Inkwater Press
6750 SW Franklin Street
Suite A
Portland, OR 97223-2542
www.inkwaterpress.com
© 2004, Richard D. Stratton
www.kindnesstoanimals.org
ISBN 1-59299-046-0
$16.95 U.S. (Hardback)
So often in today's world we find "religious" people fighting and arguing over their differences concerning doctrine and compassion toward the whole of Creation. In compiling selections from the sermons and writings of the early (19th and early 20th century) Latter-day Saint Church leaders, Richard D. Stratton has given people of compassion all over the world a way of celebrating our commonalities, and seeing beyond our doctrinal differences.
Kindness to Animals and Caring for the Earth is a wonderful reference work that clearly shows that the founders and leaders of the LDS Church fully recognized that animals have souls and spirits, just as humans do, and that they will be resurrected into all the glories of our heavenly abode. Furthermore, he lets us understand that caring for the whole of creation (humans, animals, and the environment) is an integral part of our worship of God and living in the heavenly will of our Creator.
Many of the writings reveal the frustration of the church leaders with many of their members and others who enjoyed killing for pleasure and who abused animals and the environment. They are in total agreement that such actions are a sin against God, and that such people will be called to answer for their cruel actions.
The writings show that the church leaders understood that people's hardness of heart toward animals and the environment leads to their cruelty toward fellow human beings, and that their kindness to animals leads to kindness to people. Many of the writers also believed that we can and should help usher in the peaceable kingdom, where neither humans nor animals will ever again harm or eat each other.
Kindness to Animals and Caring for the Earth gave us an insight into many of the compassionate teachings of the LDS Church of which we had not previously been aware. We recommend this book to everyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, for through it we find more common ground for working together to make this a kinder and more gentle world.
Richard D. Stratton (Rick) is a fire modeling analyst with Systems for Environmental Management www.fire.org at the U.S. Forest Service's Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, MT.
He has a B.S. in conservation biology (wildlife) from Brigham Young University and a M.S. from Utah State University in forestry (fire and GIS).
Rick grew up in Albuquerque, NM, and moved to New Jersey just before serving in the California Sacramento Mission. He and his wife, Shelly, are the parents of two children: Logan and Ember.
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