A Priest of God or a Priest of Satan?
Church Silence Promotes Violence: An Article Series From All-Creatures.org

Church silence promotes violence to humans, to animals, to our environment, to our economy, to our education, to our finances, and to our health.
By: Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman

By Frank L. Hoffman

Sometimes clergy are not so silent in their support of violence and cruelty.  Such is the case of Father Mick MacAndrew who openly supports the cruel practice of mulesing sheep.

Let's take a look at what was reported in Australian newspapers, and compare it to the reality of what happens to the sheep, and what the Bible teaches us, and then discern for ourselves whether Father MacAndrew is a priest of God or a priest of Satan.

To learn more about what really happens to the Merino sheep, take a look at the wool section of http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/sheep.html

The newspapers reported:

A Catholic priest has thrown the Bible at animal rights activists who have declared war on Aussie wool producers.

We found the expression, "thrown the Bible at animal rights activists" very interesting, because the Bible teaches us something very different than Father MacAndrew's gospel, as we will see below.

Listening to an animal rights campaigner is the quickest way to get Father Mick MacAndrew’s Irish up and now the foot soldier for God is on a one man “mission” to protect his flock from the pro-vegetarian, anti-mulesing group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The preacher has blessed the act of removing skin around a sheep’s tail to guard against flesh-eating parasites.

First of all, we need to remember that Merino sheep are not suited for the climate conditions of Australia, and this is the primary reason that they are susceptible to fly attacks; and secondarily, we need to remember that the removing of the skin is being done while the sheep are fully conscious and suffer horribly, just as we would if the skin on our rear end was cut off.

In Proverbs 12:10, we are told:

A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast,
But the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
NASB

So based upon this Biblical passage, we need to ask ourselves, are Father Mick MacAndrew and the sheep farmers being righteous or are they being wicked?

Let's go on and see what else this priest says and teaches:

And he has told farming parishioners it is okay to lie about whether their wool comes from mulesed sheep so prices are not forced down by sanctions driven by PETA, which boasts 1.8 million members who believe animals are not supposed to be eaten, worn or used for entertainment.

“You can lie when an unjust organisation imposes sanctions or threats,” said Fr MacAndrew, who invoked the right of equivocation, where a person omits or misleads to protect the attack on their beliefs.

“PETA is dark, it’s the occult.”

Let's stop here for another minute and see what the Bible really teaches us about lying.

Proverbs 14:5
A faithful witness will not lie,
But a false witness speaks lies.

Proverbs 14:25
A truthful witness saves lives,
But he who speaks lies is treacherous.

John 8:44
"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

Revelation 21:8
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Furthermore, PETA is a secular organization, and as such, they are not espousing anything that could be considered "occult".

So based upon these Biblical passages, we ask again, is Father MacAndrew a priest of God or a priest of Satan?  And, is he leading others astray by his false teaching?

Let's return to the article:

The Bombala priest, aged in his late fifties, feared activists were muddying the world’s natural law by condemning animal husbandry knowledge dating back thousands of years.

“Are we humans being reduced to nothing but animal status?” he asked.

“Who wants to end up a forced vegan for the rest of their lives?”

Perhaps his sharpest barb is saved for Abercrombie and Fitch, the American retailer boycotting Australian wool.

“I went on to their website’s photo gallery and there were scantily dressed males and females - they wouldn’t be buying too much wool,” Fr MacAndrew said.

The part-time teacher pledged to educate pupils about the controversial farming practice when he tutors an agricultural science class next year.

Note what Jesus says about such teachers (Matthew 18:6):

6. but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Let's return to the article:

The Catholic Church is yet to announce an official stance on mulesing.

This is why we have been saying that church silence promotes violence.

The closest it ventured to an animal rights issue recently was when Pope Benedict XVI condemned battery hen farms.

“PETA accuses many livestock farmers of cruelty,” Fr MacAndrew said.

“Cruelty is against the law in Australia and the RSPCA monitors cruelty yet there’s never been a prosecution against a woolgrower for mulesing.

“It’s not a crime - mulesing is anything but cruel, cruel is the malicious and intentional intent to cause harm.

“It is carried out to prevent greater injury to the animal.”

These are just more lies and the twisting of the truth, for to deliberately cause pain and suffering for any reason is cruel, and mulesing causes horrible pain and suffering. It is this cruelty that we, PETA, and other organizations are working to stop, and to bring people back to compassionate ways of living.

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Go on to next article: Being Bitten on the Hand That Supports Evil
Return to previous article: Animals in Heaven - A look at Revelation 4:6-9
Return to Church Silence Promotes Violence Table of Contents

The intent of this series is to wake up and encourage the Church to greater works of love and compassion (John 14:12).  It is not to condemn the Church, in general, or any individual, any more than Jesus condemned the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus said to her, "...go your way.  From now on sin no more." (John 8:11)  And this is our message to the Church:  Recognize our sins of the past and go forth seeking to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), correcting the sins of the past, for that is the only way we can truly show the world that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, might, and mind, including the whole of creation, which includes our neighbors whom we are to love as ourselves.