Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category

Food & Faith Challenge April 14th, 2010

Fellow foodie blogger, Wendy at The Local Cook, is hosting a “Food & Faith Challenge.” From April 3 – June 19 (yes, I’m a little behind on announcing this), she will encourage us to think about our food in a deeper sense than just, “What should I eat for lunch?”

Each week throughout the challenge, Wendy will post a topic for consideration on her blog, accompanied by a Bible verse*, comments from a guest poster (it so happens that yours truly is guest posting about Farm Workers on May 1st), questions for reflection, and a homework assignment to work towards a more sustainable food system.

I encourage everyone to follow along through the weeks, try the homework assignments, and contribute to the discussion by commenting on The Local Cook blog. Plus, leaving comments enters you to win sweet prizes every single week! 

Let the challenge begin.

 

*Wendy indicates that the Food & Faith Challenge is not solely for Christians. From her site: “Even if you are not a Christian, I hope that some of these issues will be of interest to you. I’m Christian Reformed / Emerging, and the book is written by Mennonites, but these issues cut across denominations and religions.”

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Breakfast: Frozen evol burrito – tofu & spinach saute.  Mm mm good.
Lunch: Veggie wrap with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, corn, black beans, and vinaigrette dressing
Dinner: Cheese enchiladas, rice & beans (I’m in San Antonio right now!)

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Blessed Are The Merciful April 2nd, 2010

Have compassion as God has compassion.  Matthew 5:48

As Christians celebrate Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and resurrection this Easter, let us resolve to emulate His compassion in our own lives. There’s no better place to begin than the dinner table. As we break bread, let’s break ties with some of the most violent and ungodly places on Earth: slaughterhouses and factory farms.

Before they become Sunday’s centerpiece, animals on factory farms are denied everything that God designed them to do. They never breathe fresh air, nurture their young, play with other animals, or do anything to live out the biblical concept that “God’s mercy is over all His creatures.”

For example, pigs spend their entire lives in filthy concrete pens, and cruelty is rampant, as witnessed by PETA’s investigation of Belcross Farm, a pig-breeding facility in North Carolina, which resulted in the first ever felony indictments for cruelty to animals by farm workers in the US. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Pigs are abused at factory farms across the country.

Easter is also no celebration for hens on egg farms, who suffer constant confinement to tiny, filthy wire cages. Male chicks are killed, through suffocation or grinders, since they don’t produce eggs. And female chicks have their beaks painfully seared off to keep them from pecking one another.

Then, at the end of their short, miserable lives, these animals are roughly crammed into trucks and transported off to suffer the ultimate terror of the slaughterhouse, where workers hang them upside-down and slit their throats.

Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God’s absolute identification with the weak, the powerless and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering.
- Rev. Dr. Andrew Linzey

This Easter, demonstrate compassion by trying some delicious vegetarian and vegan Easter recipes.

Also, visit the Christian Vegetarian Association’s website and read their “Would Jesus Eat Meat Today?” pamphlet.

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Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Medley of pasta salad, veggies, and grilled tofu from the salad bar at the deli across the street
Dinner: Tofurkey sandwich with chips and homemade guacamole

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Compassionate Christmas December 23rd, 2009

I will once again plead for compassion in your holiday meals.  Whether it’s ham, turkey, or roast beef that is usually at the center of your table, this year consider losing the dead carcass for something more merciful. During a holiday season that is about  love, hope, generosity, good will, peace, joy, sacrifice, and religion, we should work to embody the spirit of Christmas, including at our meals.

I confess, I wish religion was more explicit on this subject.  But there were no factory farms in first century Palestine on which to pass judgement.  So, we are left only with His simple and constant theme of mercy, gentleness, and compassion, which we are to emulate.

Be ye, therefore, merciful, as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

The Bible may not include an explicit story of livestock fleeing their abusers and taking refuge by His side, but there are more than a few examples of compassion towards animals.

Moses, we are told, was chosen because he rescued a stray lamb: “You who have compassion for a lamb shall now be the shepherd of my people of Israel.”  When Jesus rebukes David for plotting to kill Uriah and steal his wife, he uses a story of a man slaying and eating the beloved ewe of a poor man.  To Balaam, the false teacher, God actually speaks through an animal, the mistreated mule who sees the angel of heaven even before his master, asking “What have I done unto thee that thou hast smitten me these three times?”

