|
The Fellowship of Life |
| | |
"Burgers for Christ" - a personal view In 2000, an evangelical Christian movement attracted the attention of VIVA!, A.S.W.A., Kindness Unlimited and a Church newspaper with their high-profile and controversial ministry:
The above drive to entice peckish shoppers into Evangelical dialogue
received hearty backing from the ecumenical/evangelical weekly
Christian Herald of 18th March 2000. Despite front page coverage
of the initiative and further editorial support, they did, in
fairness, allow me to posit a central and unfortunately controversial
observation via their letters page.
I was puzzled as to how the compassionate souls that they were
presumably hoping to reach amongst the public might perceive such an
ethically backward enterprise. An evangelism in reverse if you like,
or as grassroots animal activists refer to it: the "kill a cow for
Jesus" campaign! On this occasion, there was no indignant barrage of
Bible excerpts that no actual good could come of in this
context. Fundamentalists usually have the most leeway when lifting
Scripture from cultural context in an attempt to "condone"
contemporary bloodletting. Most Christians who retort in this
threatened manner to moral and compassionate advocacy of vegetarianism
are clearly motivated by their stomachs in ransacking Biblical texts
and not their hearts. St. Paul's edicts are a perennial favourite,
most particularly, l Timothy 4: 1-5; which is widely perceived to
dismiss vegetarianism as a heresy for all time. The Gnostic tendencies
which Paul was addressing and his attempts to unify the early Church
through minimising contentious regimens are overlooked. Abstaining
from animal flesh for the RIGHT reasons has a time-honoured place
within Christianity. No doubt, Rev. William Cowherd called to
mind such passages as Daniel 1: 3-21, Mathew 5:7 and Acts 15:29 when
he founded the sect which led to the formation of the Vegetarian
Society, in 1847. On this occasion, I could also have looked to St.
Paul's writings for an answer, where he appears to eschew animal
flesh, so as not to offend fellow Christians! (Corinthians 8:13)
I suspect that this insight will become increasingly relevant over the
coming decades with the welcome advent of authentic respect for "food
animals" amongst Christians; whose concept of reverence, love and
ethical consideration has traditionally been rationed.
To acknowledge that these animals are infused with spirit and a
God-granted love of life, is to court myopic accusations of
'sentimentality'. Yet there is nothing in any way sentimental about an
awareness of the unenviable task of attempting to reconcile spiritual
insight with slaughterhouse bloodletting. I for one could not begin to
reconcile the large-scale and wanton shedding of innocent blood, as
belonging to a genuinely Christian state-of-affairs. Our faith is
often exalted above all others and yet in reality, it is the most
inexorably reliant on a thoughtless, institutionalised form of
violence. This is a perfectly clinical observation, if not a new and
certainly not an emotive one. Christianity is simply lacking in the
humanitarian instinct stakes that are increasing in our frequently
maligned secular society.
Wherever high street campaigners leaflet members of the public, it is
sad to think of the significant number of Christians who will (often
smugly) plead theological exemption from ethical issues. The fact that
700 million animals meet a gruesome and untimely end in UK abattoirs,
annually, is assumed to be the will of our compassionate Lord of All
Creation. At least one finds it difficult to imagine Jesus being any
less loving in his response to these issues than the average
virtue-motivated animal rights campaigner.
It is from those to whom much has been given, that much is expected.
There can be no-one reading this who has not, in all honesty, an
endless choice of meat-free options on any shopping trip. Apart from
anything else, it is fundamentally un-Christian to expect callous or
de-sensitised abattoir staff to kill animals on your behalf. An
economic boycott of a relentlessly bloody industry must become an
increasing priority for all true animal welfarists wishing to develop
spiritual peace of mind. The Christian conscience must surely consider
and not ignore the unheard cries from animals destined for slaughter.
Tony Wardle, the spokesman for VIVA! (who
have launched a counter-campaign to the Burgers for Christ
debacle) recently encapsulated the "secular" reasons for
considering vegetarianism - "It is the most un-Christian idea.
Whilst supposedly preaching a message of love and compassion, they are
supporting cruelty on a mass scale, helping to destroy the world's
environment and playing a part in the starvation of the world's
poorest people. When the meek inherit the earth, there won't be many
left, there won't be much earth either".
Christian Vegetarianism - a Biblical approach
is a 16 page booklet available from the Fellowship of
Life - a non-secular, animal rights group formed in 1973 by
disillusioned Churchgoers. To order a copy, please forward �1.00
(includes postage) to: The Fellowship of Life, 43 Braichmelyn,
Bethesda, Gwynedd, LL57 3RD; cheques payable to "Fellowship of Life".
From the Autumn 2000 bulletin of the Anglican Society for
the Welfare of Animals
|
Homepage/About Us
Your comments are welcome |
|
This site is hosted and maintained by The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation Thank you for wisiting all-creatures.org |
Since 
|