Challenging Church Compassion – 10: Chased Away “B”
“B” is another one of the people who have been chased away from the church because of the hardness of heart toward animals that she encountered from both the pastor and congregation. She wrote:
“I have been a Christian most of my life, but have always loved animals and as I get older, I am finding myself more and more drawn away from conventional churches, because of their lack of compassion and spiritual acknowledgement of animals.
I have always felt that every living thing has God’s Spirit living inside it, trees, animals, even the ground (I know that sounds crazy, but that’s how I feel) and I can’t believe that God, who created everything, has less compassion for His animal creations, than He does for humans.
Nothing makes me angrier than when I hear people say that God created animals for man to eat. HE DID NOT!!! Read Genesis! We were all supposed to eat the fruits and all green things! Man and animals both, we were not intended to eat our animal companions! (sorry).”
“B’s” church was doing the exact opposite of what God desires. Note what we are told in Hebrews 3:15-17.
15. As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
16. Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
17. And with whom was he angry for forty years?
NIV
The church chased away “B” because of their hardness of heart. Their leaders know what God desires of us, as well as what the Bible tells us about not hardening our hearts as did the Israelites who came out of Egypt.
The church has a responsibility to make people feel comfortable because of their love for God and the whole of His creation, which includes us and all the animals.
Go on to: Challenging Church Compassion – 11: St. Francis Church
Since 
I don’t know about “B”s church, but the churches around me, for the most part, don’t even know how to really treat fellow church goers. Unfriendly. Indifferent. Surface conversation is all. I am NOT uplifted by that kind of thing. I quit where I was going for awhile due to their picking an student pastor who likes to “hunt.” I am NOT going to be served communion by someone who would kill or even hurt, one of my wild loved ones!!
We find a lot of this going on in the churches, but the unfriendlyness is usually more of a community problem rather than one of a church wide problem. And, like you we would feel very uncomfortable with a hunting pastor.
Look into Franciscans you should find the understanding you are looking for. St Francis is a great teacher on the value of all life.
We have found the compassion in some of them, but sadly most of them don’t seem to have true compassion and empathy for animals, and no longer eat them.