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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


Humane? - 2 May 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

Many people want to believe that they bear no responsibility for the cruelty animals suffer. I remember talking to an elderly woman about the suffering that animals endure so that people can eat meat. Right away, she said that she wasn’t the one doing the slaughtering. In other words, she wasn’t culpable – as long as someone else was doing the dirty work.

Where animals are concerned, it’s obvious that a lot of people are willing to believe all sorts of lies in order to deny culpability for any “unpleasantness.” The “humane farming” nonsense caters to these people. Humane slaughter? How ridiculous! We just received in the mail a list of businesses that claim to be “humane.” I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw a listing for (believe it or not!) “humane veal”!! Is that an oxymoron, or what?! Now, I’ve seen everything!

In my opinion, in terms of cruelty, the dairy business tops the list, and veal production is part of it. Animals do not produce milk unless they are impregnated. Veal calves are the result. These calves, stolen from their mothers, are prevented from nursing, immobilized so that their muscles won’t develop, and fed an iron-deficient gruel. The emotional trauma of the mother and her baby are tremendous!

If I had to do it all over again, the first thing that I would stop eating would be dairy products; and I would make very sure, by checking ingredient lists, that nothing I bought contained whey, casein, or anything else that was animal-derived. (I should also add that health-wise, cutting out dairy products was probably the smartest thing that I did during my journey toward adopting a vegan lifestyle.)

James 4:17 says:

17. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

~ New American Standard Bible

Maybe that’s why some people don’t want to know about any “unpleasantness” concerning their support of businesses involving animal-derived products, animal entertainment, biomedical research utilizing animals, etc. – all of which cause horrendous pain and suffering. At some level, these people must know or suspect that they are contributing to this abuse.

Go on to: We Will All Benefit – 3 May 2006
Return to: Discernment – 1 May 2006
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