As published on The Church of England
Mar 7, 2014
Sir,
Instead of debating over the erosion of religious freedom in Denmark,
by the ban on ritual slaughter, (European examples prove worrying, 28
February) shouldn’t religious people of all denominations be debating over
whether or not the murder of sentient beings should be sanctioned and
embraced by religions in the first place?
Most religions are based on love - we read in the Bible that God “is” love -
yet when we needlessly and violently kill our fellow sentient beings we are
being the opposite of loving.
Jewish Nobel prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote: “There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.”
Albert Schweitzer echoed these sentiments: “Animals suffer as much as we do.
Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will
not find peace.”
Denmark’s Agricultural Minister is definitely correct in saying that animal
rights come before religion. It’s just a pity that the “right to life” is
not acknowledged as one of these rights.
Jenny Moxham, Monbulk
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