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All Creatures Great and Small
The HSUS |
by Karen L. Allanach
Autumn is filled with significant dates on the religious calendar recognized by Christians, Jews, Muslims and others with The Feast of St. Francis, Yom Kippur and the end of Ramadan.
October is also a destination for The Humane Society of the United States's All Creatures Great and Small campaign.
Launched over the summer, the campaign increases awareness about our moral responsibilities to all animals, including those raised for food. In the last 30 to 40 years, agriculture has taken a harsh turn away from animal husbandry on family farms to unacceptable mistreatment of animals on industrialized, factory farms.
Animals on factory farms are cruelly denied the ability to manifest even their most basic God-given instincts: to fly, care for their young ... even to walk. In truth, they are denied the freedom to be animals as God created them to be.
Through this campaign, we are encouraging people of all faiths not only to promote the compassionate treatment of all of God’s creatures but to align their principles with their daily choices.
Wayne Pacelle, The HSUS's president and CEO, put out the call for compassion and wrote about the energized response from religious leaders to All Creatures Great and Small in a recent entry on his blog.
On Sept. 28, Mr. Pacelle spoke at Washington National Cathedral's Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith. The forum was followed by a service dedicated to all of God's creatures. Watch videos of the Sunday Forum and the sermon by the Rev. Canon Stephen Huber. Next weekend, in celebration of St. Francis Day, Mr. Pacelle will be the forum guest of Dean Alan Jones at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Calif.
Thousands Pledge Compassion
To engage religious communities in these critical issues of animal protection, HSUS started a pledge drive for folks to commit, for the month of October, to switch to cage-free or free-range eggs; to reduce egg consumption; or to replace eggs with widely available substitutes. These pledges are undertaken as actions to help the millions of factory-farmed hens who suffer for egg production in the United States each year. And people of faith are answering the call.
Thousands of individuals have signed the pledge, and the campaign has support from an array of notable religious leaders from many faiths, including Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington; Imam Muhammad Hagmagid Ali Vice President, Islamic Society of North America; Fr. John Dear, SJ, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee; Dr. Greg Boyd, president of Christus Victor Ministries; Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Israel; and Brian McLaren, renowned author, speaker and pastor. See the full list of endorsements.
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Faith in Action
In California, the religious community is rallying its support behind a ballot measure that would end the use of give gestating sows, veal calves, and laying hens enough room to turn around extend their limbs.
Prop 2 is up for vote on November 4, and religious leaders, scholars and organizations statewide are supporting the measure.
They include The Right Rev. Marc Andrus, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California, Jack W. Hayford, Chancellor of The King's Seminary and many others.
Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff, chairman of the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and professor at the American Jewish University said, "The well-being of animals is our responsibility, and a part of our covenant with God, and we are not permitted to treat them as if they were not living beings with basic needs and interests worthy of our consideration.
"Jacob, Moses, and David were shepherds," he continued. "And the Talmud tells us that this is why Moses was chosen for his sacred mission. For millennia, Jewish leaders have emphasized the importance of human consideration and kindness toward animals, consistent with the ways of our God, whose mercies extend to us all."
Rev. Dr. Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary noted his support for Proposition 2, as well. "I am supporting Proposition 2 as a way of advocating responsible stewardship of God's creation," he said. "It is a modest measure that simply seeks to alleviate the unnecessary suffering of millions of farm animals in California. I have often said that chickens (and other animals!) have a God-given right to strut their stuff."
Inspiring Action Through Film, Music and The Good Book
Also at Washington National Cathedral, The HSUS premiered Eating Mercifully, a short film of Christian viewpoints on food, faith and factory farming. At the special screeing, we also featured segments from documentaries Renewal and A Sacred Duty, which share Muslim and Jewish perspectives, respectively, on people's responsibilities toward animals. The three films show that animal protection concerns clearly cross religious lines.
In addition, Christian recording artists created three separate music videos entitled All Things Bright and Beautiful, in support and celebration of All Creatures Great and Small. Adjoa Skinner of North Hollywood, Calif.; Ryan O'Neal, Chad O'Neal & Dan Perdue of Sleeping At Last from Wheaton, Ill., and Erica Kirkendall of Manitou Springs, Colo.
The HSUS is also proud to support The Green Bible from HarperOne, which makes its debut this season. It's a fundamental resource to All Creatures Great and Small.
"Highlighting scripture from its environmental perspectives clearly shows that the Bible has much to say about our responsibilities to care for creation and all of its creatures," said Christine Gutleben, director of The HSUS Animals & Religion program.
The connection between animals and religion is becoming more well known with the help of the Religion Newswriters Association. The organization just unveiled its newest online resource guide, Animals and Religion: a guide to issues, organizations and experts, on religionlink.org, which prominently features The HSUS.
After the Pledge: Carrying Out Faithful Stewardship
October was a destination, but not an end. People can continue to take the pledge and commit to making more humane food choices that reduce suffering for the animals and the environment and can have a positive impact on our spiritual lives.
ACGS has many online resources designed to carry this message into faith communities. Study session materials include an Animals & Religion booklet series, films, sermon resources, packets for children and more.
Karen L. Allanach is associate director, of Animals & Religion at The Humane Society of the United States