The Old Testament has very direct orders, such as, never to yoke an ox and ass together, since the latter would suffer, or never to muzzle an ox when it’s thrashing grain, since it will desire to eat but be unable to.  And how strange, in our age of factory farms, to hear the commandment that even cattle are to be given rest on the Sabbath for “a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”

In the story of Christmas, baby Jesus is surrounded by not only Mary & Joseph, shepherds and wisemen, but also there, are the lowly cattle, lamb, and donkey.  They watched the birth of the savior as if they had some stake in the events unfolding and provided “their breath to warm the infant.”  But of course when all the excitement was over, they had to return to their pens, and life as livestock.  Even witnessing the birth of Christ would not give them reprieve from serving man.  But they were there, they are part of the story, and without them, something important and beautiful would be missing.

Recalling these familiar passages, it reminds us of what a radical departure mankind’s outlook on animals has taken. We celebrate a God who loves and cares not only for each person, but also for all creatures. He assures us in his own words that not even a sparrow falls without His knowing.  The God of Israel delights in all that He has made and all creatures sing their Creator’s praises.  Yet, we torture and kill millions of His creatures to celebrate His birthday.  It just doesn’t seem right.

This year, on the day we celebrate the love and compassion of our savior, choose love and compassion.

Here is a fantastic list of vegetarian holiday recipes.
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Breakfast: Bagel & cream cheese
Lunch: Vegetable soup
Dinner: Spaghetti

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Religion (Yes, I’m Going There) October 6th, 2009

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28

Why is it that we turn to religious teachings for moral guidance in so many aspects of our lives, yet so seldom in the matter of eating animals?  It is time we inspected this original sanction to “subdue the earth,” both in letter and spirit.

Humans have the unique ability, unparalleled in the natural world, to know God and to attain His transcendent purpose.  Because of this, most people regard animals as secondary beings, as morally incidental, soulless beings for whom no bell ever tolls, and to whom we have no moral duties.

However, we can not deny that under religious principle, we have a basic obligation of kindness.  Religion teaches us to spread our care as far and as wide as possible, to be His instrument in loving all creation.  

So, it is easy for us to condemn those who abuse dogs, poach elephants, or hunt dolphins.  But why do we not condemn ourselves for eating cows, chickens, or pigs?  (And more so, for fueling the torturous practices and massive slaughterings that lead them to our plate?) 

Because we like dogs, elephants, and dolphins.  We honor their dog-ness, their elephant-ness, or their dolphin-ness.   What I mean by this is, we see them for what they are, for how God created them.  We allow them to be how they were meant to be and we appreciate their intelligence, beauty, wildness, or loyalty.  We respect them for their natural, God-given characteristics.

Livestock on the other hand, we dominate.  We strip away their natural rights, their natural habitats, their ability to be what they are meant to be, their cow-ness, pig-ness, chicken-ness.  We do not look at them as He created them, instead we look at them as our own design for them.  We strip away our ability to respect them as creatures of God, as equivalent to the dolphin, elephant, or dog.

How naive we are to assume that God cares more for a dog than for a cow!  Why do we think that He only cares for animals that meet with human kindness, but not for those that meet with human cruelty?  It is ignorant to believe that God cares more for certain creatures, just because we do. 

Every creature is one of His creations.  Every life has a meaning, whether or not that meaning is understood by us. 

“Go into the largest livestock operation, search out the darkest and tiniest stall or pen, single out the filthiest, most forlorn little lamb or pig or calf, and that is one of God’s creatures you’re looking at, morally indistinguishable from  your beloved Fluffy or Frisky.”- Matthew Scully

While, yes it is true that God told man to “subdue the earth” and “rule the animals,” it is obvious that fallen man is abusing his powers.  As we are taught in other contexts, His ways are not our ways.  As one old hymn tells us, there is a wideness in God’s mercy greater than the mind of men.  So, who among us has the divine wisdom to be certain that His mercy does not include the cows, pigs, or chickens? 

Here, more than anywhere, is a chance to learn a lesson in humility and demonstrate our efforts to mimic God’s compassion.  For, what are we to Him, but what they are to us?

Now, I’m no theologian and I definitely don’t claim to exemplify any pillars of any religion, but I am betting that in the Book of Life, “She had mercy on the creatures” is going to count for a lot more than, “She ate well.”

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Breakfast: A scone
Lunch: Leftover Mongolian BBQ (lots of veggies + tofu)
Dinner: Corn, asparagus & baby carrots (mixed together & steamed), and potaoes & onions (chopped up & cooked in some olive oil)

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