Challenging Religions on Vegetarianism
Richard H. Schwartz
Synopsis: The purpose of this project is to respectfully challenge religions to put the application of their basic values to dietary concerns on their agendas for consideration. Some arguments that will be used are that animal-based diets and agriculture are having devastating effects on human health and environmental sustainability and that the production and consumption of meat and other animal products violate basic religious teachings to preserve our health, treat animals compassionately, protect the environment, conserve natural resources and help hungry people.
Next Steps:
- Strive to get CVA, JVNA, SERV, and other religious vegetarian groups to sign on to the project. [These groups have agreed to support the project.]
- Start forming an advisory committee.
- Draft a press release.
- Try to get support from vegetarian, animal rights, environmental, and other vegetarian-related groups.
- Start planning events and projects such as a “Vegetarian Sabbath,” outreach to religious leaders, and outreach to the media.
---------------------------------------------
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PROPOSAL TO CHALLENGE RELIGIONS RE VEGETARIANISM
The following questions are responded to below. Suggestions re better answers are very welcome. Please let me know if there are other questions that you would like addressed. Of course, this is very much a work in progress, and I hope that better responses will develop if the project is carried out.
- Why challenge religions re vegetarianism?
- Why should JVNA (and other vegetarian groups) undertake this project?
- How would the project be administered?
- How would we involve other vegetarian and animal rights individuals and groups in this project?
- What are some of the activities that could be carried out as part of this project?
- What resources do we have that would be helpful?
- How would this project be funded?
Why challenge religions re vegetarianism?
The world is imperiled as perhaps never before and animal-based diets contribute significantly to these threats. Animal-centered diets are inconsistent with religious teachings to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people. Yet, religions generally are ignoring these important realities.
Many Americans take religion seriously, attend church, synagogue, mosque, etc. regularly, and are concerned about “moral values.” Yet few consider the many moral issues related to animal-based diets.
I believe that environmental threats, the current epidemic of diseases, widespread hunger, and the massive mistreatment of animals on factory farms are religious/moral/spiritual issues and religions should be actively involved in responding to these threats.
2. Why should VUNA undertake this project?
- No other group is doing it.
- Unlike some other groups, JVNA is not considered controversial or radical.
- Undertaking such a project has the potential of greatly increasing JVNA’s reputation and potential effectiveness.
3. How would the project be administered
One possibility is to have a governing council with a very wide representation of males and females, Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, etc., with perhaps even some non-believers, younger and older people, etc.
Decisions would be reached by consensus or votes in which decisive majorities would be required.
4. How would we involve other vegetarian and animal rights individuals and groups in this project?
We could use press releases, e-mail messages, a special web site, VUNA and other announcements, word-of-mouth, etc.
I am president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and coordinator of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV) and I have some good contacts in the Christian Vegetarian Society (CVA), and I believe these groups and other religious vegetarian groups would support this effort.
5. What are some of the activities that could be carried out as part of this project?
- press releases
- visits to clergy members
- a vegetarian Sabbath
- a letter writing campaign
- sermons and classes
- calls to religious radio programs
- articles
- a newsletter
- debates and discussions
- resolutions
- position papers: These could be effective tools at- the-ready on a
website whenever the need comes up to explain "why..."
- a web site
it could use the lists of religious/vegetarian quotations (A few choice
words or slogans "stick" in people's minds), bibliographies, and URLs of religious/vegetarian groups at the SERV web site
6. What resources do we have that would be helpful?
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the religious material on vegetarianism, including books, booklets, leaflets, CDs, and DVDs. CVA has been very successful in distributing Christian vegetarian material at Christian events. SERV has very extensive lists of religious/vegetarian quotations, literature, and vegetarian web sites at its web site.
I have over 130 vegetarian-related articles and other items at JewishVeg.com/schwartz and SERV has some vegetarian-related articles at its web site.
7. How would this project be funded?
While funding would be very helpful, it is not essential. Most activities, other than ads, require little or no money.
We could ask for donations and seek grants, but the success of the projects is not dependent on successful fund raising.
Draft of a message seeking support of vegetarian and animal rights groups to join the outreach to religions project
Challenging the Religious Community Re Animal-Based Diets
I hope that ______ will join the Vegetarian Union of North America (VUNA), the Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA), the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV) in a campaign to make 2006 a year of respectfully challenging religious communities re addressing the many moral issues related to typical American diets.
The main idea would be to try to involve as many vegetarian and animal rights groups and individuals as possible in a united effort to get vegetarianism and related issues onto religious agendas.
Some considerations:
1. I am president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), coordinator of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV), and a councilor for VUNA, and I have some good contacts in the Christian Vegetarian Society (CVA), and these groups have agreed to support this effort.
2. Many people profess to be religious and to believe in moral values. Yet, the vast majority of religious people are seem to be ignoring the moral issues related to our diets.
