Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - February 7, 2018
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Activist Feedback Activist Feedback
  2. New Edition of “Joyful Compassionate Eating”
  3. Original Sin, part 25
  4. The Dec.-Jan. Issue “The Peaceable Table” Is Now Online
  5. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

1. Activist Feedback

Rick Hershey writes:

Jessica, Tiffany, Jennifer, Rosalinda, Claudia, Chris, John, Chip, and I handed out 2000 CVA booklets at JQH Arena in Springfield MO for Winter Jam on January 25.

Great Job, Rick and team!

See last week’s e-newsletter [January 31, 2018] for a list of upcoming leafleting opportunities.

2. New Edition of “Joyful Compassionate Eating”

There have been significant changes in layout and content. To view the latest edition, go to www.christianveg.org/honoring.htm.

3. Original Sin, part 25

I have argued that scapegoating is the “Original Sin” that has plagued humanity since the dawn of civilization. Scapegoating has been universally attractive primarily for two reasons. By transferring some or all of the blame for the ills of the community onto innocent or only partly guilty individuals, it raises the self-esteem among scapegoaters. Second, communal accusation and punishment of the victim(s) of scapegoating have bound communities together. The principle manifestation of scapegoating is victimization, in which individuals suffer undeserved physical, mental, or social harm.

Social justice movements that aim to liberate specific victims of scapegoating fail to procure justice unless they oppose all victimization. They might focus their attention on one specific group of victims, but they should not directly or indirectly endorse the victimization of anyone. Otherwise, their efforts serve only to replace one group of victims with a different group. This process is well illustrated in Carolyn Zaikowski’s excellent essay The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s Rape Rack: Feminism and Animal Rights.

Any social justice movement which countenances or even supports victimizing other individuals tends to undercut its own agenda. This is most obvious when the victims have significant political power. It is also true when the victims have little power and relatively little support from society-at-large. Activists for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, fetal rights, and women’s choice rights all undermine their cause when they consume animals and animal products. Even though most people might share their dietary preferences, I think many people recognize that a truly compassionate and just person would not choose to participate in animal abuse. Indeed, many great spiritual leaders and leading social justice activists have been vegetarian or vegan. Among them have been civil rights activist Dick Gregory and peace activist Fr. John Dear.

Stephen R. Kaufman, MD

4. The Dec.-Jan. Issue “The Peaceable Table” Is Now Online

Contents include:

  • The Glimpse of the Peaceable Kingdom shows a soulful young ape embracing a kitten--one of the best uses of arms, certainly.
  • Peacemaking is the theme of the Editor's Corner Essay, emphasizing particularly the sort when one party to a conflict holds out the olive branch to the other party.
  • In one of the NewsNotes we learn that California Dairies, Inc., is closing one of its six plants due to diminishing milk sales.
  • In The Skeptical Vegan, author Eric C. Lindstrom describes his adventures growing from a nearly obsessive meat-eater to an all-out vegan, deeply committed to compassion and health--and to having a good time. See the Review by Robert Ellwood.
  • Benjamin Urrutia reviews Gilda Trillim, "Shepherdess of Rats," the story of a Vietnam POW who establishes a remarkable relationship with the rats in her cell.
  • A recipe for guacamole fit for a king is featured in this issue. Created by our Technical Architect Richard Ellwood, it is called, appropriately, Ricardian Guacamole.
  • Robert Frost's 1937 tour de force "Departmental" is our Poetry selection for February. In three-beat rhymed lines that flow naturally, the narrator describes real ants at work, and offers a wry parable on the depersonalization of labor in human society.

We welcome letters, photos, and other submissions, especially suggestions for Pioneer accounts.

To read this issue, go to http://www.vegetarianfriends.net/issue143.html.

Toward the Peaceable Kingdom,
Gracia Fay Ellwood, Editor

5. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

Spiritually Hear Heavenly Callings

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