No, I’m not writing about a family’s financial investmentsJ!
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
