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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


An Open Letter to Christian Churches – 15 May 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

Frank and I wrote the following open letter to Christian Churches on 11 March 2002.

To all churches claiming to be “Christian”:

When we first started our website ministry, all-creatures.org, we never expected to hear from so many people who have been hurt by pastors and church members through callous indifference, ridicule, or emotional battering concerning the “animal issue.” For example, people, already grieving for their dead companion animals, have been subjected to more grief through the insensitivity of the very ones who are expected to offer support: their faith community.

Having been exposed to years of similar expressions of uncaring attitudes stemming from a basic “hardness of heart” in churches, we have decided to “go public” in the hope that exposure to the truth will effect change in the behavior of those who have unintentionally (or intentionally) hurt others.

How has this come to pass and what are some ways that this situation can be remedied?

Many Christians think they are getting away with what Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined “cheap grace”; but it is costing them a lot more than they bargained for! “If there is no element of asceticism in our lives, if we give free rein to the desires of the flesh…we shall find it hard to train for the service of Christ.” (The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, New York: Macmillan, 1963, p. 188)

Does your church sponsor breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, suppers, church socials, beef dinners, pancake suppers, fish fries, chicken dinners, ham dinners, pork roasts, etc.? (Or should I say ad nauseam?)

Then you are probably raising funds (blood money) on the backs of billions of sentient creatures who suffer horrendously, while you feast on the products of their tortured lives and excruciating deaths.

Do you raise money for “cures” for the latest fad disease: breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, etc.?

Unless you check www.HumaneSeal.org or Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) www.pcrm.org  to see if the soliciting organization funds animal research, you are dooming millions of animals to lives of lingering pain and unspeakable sadistic cruelty.

Do you pray for those who are sick?

Perhaps you should read Why Christians Get Sick by The Reverend George Malkmus, Baptist Minister, who cured his colon cancer by eliminating animal products from his diet, and has gone on to really help others regain and maintain their health by his example. Unless you are one of the few who have listened to the truth and acted on it, you may be wasting your time and prolonging human suffering, if your answers to the first two questions are “yes.”

(Continued tomorrow.)

For the complete letter, see:
http://all-creatures.org/letters/20020311.html 

For a list of humane charities, see:
http://www.pcrm.org/resch/charities/guide.html   

Go on to: An Open Letter to Christian Churches, continued – 16 May 2006
Return to: Happy Mother’s Day – 14 May 2006
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