In Reference to: To Love Completely or Not to Love
Dear Frank and Mary,
I did read the sermon and while much of it was very good, I am troubled by the following:
"These clergy fail to acknowledge or accept the difference between the concessions that God allowed as opposed to His will, and what it really means to pray for our Father’s heavenly will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) where there is no pain and death."
Once you allow for the harming and killing of animals, no matter what the rationalization is, you have opened the floodgates to violence....
There can be no justification or concession for allowing for such violence.
I take a different approach to clergy that cites this excuse for harming animals as a justification for their words and actions, and I tell them point blank that I cannot be part of a religion that endorses animal abuse. I did this in my personal life and am much happier for it. I now have a shelter from the mixed message of my birth religion, which I found quite troubling.
I understand that you are doing your best and that you are good and caring people, but I think you must take a firmer stand and say that the position of allowable harm is wrong, NO MATTER WHAT THE REASON. I hope I am not being too presumptuous, but this is truly what I believe.
Ruth