Saturday, November 29, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!
 
“The saints are exceedingly loving and gentle to mankind, and even to brute beasts ... Surely we ought to show them [animals] great kindness and gentleness for many reasons, but, above all, because they are of the same origin as ourselves.” 

                                                                                                               St. John Chrysostom 
      I don't have a new post for this week, as I am enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday, being grateful for those who have given so much to help animals have a better life.  I encourage you, however, to take a look (if you haven't already) at last week's two posts:  The Least Of These, inspired by last Sunday's gospel reading, and On Humans And Other Animals, continuing my discussion of David Clough's book, On Animals, with a look at the place of humans and the place of other animals in creation, giving special attention to what links us together and what separates us.  I'll be back next week.  In the meantime, I am also thankful for all of you who check in on this blog.  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

THE LEAST OF THESE
Matthew 25: 41- 44, 45

Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, 
For I was hungry and you gave me no food.


I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,


I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing,



Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.



. . . Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me."

May God give us ears to hear and eyes to see; and may God help us to do better.    


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Photo credits: 
Horse: eXtensionHorses CC-BY-SA-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Puppy mill: public domain
Dog in the snow: Radu Sigheti/Reuters, TheStar.com
Battery caged chickens:  Maqi CC-BY-SA-3.0  via Wikimedia Commons
Pigs in gestation crates: Farm Sanctuary
Monkey in lab: public domain


Thursday, November 20, 2014


ON HUMANS AND OTHER ANIMALS
More on the Doctrine of Creation in David Clough’s On Animals, Vol. 1

I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.  For the fate of human beings and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other.  They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals . . .
                   ~ Ecclesiastes 3:18-19

            If it is true that the purpose of all of creation is to be in relationship with God as Trinity, as I discussed in All Creatures Of Our God And King, what does that mean for the place of humans in creation, and what does it mean for the place of other animals?  How are humans and other animals the same; what sets them apart?  What sets humans and other animals apart from the rest of creation? 
            In Chapters 2 and 3 of David Clough’s On Animals, he seeks to put all these pieces together.   As he did in Chapter 1, Cough surveys a number of traditional answers to these questions and considers how they stack up against what scripture has to tell us.  The fundamental point to keep in mind, Clough reminds us, is that, “[i]n the face of many philosophical and religious views that posited various forms of continuity between God and creation, Christian theologians have insisted on the importance of a clear boundary between the two” (p. 26). 
Clough calls this a “radical and distinctively Christian insight” which undermines all attempts to build a hierarchy of creatures:  we are all, humans, other animals, angels, stars, and rocks, created by and separate from God.  We may seek to be with God, but we may not seek to be God.  Thus, “we must recognize that our basic relationship to creation is to recognize that we are part of it” (p.27).  


Saturday, November 15, 2014

FOOD IN PRAYER, PRACTICE, AND PLANNING

        
         As we plan for feasts this holiday season, here are three things to keep in mind:

 First, here is an article by Bruce Friedrich in Reflections, a publication of the Yale Divinity School: Toward A Divine Diet.  In it, Bruce (whom I've mentioned before), talks about faith and veganism.  He addresses the many impacts of eating animals, discusses food choice as a way of prayer, and suggests, "Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals -- as it was in the beginning and as it will be -- we can all begin to live God's peaceful vision for all of God's creation." 

    Second, and by way of contrast, here is Mark Bittman in the Washington Post with an article entitled "How A National Food Policy Could Save Millions Of American Lives," addressing the sorry state of our current national food policy, and the grievous implications that has on our health.  While he does not discuss food as a theological issue, what he has to say shows that we are reaping what we have sown in our disregard for our roles as stewards of God's animals, God's planet, and God's people. 

     And finally, here are some amazing-sounding cruelty-free holiday recipes from the Choose Veg blog, so we can all develop our own compassion-based diet in celebration of God's compassion toward us and all that He has made. 

      Eat plants, pray to God, love His creatures.  Amen.
Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals – as it was in the beginning and as it will be – we can all begin to live God’s peaceful vision for all of God’s creation. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpu
Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals – as it was in the beginning and as it will be – we can all begin to live God’s peaceful vision for all of God’s creation. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf
Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf
Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf
Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Thursday, November 6, 2014


ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING
The Doctrine of Creation in David Clough’s On Animals, Vol. 1

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

                                                        ~ Hymn, based on a poem by St. Francis

            What is the purpose of creation?  Where do humans fit into that purpose?  And where do other animals fit?  Are other animals – and the rest of the non-human creation – created solely for human benefit, or is something larger at work?  What separates humans from other animals?  What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
These are some of the questions David Clough seeks to tackle in Part 1 of his book, On Animals, Volume 1: Systematic Theology.  Last time, I looked at Clough’s introduction, which urges theologians to take the question of animal welfare seriously because it is one that touches on nearly every aspect of what it means to be Christian and because our relationship with animals has changed dramatically and nearly without question in recent decades.  It is time, he argues, to pull back the curtain, to pay attention to what we are doing and why, and to ask whether it is compatible with what we say we believe.  In order to do that, we need to consider the place of animals in fundamental Christian doctrines.   One of those fundamental doctrines is the doctrine of creation, which Clough addresses in Part One of his book.  This post will start at the beginning and ask, what is the purpose of creation? 
Photo credit: David Wye