3. in recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the religious material on vegetarianism, including books, booklets, leaflets, CDs, and DVDs. CVA has been very successful in distributing Christian vegetarian material at Christian events. SERV has very extensive lists of religious/vegetarian quotations, literature, and vegetarian web sites at its web site.
4. Here is a summary of ways in which the realities of the production and consumption of animal products violate religious teachings:
* While religions mandate that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
* While religions require compassion and respect for animals, most farm animals are raised on "factory farms" where they live in cramped, confined spaces, and are often drugged, mutilated, and denied fresh air, sunlight, exercise, and any enjoyment of life, before they are slaughtered and eaten.
* While religions teach that "the earth is the Lord’s" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats, global warming, and other environmental damage.
* While religions stress that we are not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, and that we are not to use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of grain, land, water, energy, and other resources.
* While religions emphasize that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, over 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to animals destined for slaughter, while an estimated 20 million people worldwide die because of hunger and its effects each year.
In view of these important religious mandates to preserve human health, attend to the welfare of animals, protect the environment, conserve resources, help feed hungry people, and pursue peace, and since animal-centered diets violate and contradict each of these responsibilities, religious people should sharply reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products.
Each point above constitutes by itself a serious conflict between religious values and current practice that should impel religious people to seriously consider a plant-based diet. Combined, they make an urgently compelling case for religious communities to address these issues.
5. I believe we should stress that the current environmental threats, the current epidemic of diseases, the widespread hunger, and the massive mistreatment of animals on factory farms are religious/moral/spiritual issues and religions should be actively involved in responding to these threats.
Strategy Ideas/Plan of Action
I envision first getting the endorsements of religious vegetarian groups, of as many different religions as possible. I believe they would endorse this proposal. Already JVNA, CVA and SERV have endorsed the project.
Then the preparation of a statement indicating the contradictions between the realities of the production and consumption of meat and religious values. (The material above is a good start.) To supplement it we could use the lists of religious/vegetarian quotations, bibliographies, and URLs of religious/vegetarian groups at the SERV web site
Then, I think we should try to get as many vegetarian and animal rights groups as possible to endorse the idea and to ask their members to try to have one-on-one conversations or group conversations with their local clergypersons and to try to have the religious groups put vegetarianism on their agendas or at least to have an event with a vegetarian focus.
We could also declare a vegetarian Sabbath where we would encourage churches, synagogues, etc. to have programs, sermons, meals, etc. related to vegetarianism on a particular weekend. We would provide much background material to interested congregations.
If we raise sufficient money, we could have ads showing religious teachings about vegetarianism.
The key points are (1) to stress how animal-based diets and animal agriculture violate basic religious teachings, and (2) that God's world is threatened as perhaps as never before. Hence, it is essential that organized religion seriously consider these issues.
I am sure that if ______ joined CVA, JVNA, SERV, and VUNA in supporting such a project, many additional valuable ideas would be generated. I would hope also that the image of the vegetarian and animal rights movements would be enhanced by us respectfully using religious values to promote our causes, and that there would be much progress toward a vegetarian world.
Just a few quotes to conclude:
"if you will it, it is no dream." Theodore Herzl
"One person in the right makes a majority of one." Henry David Thoreau
"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Thomas Paine
=========================
Below are excerpts from the SERV (Society of Ethical and Religious vegetarians) web site, since they reflect the main objectives of the outreach to religion project.
Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians
SERV is an interfaith effort to gain a more humane, just, peaceful, and
environmentally sustainable world. We believe that applying spiritual values to scientific knowledge encourages plant-based diets, with major benefits for
humans, animals, and the environment.
We wish to respectfully make religious communities aware that the realities of animal-based diets and agriculture are inconsistent with basic religious teachings, such as those to treat animals with compassion, preserve our health, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, reduce hunger, and pursue peace and nonviolence.
SERV does not aim to replace any religious vegetarian groups, we hope to help all such groups by helping to show the strong teachings in every religion that point to vegetarianism as the ideal diet today. We also believe that our interfaith approach may help gain greater media coverage. We expect to have many more in our movement as we strive for a very diverse group involving representatives of all the major religions.
This website includes a bibliography of religion-based vegetarian books and key articles, a list of websites with religious teachings on vegetarianism, and a set of quotations related to faith-based vegetarianism.
In spite of the many benefits of plant-based diets and the many negative effects of animal-based diets and agriculture, the vast majority of people still eat meat and other animal products. It is essential that there is a major shift toward vegetarianism to end (or at least sharply reduce) epidemics of diseases that are afflicting so many people, horrible mistreatment of animals, many threats to ecosystems, global climate change, wasteful use of water, land, fuel, and other resources, widespread hunger, and increasing violence.
It is difficult for small vegetarian organizations to effectively counter the campaigns of animal agriculture industries. However, we believe that religious communities are potentially powerful allies, since the realities of animal-centered diets and agriculture are so contrary to basic religious teachings.