The Pershore Abbey's Support of Sport Hunting is Against the Teachings of Jesus Christ
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

A perfect example of how far a church can slip from grace, and lead it's congregation astray, is reflected in the following letter that was sent to the vicar of the historic Pershore Abbey, at Pershore in Worcestershire, UK, by Chris Gale.

Dear Rev Crawford,

I was deeply dismayed to read that a 'celebration of the countryside' is being staged by the Countryside Alliance at Pershore Abbey on Tuesday, December 18, with 'Carols for our Countryside' in aid of that quite odious organisation.

http://www.eveshamjournal.co.uk/news/ejnewslatest/display.var.1881479.0.countryside_celebration_planned.php

The Countryside Alliance, formerly known as the British Field Sports Society, is an organisation dedicated to re-legalising the chasing to exhaustion and vicious death of wild mammals for fun.

That a fundraising service will be held in a sacred place for an organisation dedicated to bloodsports is truly appalling.

Those attending this carol concert will sing of peace, love and compassion, yet they are the ones who actively engage in and glorify death and violence towards Gods creation.

The sheer hypocrisy of this is quite staggering as is members of the bloodsports fraternity giving readings from the Bible.

These same people do not represent the majority of the countryside population, they are simply a wealthy sub culture that uses other issues to mask their true nature.

They represent violence and a culture of sadism that is complete anathema to the teachings of Christianity.

I would ask you to square this: http://www.diggingout.org/terrier_work_photos.html or this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yrp1GkDfS0  with Christianity’s teachings.

'"By their fruits you shall know them!"

I am a confirmed member of the Church of England, have lived in a rural area all my life and every generation of my family has had some connection with working the land, my family across generations has been deeply opposed to the barbarous cruelty of bloodsports as are so many other rural people.

Shame on the Church that it gives succour to those who inflict cruelty on our wildlife and whose savagery is known all too well to those of us who stand for the values of decency and compassion.

I have copied this mail to the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals for information.

I have also copied it to the Rev Barlow who I see from the attached news article is leading this quite obscene service.

“Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” Albert Schweitzer

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." St Francis of Assisi

Regards

Chris Gale

Animal Welfare Campaigner.

Every compassionate person in the world needs to speak out, as Chris Gale has done, whenever we encounter a church or religious organization that supports cruelty or indifference to the suffer of any human or other animal.  The Church needs a wake up call!

Go on to next article: The Torture and Murder of a Bull
Return to previous article: The Disconnect of Blessing One Animal While Eating Another
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.