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
