What does it mean for Christians to neglect animals and to unconsciously buy-in to the abuse that animals frequently suffer? How can it, for a Christian, ever be acceptable to intentionally harm and kill animals for human pleasure? That doesn’t seem to sit comfortably with the Christian gospel of compassion and love. Is it not time to stop, for God’s sake? Is it not time to end the cruelty and the factory farming and the mindless use of animals for human ends? We must do it, in the name of Jesus Christ. We must do it for the animals.
FR. TERRY MARTIN: I have read much of the Revd. Professor Andrew Linzey breakthrough work concerning animals and theology/ethics, and trawling through the internet looking for some online studies around these issues brought me to the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics’ website. Linzey (the Centre’s Director) is an avuncular, immediately-friendly networker and greeter of people. He tirelessly talked to participants, introduced them to one another, and worked the room with the grace of a seasoned vicar who’s attended many parish parties. He is also a formidable theologian, and his work around suggesting an ethical-theological approach to animals leads the field in a rather sadly neglected area of (what should be natural) Christian concern. So, it seemed that he was the right man for me to approach – and the Summer School proved the perfect opportunity to meet him and chat to him about my own research, prayerful reflection, and hopes.
My bishop has granted me a sabbatical year, and I have felt a real sense that the time during this study-leave needs to be given to the animals. Why might a regular Parish Priest want to be so concerned with animals? It seems to me that, as Catholics we, so often, ‘see through’ animals and are slow to face the ethical issues around who they are, and what God is doing when he creates them. Certainly, we love our companion animals and endlessly spoil them but, sadly, at the same time, so many animals are too easily unseen, forgotten or ignored – especially at festive times when, for example, we consume them in their millions. Fancy that, Christians – who believe that animals, too, are created by God – feasting on animal flesh to celebrate the wondrous mysteries of our faith…
Christians need to have a louder, more strident voice in speaking out for the autonomy, God-createdness and moral right of animals to be treated as God would want them to be treated. This, surely, can never mean exploiting them for food, entertainment, fashion, experimentation, or in the myriad other ways that we so blithely and unthinkingly deploy their lives, their flesh, their bodily fluids, and their skin…
What does it mean for Christians to neglect animals and to unconsciously buy-in to the abuse that animals frequently suffer? We know that the numbers of animals who die every year for food, for example, are mind-boggling, and Christians, sadly, play their part in funding and supporting this… How can it, for a Christian, ever be acceptable to intentionally harm and kill animals for human pleasure? That doesn’t seem, to me, to sit comfortably with the Christian gospel of compassion and love…
I understand that those who believe in God and who try to follow Jesus are not deliberately wanting to harm animals in any way, but I don’t understand why it is so hard for Christians (and others) to change and to make better, more compassionate decisions.
My choice to live a vegan lifestyle has somewhat separated me from other clergy! I get referred to as ‘the vegan priest’, the priest who talks about animal rights, the priest who is so passionate about the place of animals in God’s creation. I am not ashamed of my stance for animals, nor of my vegan lifestyle. My own bishop told me that he respected me for my choices. I don’t want to be tolerated, or understood, or respected. It’s truly not about me! I want Christians to consider their own position, and to ask themselves how being complicit in the ways that animals are so neglected and harmed in the world doesn’t motivate them to effect change in the name of Jesus Christ…
As the world appears to be gradually but unremittingly expiring because of the over-use and exploitation of her resources by human animals, is it not time to stop, for God’s sake? Is it not time to end the cruelty and the factory farming and the mindless use of animals for human ends? To save the animals? To save the planet? To save ourselves? We must do it, in the name of Jesus Christ. We must do it for the animals. SOURCE…
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