Letter from Susan About Churches Being Leaders in Providing Compassion to Animals - October 15, 2008

Hello,

I came across this web site and decided to reply. Yes I do believe it is important that churches lead the way in inspiring people to have love and compassion for all God�s creation. In fact, I believe the church has failed to do this.

Animal abuse can be seen in all walks of life. It can be abusing a horse or donkey by forcing them to carry heavy loads or it could be abusing animals used in the slaughtering process. People abuse animals by exploiting them, for example, in circuses, entertainment industry, fur and so on. Of course, I must not forget to mention animal experimentation, one of the worst forms of cruelty forced upon unwilling recipients - caged animals who have no where or no one to turn to, for mercy.

Why is there so much cruelty in this world - cruelty to people and animals? Why is it allowed to carry on? The church should use its influence in a positive way to stop this. I believe cruelty continues because too many people remain silent.

It makes no difference �who is the most important species is� on this planet, the important issue that should be addressed is that we respect all forms of life and allow each and every one of them to live their lives happy and pain free, to be allowed to live their lives free from torment and shackles. Seeing as we are meant to be the most superior, we fall very short of providing the love and compassion that Jesus Christ was capable of giving.

Yours sincerely,
Susan

Quotes

"It is in the battery shed that we find the parallel with Auschwitz��to shut your mind, heart and imagination from the suffering of others is to begin slowly, but inexorably to die. Those Christians� who close their minds and hearts to the cause of animal welfare, and the evils it seeks to combat, are ignoring the fundamental spiritual teachings of Christ himself."
� Rev. Dr. John Austin Baker, Bishop of Salisbury, England 1982-1993

"I care not much for a mans religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it."
� Abraham Lincoln

"A quiet conscience is an invention of the devil."
� Dr. Albert Schweitzer

"He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man."
 � Isaiah 66:3

"To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being."
� Mahatma Gandhi

"Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter.� � Martin Luther King Jr.

"If you have men who will exclude any of God�s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men. Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission � to be of service to them wherever they require it."
� St. Francis of Assisi

"Animals are God�s creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in Gods sight."
� Rev. Dr. Andrew Linzey

"If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals."
� Leo Tolstoy

"Yet saddest of all fates, surely, is to have lost that sense of the holiness of life altogether; that we commit the blasphemy of bringing thousands of lives to a cruel and terrifying death or of making those lives a living death � and feel nothing."
� The Right Reverend John Austin Baker, Bishop of Salisbury, England, commentating on the cruelty of modern animal agriculture

Reply from Frank and Mary Hoffman

Thank you very much for writing. We totally agree!

In a way, you answered you own question about why there is so much cruelty in the world. God gave us stewardship of the earth to care for all that He had created, and Jesus charged us with being loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God, but the church us completely turned away for this mission and has supported the cruel and inhumane treatment of animals and often other humans.

This is why we are trying to set up grass roots ministries all around the world that can help turn this world back to our Father's heavenly will.

In the Love of the Lord,

Frank and Mary

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