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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.

 

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Getting to the Root of the Problem – 6 June 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

Everywhere one turns, there is news of people suffering of diseases or starvation or wars. Yet, it’s a rare person who makes the connection between the widespread indifference and outright cruelty to animals (other than selected “pets”) and the woes that befall humanity. After all what we sow, we reap.

Almost daily we hear about the possibility of a bird flu plague, but little is said about the horrendous conditions that bring about such diseases. People talk about children suffering and dying of starvation, but little if anything is said about the export of tons of grain from poor countries to feed more and more livestock in wealthier countries where factory farms and slaughterhouses process sentient beings day and night in a never-ending nightmare.

The increasing demand for animal products around the world, resulting in the degradation of the environment as more and more land is cleared to grow crops for animal feed, and the pollution from animal excrement, cannot go on forever.

Hardly anyone wants to get to the root of the problem: the herding (hurting!) culture that we have all been brought up in.

And speaking of roots, here are two quotations that I think make a lot of sense:

Georg T. Angell:

“I am sometimes asked, “Why do you spend so much of your time and money talking about kindness to the animals when there is so much cruelty to men?” I answer, “I am working at the roots.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American author, poet and philosopher

Quotation from Walden, his autobiography:

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the roots.”

Go on to: “Love all God’s creation….” – 7 June 2006
Return to: Christian Concern For All God’s Creatures – 5 June 2006
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