MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Here is another very interesting and thoughtful blog on the subject of animals and Christianity for those of you who just can't get enough of this stuff.  I recommend it to your attention.  Theological Animal  

ON IMAGE AND VALUE

“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”

                                                                     ~  Genesis 1:31

            It is something of a theological commonplace that human beings have a unique inherent value because we are created in the image of God.  So imbedded is this idea, in fact, that it is even right there in Wikipedia:

The Image of God (Hebrew: צֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים; tzelem elohim, lit. "image of God", "image of the Holy Spirit", often appearing in Latin as Imago Dei) is a real image, concept and theological doctrine in Christianity, Judaism and Sufi Islam which asserts that human beings are created in God's image and therefore have inherent value independent of their utility or function.[1]

By way of just a few recent examples of this idea in current theological writing: Dr. Denis Alexander of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion has explained:

Theologians have spent many centuries mining the rich vein of the 'image of God' metaphor. Central to the idea is humanity with spiritual capabilities and responsibilities, equipped for moral decision-making and a relationally rich life in community. Historically, the idea has contributed to the conviction that each human individual has an absolute value, independent of their ethnicity, educational level, health status or income.

Dr. Art Lindsey of the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics has likewise stated: 

Note that mankind is made in the image and likeness of God, meaning that human worth is connected to the Creator. If God is of great and inestimable worth, then human beings made in his image must be of great value. Note also that man and woman have equal dignity before God as his image-bearers.

And Dr. Ellen Davis has written:

Before anything else, creation in the image of God indicates that human life has both value and form: inestimable value and a form that is uniquely and richly expressive of divine intentions.[2]

I beg to differ.

           

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Today I saw this blog post by Charles Camosy on the Catholic Moral Theology Site.  Although C.S. Lewis is from a different time frame than the people I posted about yesterday, he is another greatly admired lay Christian who understood that our faith calls us to compassion for animals and ordered his life accordingly.  So I thought a cross-post would be in order.  Thanks to Dr. Camosy.  Enjoy.

50 Years After C.S. Lewis, a Brief Reflection on His Concern for Animals

MINORITY REPORT PART THREE:

ANIMALS, SOCIAL REFORM, AND CHRISTIANITY

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

“Cruelty to animals is as if man did not love God.”
                                                        ~ Cardinal John Henry Newman

            For those of us who care about animals, the silence of the church on the issue of compassion and mercy for animals is not only frustrating, it is a challenge to our faith.  When people ask us what animals have to do with faith or why we aren’t concentrating on “more important” issues involving human suffering, we sometimes want to (and some do) run from the church into the more welcoming arms of secular animal welfare organizations.  What kind of a God, we wonder, is silent in the face of a world filled to bursting with needless and extreme animal suffering at human hands?  What kind of a church fails to see the misery to which it contributes?

            The answer, it seems to me, is not the God we meet in the Bible, and it is not the church as it is called to be.  I am not the first to believe this, and in these Minority Report posts, I hope to bring to the fore our deeply rooted traditions that recognize the bonds between compassion for animals and holiness and the repeated calls from a variety of faith perspectives within the church for reform on this issue.  I hope to underscore, as these long-standing, if often unheeded, voices in our tradition have underscored, that this is not a matter of abstract theology, but it touches in a very real way who we are and how we live our day-to-day lives.

          

ST. ALBAN’S FORUM: CROSSING THE DIVIDE

“Shalom means that all human beings live together as siblings, at peace with one another, and with God and in right relationships with all of the rest of creation.”
                                                                      ~The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori 

This past Sunday, I was honored to be the guest speaker at the adult forum at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.  The Rev. Jim Quigley and I discussed why animals matter from a theological perspective, followed by Q&A from the audience.  Our conversation was broad ranging and the questions were insightful and thought-provoking.  I want to write today about some of my reflections coming out of that discussion, which seemed to me to highlight the many ways we can build bridges and make connections – both among and within species.  It brought to mind (stay with me here) the homily by Katharine Jefferts Schori at her installation ceremony as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2006.  In it, she talked about the Jewish concept of shalom, in which the whole world rests, together, in peace and harmony:  

Shalom means that all human beings live together as siblings, at peace with one another and with God, and in right relationship with all the rest of creation.  It is that vision of the lion lying down with the lamb and the small child playing over the den of the adder, where the specter of death no longer holds sway.  It is that vision to which Jesus points when he says, "today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."  To say "shalom" is to know our own place and to invite and affirm the place of the rest of creation, once more at home in God.

MINORITY REPORT – PART TWO: 

JOHN WESLEY AND HUMPHREY PRIMATT

We may pretend to what religion we please, but cruelty is atheism.
We may make our boast of Christianity; but cruelty is infidelity. We may trust to our orthodoxy; but cruelty is the worst of heresies.

                                                                  ~ Rev.  Humphrey Primatt 

This post picks up the discussion I began earlier addressing the fact that, while the church as an institution may have been silent about -- or even hostile to -- the idea of animal welfare as a Christian concern, there have always been people of faith with a different view.  John Wesley and Humphrey Primatt were two eighteenth century Anglican clergy who understood our obligations for mercy toward animals as a matter of faith and spoke publicly about it. 

John Wesley, who founded the Methodist tradition, addressed the issue most directly in his 1771 sermon, The GeneralDeliverance.  Humphrey Primatt is much less well-known today, but he tackled the issue head-on in a tract of some 300-plus pages titled ADissertation on the Duty of Mercy and the Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals, published in 1776.  They do not agree on all the theological particulars, but they do agree that we have an obligation as followers of Christ to be merciful to all God’s creatures. 

OPENING OUR EYES - TO CHICKENS

“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.”
 
                                                                    ~  Rev. Dr. Albert Schweitzer  

            I was going to post today Part Two of my discussion of the minority voice within the Christian tradition that has always recognized our obligations to our fellow creatures.  An article in the Washington Post this week, however, made me change my plans because I think it demands that we stop and pay attention.  This is what we, as people of faith, need to open our eyes to, to open our mouths about, and to open our hearts for.

            On October 29, the Washington Post published this article, titled USDA Plan To Speed Up Poultry-Processing LinesCould Increase Risk Of Bird Abuse.  Here is the opening sentence:

Nearly 1 million chickens and turkeys are unintentionally boiled alive each year in U.S. slaughterhouses, often because fast-moving lines fail to kill the birds before they are dropped into scalding water, Agriculture Department records show.

This is under the current system, which allows slaughter lines to move so fast that 140 chickens or 45 turkeys can be slaughtered in one minute.  The new regulations will allow 175 chickens or 55 turkeys per minute to speed to their deaths.  I encourage you to read the entire article.  While it is not graphic, it does detail the process by which chickens and turkeys are slaughtered, the problems that come with the astonishing speed with which the birds are killed, and the potential additional problems with the new regulations.  It also points out that poultry, by far the largest percentage of animals slaughtered for food in this country, are not protected by the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. 

            This is not a fun read, but it is an important one.  As people of faith, we do not have the luxury of closing our eyes to the suffering we support with our purchasing decisions.   As people created in the image of God, we are called to reflect God’s image to all of creation.  R. C. Sproul has said, “When we sin as the image bearers of God, we are saying to the whole creation, to all of nature under our dominion, to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field: ‘This is how God is. This is how your Creator behaves. Look in the mirror; look at us, and you will see the character of God Almighty.’”  We might add that this is what we are saying to the birds of the poultry production plant, as well.