blog-maryBlog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
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.

 


Familial Bonds – 11 January 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

No, I’m not writing about a family’s financial investments! The familial bonds I’m referring to are emotional attachments common to sentient beings, both human and nonhuman.

Over two thousand years ago, Jesus compared His desire to protect Jerusalem to that of a mother hen shielding her chicks (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34):

Matthew 23:37

37. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." ~ New American Standard Bible

Jesus was using a comparison that was obvious and that everyone could relate to. Today, throughout the world, the hardness of heart that Jesus encountered is still very much in evidence. While a bit of progress is made here and there, at the same time, horrific cruelties continue to gain ground – particularly among the billions of nonhuman animals who cannot speak for themselves.

It wasn’t all that long ago that slaves from Africa were not considered to be capable of feeling pain to the same degree as whites did. In addition, the slave owners conveniently ignored the fact that slaves could experience emotional trauma when familial bonds were ignored, as when slaves were taken away from their families and sold.

People must face the fact that they are responsible for enormous pain and suffering, both physical and emotional. Every bit of money that they donate to “charities” that fund research utilizing nonhuman animals, or spend for animal “entertainment” or for “food” or clothing that is animal-derived, perpetuates and contributes to the hell on earth suffered by billions of our fellow creatures. This must stop. Nonhuman animals have the God-given right to live their own lives without the exploitation of humans.

Also visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/index.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes.html    

Go on to: CONSTANT – 12 January 2008
Return to: Stumbling Blocks – 10 January 2008
Return to: Blog - Main Page
Return to: Archive - By Date
Return to: Archive - By Subject

See Readers Comments