Christian Vegetarian Association Blog


	CVA BLOG

Our Choice of Diet: Peace or Disharmony?
September 12, 2011

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

1. Brutal Reality: Law on Victimizer’s Side

2. Famous Quote: Gary Yourofsky, public speaker and animal rights activist

3. Why the Lack of Compassion?

4. Bible verse: Proverbs 15:18

5. The Psychology of Factory Farming

6. This Week’s Video: Peace Begins With You

1. Brutal Reality: Law on Victimizer’s Side

Animal Aid has released undercover footage showing extreme acts of cruelty at Elmkirk (Cheale Meats) Ltd, an Essex slaughterhouse that claims to uphold high standards of animal welfare. The video shows staff punching pigs, burning them with cigarettes, hit in the face with bats, incorrectly stunned and dragged by their ears to slaughter. Astonishingly, the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced it will not prosecute Cheale Meats because activists trespassed to obtain the footage. To learn more please visit UK Government Refuses to Prosecute Extreme Cruelties Uncovered in New Pig Investigation:
http://vegan.com/blog/2011/07/29/uk-government-refuses-to-prosecute-extreme-cruelties-uncovered-in-new-pig-investigation/

Sadly, unjustly and surprisingly God’s farmed animals are offered little or no protection from unimaginable abuse at the hands of humanity. Although these acts of cruelty make our hearts feel heavy, our will to end their exploitation is stronger. Let’s keep spreading the message of compassion, mercy and love!

2. This Week’s Famous Quote

"The worst scream I have ever heard (and I have heard them all first hand)... The worst scream I have ever heard: a mother cow on a dairy farm, as she screams and bellows for her stolen baby to be given back to her."

~ Gary Yourofsky, public speaker and animal rights activist:
http://www.adaptt.org/animalrights.html

3. Why the Lack of Compassion?

A recent study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology might just explain why people seem to show compassion and empathy when they witness the suffering of single individuals or a few of them vs. a great number or a multitude of them. For example, people tend to feel revulsion at the sight of someone abusing a pet, but react with indiference at the he large-scale industrial exploitation of billions of farmed animals. The two social psychologists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, C. Daryl Cameron and B. Keith Payne that led the study, “Escaping Affect: How Motivated Emotion Regulation Creates Insensitivity to Mass Suffering," conclude that “large-scale tragedies in which the most victims are in need of help will ironically be the least likely to motivate helping.” To learn more please visit Mass Animal Suffering and the Collapse of Compassion:
http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1785

We need to take responsibility for our actions and their consequences. Each one of us, human or animal, is a creation of God, and therefore we share His/Her essence. When we harm any creature we are not honoring God and more importantly we are not following Christ’s teachings of compassion, mercy and love. The result is much suffering and pain for everyone, the ones causing it and the recipients of it. We all seek peace and love and an essential place to practice this is every time we sit down for a meal.

4. This Week’s Bible Verse

(RSV) Proverbs 15:18

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

The way we deal when confrontations arise can change the result of the outcome. If we want to be witnesses to the love of God in each of us, we should be firm but keep our anger in control. Our lifestyle speaks volumes of our beliefs.

5. The Psychology of Factory Farming

James McWilliams, Associate Professor of history at Texas State University and author of "Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly," shares his insight regarding the mindset that enables people in agribusiness to exploit farmed animals and ignore the monumental ethical implications of it. For these people, animals are of no moral value. Dr. McWilliams argues that before 1850, farmers had a close physical proximity with animals, which allowed them to see these animals as sentient beings. However, in the 19th century, agricultural scientists, followed by farmers, began to view farming as a strictly quantifiable business and therefore started looking at animals as profitable commodities. Factory farming then became a tool for farmers to avoid looking at the suffering they were causing animals, because factory farms are "... designed to protect those involved from the emotional consequences of killing." To read the article please visit The Dangerous Psychology of Factory Farming:
http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/08/the-dangerous-psychology-of-factory-farming/244063/

We have become spiritually, morally and ethically corrupt by allowing the mass exploitation and slaughter of billion of sentient beings every year for the sole purpose of taste and profit! We should all strive to alleviate suffering in God’s Creation and align our food choices with our values and beliefs, thus not supporting the animal agriculture industry.

6. This Week’s Video: Peace Begins With You

Indeed, peace begins with each of us as it is directly related to our choices. By our lack of mercy with the animals raised for food, we are not promoting peace but instead violence and devastation. So let’s be consistent with our most inner values and align our food choices with them. To watch the video please visit Peace Begins With You by Sarah Kiser:
http://www.nonhumanslavery.com/peace-begins-with-you-by-sarah-kiser

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