Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - February 21, 2019
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Activist Feedback
  2. Original Sin, part 65: Trust in God
  3. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

1. Activist Feedback

Rick Hershey writes:

On 2/9/19 I handed out 1625 CVA booklets mostly to kids for Winter Jam at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock today. It was a smaller crowd than usual this year.


It’s not too late to sign up for Winter Jam events. They have been very rewarding, and activists can have $25/hour donated to the animal protection group of their choice. Please contact Lorena at [email protected] to be a voice for the voiceless. Below are upcoming Winter Jam leafleting opportunities.

02/28/2019 MO, Springfield Winter Jam 2019
03/01/2019 LA, Bossier City Winter Jam 2019
03/02/2019 OK, Oklahoma City Winter Jam 2019
03/03/2019 TX, Austin Winter Jam 2019
03/08/2019 TN, Nashville Winter Jam 2019
03/09/2019 KY, Louisville Winter Jam 2019
03/10/2019 TN, Chattanooga Winter Jam 2019
03/15/2019 SC, Columbia Winter Jam 2019
03/16/2019 GA, Atlanta Winter Jam 2019
03/22/2019 NC, Raleigh Winter Jam 2019
03/23/2019 WV, Charleston Winter Jam 2019
03/24/2019 SC, Greenville Winter Jam 2019
03/29/2019 IN, Indianapolis Winter Jam 2019
03/30/2019 PA, State College Winter Jam 2019
03/31/2019 OH, Cleveland Winter Jam 2019

2. Original Sin, part 65: Trust in God

Inscribed on American currency is the assertion “In God We Trust.” Should we trust in God as much, or perhaps even more, than the U.S. dollar? The amount of suffering among innocent individuals raises serious doubts about God’s willingness or ability to protect vulnerable individuals. If God is powerful, then the degree of suffering in the world suggests that God is not good. If God is not powerful, then trust in God would seem to be misplaced.

We don’t need God to explain joy and misery. The materialistic process of natural selection can account for these experiences by explaining our desires and fears as ways to motivate us to behave in ways that help pass on our genes. But, materialism seems unable to explain how each of us came to be conscious, individual selves. Each conscious mind is separate from all others, and we have found nothing in materialism to explain this consciousness.

It seems that there is more to our existence than what secular materialism can describe. Secularists argue that it’s just a matter of time before we solve the riddle of consciousness. While they might be right, I’m very skeptical, since we have found nothing in atoms, molecules, or other physical entities that seem to account for conscious experience.

If we can credit God (a mysterious, poorly understood entity) for our conscious existence, then it reasonably follows that God created us for a purpose and that God cares about us. We might come to understand faith as trust that our lives and our actions really matter, and that somehow God will make sure that eventually (despite considerable everyday evidence to the contrary) things work out. Perhaps such a faith can help us transcend the attractions of Original Sin.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.

3. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

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