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Opening the Doors of the Church to All God's
Creatures
by Jenny Moxham *
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By way of introduction, I've been interested in animal
welfare and animal rights for about 28 years now and
you could say it all started back in 1977 when I went
on a coach/camping trip to Central Australia. Our
coach pulled up at a little place in the outback and
there, across the road was one of those big, 2 tiered
cattle trailers. I remember looking into the faces
of those gentle animals and thinking how sad it was
that they had to die just so that we could eat and
be healthy. I was extremely naive, I must admit, but
I can't recall ever hearing anything about vegetarianism
in those days.
Shortly afterwards, on my return to Melbourne I happened
to venture into a little health food shop in Degraves
Street and there on a stand was a book entitled, 'Meat,
Who Needs It?' Well I very quickly came to learn that
not only do we not need to eat animals - but it is
far better for our health if we don't, because animal
fat contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure,
stroke, diabetes and cancer.
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I stopped eating meat that day, but it wasn't until some
time later when I read Peter Singer's book, Animal Liberation,
that I realized the true extent of the suffering of the
animals raised for food. Of the 53 billion animals killed
annually, the majority never see grass or sunshine. Instead,
they endure a lifetime of misery, locked away in huge, gloomy
warehouse type buildings, confined on concrete and steel
and subjected to agonizing mutilations without anaesthetic.
Many of them, like egg laying hens and breeding sows, are
so tightly confined they can barely move.
I also read Slaughter of the Innocent by Hans Reusch and
learned that every single day 400,000 animals are killed
in the name of research. These animals may be burned, drowned,
crushed, poisoned, forced to smoke, take drugs, given electric
shocks and subjected to psychological torture. Where animals
are used for medical research, humans also suffer because
the results obtained are misleading. This is because all
animals (including human animals) react differently. Thalidomide
was a prime example of this. It was tested extensively on
animals yet caused extreme deformities in at least 10,000
children before being withdrawn from the market.
Well, at about the same time as I was becoming enlightened,
a group of Anglicans in the UK were also thinking about
the enormous amount of animal suffering in the world around
them, particularly in factory farms and research laboratories,
and they were concerned by the fact that the church appeared
to be totally indifferent to this suffering.
The result was the formation of the Anglican Society for
the Welfare of Animals. It was made up of clergy and lay
people and the aim was to bring compassion and concern for
animals into the Anglican church. This was in 1970 and the
organisation is still going strong, in fact it currently
has 3 bishops on the committee and is supported by several
others.
The group produces a number of booklets and leaflets, the
first being an introduction to their group. Under the heading
of 'Who are We?', the introductory leaflet states:
- that their aim is to make Christians and others aware
of the need to care for the whole of creation and that
they are particularly concerned with the abuse of animals.
- that intensive farming, experimentation, the ill-treatment
of pets and the killing of animals for pleasure all raise
ethical questions, and that animal issues are theological
issues and should be on the church's agenda.
"We believe that God has given us a responsibility
towards sentient beings with whom we share God's world.
"The Bible teaches us that God has given us
'dominion' not 'domination' over animals.
"This means loving care, not ruthless exploitation.
We teach respect for all creation and highlight the
ways in which animals suffer as a result of human neglect,
exploitation and cruelty."
And then, under the heading of 'What Do We Do?',
the leaflet states that the group:
- encourages churches to include animal welfare concerns
in their prayers.
- encourages and help churches to hold animal blessing
services and be aware of the need to care for God's creation
- through education and lawful action, advances the conservation
and well being of animals and co-operate with other organisation,
religious and secular that have similar aims
"We produce a regular magazine, The Bulletin, containing
articles and information about animal welfare issues,
interests and events. This provides a means by which the
members can share ideas, stories and concerns.
"We publish a series of pamphlets about animal issues
and aim to ensure that our materials are balanced and
theologically and scientifically sound.
"We help arrange major services and events focusing
on animal care. We promote awareness through exhibitions,
meetings, talks and preaching."
Ideas for change
What can we, as Christians, do to help animals?
The Anglican Society for Animal Welfare offers a few suggestions.
Within our own parishes and congregations, we can:
- Include animals in the liturgy and/or prayers
regularly, not just once a year or at special pet blessings
targeted at children.
- Progressively try to avoid animal exploitation. Avoid
products tested on animals. Buy free-range products to
avoid contributing to the cruelty of factory farming,
and consider going vegetarian as we all progress towards
the ultimate 'peaceable kingdom' (the society publishes
a booklet examining this issue).
- Join societies that campaign for animals.
- Join The Anglican Society for the Welfare
of Animals or other Christian 'animal advocate'
organisations to work with like-minded people.
- Be gentle and kind in your treatment of
animals
- Make biblical and theological ideas on animals
part of our Christian study.
- Familiarize ourselves with the teaching
of animal advocates.... and then speak out
for animals when opportunity arises in your church,
bible study or discussion group.
- Think about our charitable giving. Do you
know which medical charities experiment on animals
and which do not?
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The Anglican Society for Animal Welfare has a variety of
booklets, as well as other resources such as Christmas cards
for coloring in.
I'd like to conclude with a segment from a speech given
by Bishop Llewellin, the group's chairman, who at the time
of writing this was right hand man to the Archbishop of
Canterbury. He said ...
"The creatures man uses and, so often, abuses, are
voiceless and helpless. We are not. We have pens with
which to write to politicians and retailers, voices with
which to speak out, shopping choices which can have a
major impact... organisations to join, even, on appropriate
occasions, banners to carry.
"Even if we lack the temperament to wave a banner
against live-export, we can exercise our Christian compassion
every time we step inside a supermarket by very careful
choice of the most humanely reared products. I would go
so far as to say that to choose battery eggs, white veal
or any product known to come from a cruel rearing system
is deeply unChristian."
And finally ...a little quote that I came across the other
day:
"To do nothing, to say nothing ..... stops nothing."
* Jenny Moxham is a Vegetarian Action supporter
and a freelance animal rights advocate. This article is
based on a talk given by Jenny in late 2005 at her local
church, St George's Anglican Parish in Monbulk (a suburb
of Melbourne).
© Vegetarian Action February 2006
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