An appeal to the churches
As an active church member who happens also to be a vegan, here are a few things I'd like church people (in particular) to consider:
1) Just as churches are supposed to offer non-alchoholic options at social events, I would like to see vegan choices available at social events. Otherwise people like me can't attend anything that involves food -- including parties, potlucks, funeral luncheons, or most fundraisers. This is just a self-centered request, so people like me don't feel excluded from your churches.
2) Additionally, as I said in the "stream of consciousness rant" in The unpopular message, I would like to see churches strive to promote cruelty-free vegan fare (no meat or animal byproducts like milk products, eggs, gelatin, etc. -- no sea animals, either!) at their Lenten potlucks, both as a short-term act of consciousness-raising and/or act of penitence for the suffering humans inflict, and to show that they are as compassionate in deed, as they are in thought and word. This is a simple request, but would really go a long way to model peace and healing in our broken world. Please give it a try this Lent, and see if anyone complains about not getting their fair share of meat. I suspect no one will. (If your church decides to give it a try, I would like to know. I will list your church on the Church directory, and recommend it to any vegans living in your area as a place that would be worth their while to visit. You can let me know if you plan to do this in the 'discuss' section at the bottom of the page. A FREE AD FOR YOUR CHURCH, in exchange for 6 cruelty-free potlucks during Lent!
3) I heard about an area church (not Episcopal, thank God) that raised over $100,000. at a fundraiser one day last summer. The big draw for the public was their pork dinner. The cost was the lives of 23 pigs, roasted on church property. (The lady who told me about this actually said "We got rid of 23 pigs"!) PLEASE DON'T THINK THIS IS A WONDERFUL IDEA TO RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR CHURCH!!! I'm offering it only as an example of an indecent use of church property. I would like to see churches consider ways of raising money that don't require anyone to have to die for their sake -- anymore.... (I would prefer Bingo over slaughter, to subside church programs or ministries. And I say that, only because I know it isn't popular among the Episcopal churches, and probably isn't done. I would like the day to come when churches consider the slaughter of animals less acceptable than gambling.)
4) I know churches still have fish fries, lobster dinners, and other animal sacrifice rituals on church property. But please don't boil live animals in your church kitchens! I don't care how unpersonable a lobster might look to you. It strikes me as satanic to kill animals on church property, even if it's for fun and profit ["fellowship" and "fundraising"], and has been a parish tradition for decades.
5) Giving away small animals (like fish) as game prizes to small children --particularly with no provision to supply food or habitat to the families who may not have it handy when they get home -- is inappropriate, no matter how insignificant society in general considers their lives. (Here is a story about the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cincinnati, who spoke out against using animals at church festivals.)
6) The Church of England, the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals (in its publication, "Export of Live Animals" by the Rt. Rev. R Llewellin, Bishop at Lambeth) , and the UK govenment (to name a few) all consider export of live animals to be extremely inhumane. Australia wants to ban live exports. I'm treading on a Church-recognized Sacred Cow. Can we find a viable alternative for helping the poor become self-sufficient, without churches implicating themselves in what amounts to propagating the slave-trade of non-humans?
7) Easter egg hunts -- can we celebrate Easter without them? Please read some of the stories about factory farmed, battery caged hens, and the hatchery chicks, and find something else to hide besides eggs that are just going to get thrown out afterwards.
8) Same for church picnics: Please substitute water balloons for egg throwing contests. Eggs don't grow on trees. They are products of animals living in the worst conditions imaginable.
9) "Stewardship of creation" needs to include more than the natural resources that we want to protect and preserve for our future generations to use. It needs to include non-human animals, for their own sakes and their own interests, as a part of all we're here to protect. (Here's an example of the point I'm trying to make: I've read a couple of articles on the enrivonmental impact of hog operations -- both factory farming and slaughter houses. And this is my reaction to those articles: The residents who buy houses too close to the facilities, and have to endure the unpleasant odors and incessant screams -- or the fish who die downstream in the polluted waterways -- are not the ONLY victims of those hog operations. Someday I hope we will realize that the primary victims in the scenario are the pigs, themselves!)
10) When you pray for all who sick, injured and disabled, don't limit language to humans. Please consider the impact that every choice we make has on the lives of many nameless, faceless animals we encounter throughout each day. Please consider the plight of the exploited animals, ignored or condoned by our society, when you pray for peace and all other good things. And may we look for new and creative ways to make our ministries and programs truly beneficial to humans, without causing harm to non-humans -- especially when it comes to giving aid to the poor and the hungry.
