I Love Pigs - I Think
Animals: Tradition - Philosophy - Religion Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Gracia Fay Ellwood, Editor, Peaceable Table
September 2016

When we try to plant a seed, and find to our surprise that one is already there and sprouting, we can rejoice. But often we sow and nothing sprouts; we can’t understand how the Spirit can possibly be working in human hearts, especially those of otherwise caring persons who insist on their right to kill and devour the defenseless. It is tempting to reject such persons as hypocritical, as enemies, but it won’t do to retreat into a fortress and see ourselves as warring against them on behalf of compassion and justice.

Recently, while shopping at the local Farmers’ Market, I found myself facing a vendor, Luis by name, wearing a T-shirt that read “I (heart) Bacon.” My heart definitely did not feel an answering throb! But how to respond to this dreadful message without making the wearer retreat further behind the barricade behind which he had seemingly erected? Was there any way to communicate with him?

My spouse Robert had faced a similar situation two or three years ago, when, in his capacity as treasurer of Quaker Animal Kinship (QUAK), he entered the bank to deposit money in our account, and saw an advertising display sponsored by the Ventura County Cattlemen’s Association, probably another of the bank’s account-holders. Made up of photos, figurines, and text, it praised the wonderful virtues of including local “beef” in our diets. Robert felt that we in QUAK had a responsibility to counter the message. Speaking to the manager, he commented “You know, there are a lot of vegetarians in Ojai (our small town); a display like that is likely to put many people off.” He also asked whether it was to be temporary or permanent, and was told it was the former; those of differing points of view would have equal right to make their statement. After a time the offensive display did disappear, and was, we hope, largely forgotten, for the members of QUAK thought we could probably not afford a counter-display.

Remembering the incident, I decided to help myself to Robert’s response. Pretending to be casual, I said “You know, there are a lot of vegetarians in this town; your T-shirt is likely to put some people off.”

Luis didn’t seem at all offended. “You may be right; maybe I should wear something else next time.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “no point in keeping potential customers away.”

I thought that comfortable exchange about practicalities would be as far as he’d care to go, but to my surprise, he didn’t want to drop the subject; he had more on in his mind than just maximizing sales of his veggies. “My neighbor had twenty chickens,” he said, “and I found that they all had different and interesting personalities. I got to liking them so much, I couldn’t eat chicken any more.”

Encouraged, I said, “Animals can surprise us. Pigs have different personalities, too. And they’re a lot like dogs. They wag their tails when they’re happy, and will follow a person they like about.”

“They’re smart, too,” he replied.

This man was doing my work for me! “I suspect that when you get to know some pigs, you’ll feel the same way about them as about chickens,” I said.

“I expect I will,” Luis answered. “No more bacon then.”

Reflections

The surprising half-openness of this vendor to the animal concern is in keeping with the Quaker principle of the Inner Light: deep in every person is a place where that person touches God: the Seed or Spirit of God. Convinced of that Presence not only in every person but in every conscious being, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a small sprout in a fellow human.

But I was surprised, and most animal activists and supporters might be as well, because so often the response coming from someone sporting such a message is a combative one. Sometimes even those in our worship communities whom we expect to be compassionate and open-hearted are far from it. In the early years of PT’s sponsoring group, Animal Kinship, presenting our home Meeting with the various aspects of our concern in a neutral-to-positive manner, and proposing an experiment of two vegetarian potlucks, aroused such intense hostility from a few supposedly nonviolent Quakers that some of us withdrew, at least one with wounds that took years to heal (see “By the Waters of Babylon,” PT 24 ). But the work of Animal Kinship continued, and now, nearly twenty years later, the atmosphere in that Meeting is much more welcoming. Without a group decision having been made, potlucks now are always veg.

When we try to plant a seed, and find to our surprise that one is already there and sprouting, we can rejoice. But often we sow and nothing sprouts; we can’t understand how the Spirit can possibly be working in human hearts, especially those of otherwise caring persons who insist on their right to kill and devour the defenseless. It is tempting to reject such persons as hypocritical, as enemies, but it won’t do to retreat into a fortress and see ourselves as warring against them on behalf of compassion and justice.

As Jesus taught, we must “Be shrewd as snakes, and innocent as doves.”

---

Return to Animals: Tradition - Philosophy - Religion