer term course at Harvard University entitled
Religion and Animals. The deadline for registration is May 17.
Dr. Waldau describes his course at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSjd9nd3ADA. He notes that
some really extraordinary people are already registered for the class,
which should make for lively and insightful discussions.
The course syllabus is available at
http://www.summer.harvard.edu – click on “Search” in the
upper right corner, and enter “animals” or “religion”.
4. Activist Feedback
Terri, who leafleted at Ignite 2010 in Ashville, NC, writes:
Stewart and I leafleted all 3 days of Ignite 2010, a free Christian
youth event, and gave away the six boxes of CVA brochures sent to us,
plus a box we had on hand [2100 booklets!]. People were polite in
general, with only a few negative remarks. Some people mentioned that
they were already vegetarian and were glad that we were there. We saw a
lot of people reading the brochures as they stood in line waiting for
the doors to open. Although many people took the brochures thinking they
were programs, they were exposed to the message once they looked at the
literature.
5. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary
Hoffman
To Kill or Not to Kill, That Is the Question
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons97/s16apr89.html
6. The May Issue of The Peaceable Table Is Now
Online
Contents include:
* The Editorial, by Robert Ellwood, considers George Orwell's
influential novel Animal Farm, written in the early 1940s but not
published until 1945 because several publishers feared that its satire
would offend England's Russian allies. Written from "the animals' point
of view," the book among other things illustrates the kind of corruption
of political language that Orwell later called "Newspeak," a corruption
still very much evident in the terminology surrounding the eating of
animals.
* In one of the Unset Gems, Orwell reminds us that in times of
deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary.
* Creatures of the Same God, a collection of essays by
theologian-activist Andrew Linzey, is considered in the Book Review. The
essays, among other things, describe a vegetarian Christian movement in
China in the early Middle Ages, and some conflicts between
ecotheologians and animal theologians.
* A refreshing and nourishing Peas and Corn Salad for springtime
dining is sketched in one of the May recipes.
* This month's Pioneer is Albert Einstein, who took a new path in
eating as well as in physics.
To read this issue, see http://www.vegetarianfriends.net/issue65.html
Toward the Peaceable Kingdom,
Gracia Fay Ellwood, Editor.