In reference to Steve - 27 May 2012
Steve,
Thank you for your words. I do understand the sadness of being rejected for
even mentioning animal concerns even when it is not done in a preachy way. I
remember a bunch of years ago when there was a recall of dog food from China
that had killed a number of animals. Three of us from my church were
together, all of us living with companion animals, and 2 of us were
discussing how terrible it was. But one person got angry at the 2 of us for
speaking of this as an outrage because we should not be wasting time on
animal concerns when thousands of people were dying in Iraq. I was truly
shocked that someone would react that way, someone who was an extremely
caring and compassionate person and who was one of my best friends. I said
that concern for animals in no way required one to care less about Iraq war
victims. This wasn't even a vegetarian issue. Lots of meat eaters love their
companion animals. But she was angry at us and then I felt anger that she
cared so little for the suffering of companion animals when she had a dog
herself. I recently got a very similar reaction from an evangelical friend
who is opposed to abortion as I am and who accused me of not caring about
the unborn because I expressed concern about cruelty to animals. I said to
her that caring about one doesn't mean I don't care about the other also. I
realize people here likely differ on issues like war and abortion, but my
point is that from both the liberal and the conservative side, I was accused
by Christians of having bad priorities simply because I expressed concern
for the suffering of animals, like that meant I didn't care about anyone
else.
I continue to be astounded and frustrated that suggesting people make a
fairly easy for most lifestyle change is seen as such a terrible thing. Most
people like far more veggie foods than I do as a picky eater and would not
have a hard time abstaining from flesh foods, but they won't even try. When
we have Creation Care discussions at church and people go on about the light
bulbs and the evils of fossil fuels and all of that, I mention how 18% of
greenhouse gases come from animal agriculture, and much of the water
pollution. There is an awkward silence and then they return to telling us
about the importance of lifestyle changes to save the planet, ignoring the
lifestyle change of giving up meat.
Karen
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.) ~~~ Walt Whitman
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