November - December 1996 Issue

FROM THE PULPIT

St. Francis of Assisi (1220)

Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission: to be of service to them whenever they require it.

Clive Holland, at Westminster Abbey. ( 1987)

As Christians we believe that God gave us dominion over His Creation, but we have used that authority, not to protect and safeguard the natural world, but to destroy and pollute the environment. And even worse, we have deprived animals of the dignity and respect which is due to all that has life.

From a Report commissioned by the Church of England, Board of Social Responsibility. (1970)

We make animals work for us, carry us, amuse us and earn money for us. We also make them die for us in ways which would be rejected if we could readily see it done. In many fields, we use them not with gratitude and compassion, but with thoughtlessness, arrogance and complete selfishness. #

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