All the World’s Religions Agree: Animals Matter!
The world’s religions agree that kindness is key, so when religious scholar Paul Waldau was asked which religions are the most animal-friendly, he replied, “All the ones that are listening to their heart.” The uniting core tenets of the major religions are love, mercy, and kindness – and PETA entities are encouraging people of faith to extend these guiding principles to all sentient beings.
How Shall We Apply ‘Blessed Are the Merciful’?
Most Christians have heard Genesis 1:28 – the oft-quoted “dominion” verse – shamelessly used to justify animal abuse. But that interpretation doesn’t match the next two verses: “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.” God’s perfect creation was … vegan. As journalist Matthew Scully, who is Christian, makes clear in his book Dominion, humans are meant to be creation’s stewards, not its destroyers.
Throughout the Bible, we see Jesus’ compassion. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says, “Whatever you do unto the least among my brothers and sisters, you do as unto me.” PETA’s faith outreach division, PETA LAMBS, takes its name from this profound directive and is empowering people to create the compassionate world that God intended.
PETA LAMBS sends its Creation Care Toolkit – packed with practical ways faith communities can help animals – to churches and has received great feedback. The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania told us it was distributing the toolkit to all its member churches. LAMBS encourages churches to avoid using animals in fundraisers (such as fish fry dinners) and to opt for vegan events instead. And after hearing from LAMBS, Creation Care Church agreed to conduct a virtual Blessing of the Animals service with photos only rather than live animals.
‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ Doesn’t Have an ‘Only Humans’ Caveat
Jewish leaders point to Genesis as a clear indicator of the relationship with all creation that God prescribed. Judaism has a tradition of compassion for animals, and the principle of tza’ar ba’alei Chayim (“the suffering of living creatures”) prohibits causing unnecessary suffering to them
While many Jews seek kosher meat, knowing that kosher slaughter is intended to reduce animals’ suffering, no standards ensure that kosher slaughter is any less cruel than conventional slaughter. PETA’s undercover investigations at Agriprocessors, at the time the world’s largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse, found that conscious cows’ tracheas and esophagi were ripped from their throats with meat hooks or knives and the animals writhed on the floor, trying desperately to stand as blood poured from their throats. After viewing PETA’s video, Rabbi Barry Schwartz said, “If this is kosher, then we have a big problem.”
Many rabbis now support the belief that the only truly kosher meals are vegan ones, and PETA offers free vegan recipes to celebrate Passover, Hannukah, and other holidays compassionately.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): ‘Whoever Is Kind to the Creatures of God Is Kind to Himself’
Earlier this year, vegan Muslim supporters of PETA India celebrated Eid by having goats for dinner – as their guests! They prepared a beautiful feast of fresh fruits and vegetables for the rescued goats and made their sacrifice by donating their own blood, saving a goat’s life, and giving vegan foods to those in need.
The Qur’an says, “There is not an animal that lives on the earth, nor a being that flies with two wings, but they form communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they all shall be gathered to their Lord in the end” (Al-Qur’an, 6:38), and there are many examples of the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) kindness to animals. Find out more at AnimalsInIslam.com.
