In What Kind of God Do You Believe?
Animals: Tradition - Philosophy - Religion Article from All-Creatures.org
FROM
Stephen Kaufman, M.D., Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)
In What Kind of God Do You Believe?
A recent “On Being” podcast (one of my favorites) featured a rabbi who
argued for religious equality for women in Judaism. He emphasized that this
was not only a question of justice for women. How men believe women should
be treated in a religious context says a lot about what men think about God.
Similarly, how Christians treat nonhumans says a lot about what Christians
truly believe. They can speak platitudes about God’s love and compassion all
day. But, if they believe that God endorses their direct or indirect
violence against God’s helpless creatures, they are saying with actions far
louder than words that they believe in a violent, malevolent God.
None of us is perfect, and we all harm other individuals from time to time.
However, if we endeavor to be as “innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16), we are
pursuing a godly path. In contrast, if we harm others without qualms and
without the intention to make kinder decisions in the future, we are
rejecting the notion of God as loving and compassionate. What does this say
about the notion of God as forgiving? I’ll consider that next essay.
Go on to: Essay: Is There Forgiveness without Repentance?
Return to:
Reflection on the Lectionary, Table of Contents
-
- Home Page
- What's New
- Contact Us
- Action Alerts
- Animal Exploitation
- Animal Issues
- Animal Rights Activism
- Archives
- Art & Photography
- Articles Directory
- Bible
- Bible Commentary Blog
- Books
- Campaigns
- Church & Religion
- Discussions
- Donate
- Events / Podcasts / Media
- Health
- Hosted Web Sites
- Humor
- Kids' Korner
- Letters
- Links
- Nature Studies
- Newsletter
- Poetry & Stories
- Quotations
- Recipes with Photos
- Recipes Without Photos
- Sermons
- Stop Cruelty in Churches
- Video Library
- The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
- Email: [email protected]
Follow us on:
A web site sponsored by The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation and all-creatures.org
Copyright © 1998-2024 The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation. All rights reserved. May be copied only for personal use or by not-for-profit organizations to promote compassionate and responsible living. All copied and reprinted material must contain proper credits and web site link www.all-creatures.org.
Fair Use Notice: This document, and others on our web site, may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org.
