Christians and the Treatment of Animals

Since I have been a Christian, one of the things that has always bothered me is how many Christians view animals. The basic opinion is that killing animals for sport is perfectly OK and if you have a problem with it, then you are some kind of liberal.
Well, I am theologically very conservative and I believe that many Christians should reconsider their attitudes.

When God created man, he did give him dominion over the animals, but I believe this dominion includes a responsibility to be good stewards of the land and the animals.

The Christian Vegetarian Association is an organization that challenges many of the popular opinions found in Christianity. I do not agree with all of their positions but, I believe every Christian should check out their materials and at least be challenged.

Here are some statements from their materials:

God’s Animals
Jesus said that God
feeds the birds of the air (Matt. 6:26)
and does not forget sparrows (Luke 12:6).
The Hebrew Scriptures forbid inhumane
slaughter or cruelty toward beasts of
burden (Exod. 23:5; Deut. 22:6–7, 25:4).
Yet, in the United States, virtually all
food derived from animals is obtained
through intensive factory farming
methods. In fact, nearly ten billion land
animals are slaughtered each year, over
a million every hour, and the number
of aquatic animals killed for food is far
greater. These animals suffer greatly
from stressful crowding, barren environments
that frustrate their instinctive
drives, mutilations and amputations
without pain relief (including debeaking,dehorning, tail docking, and castration),
and other painful procedures (Bernard
Rollin, Ph.D., Farm Animal Welfare).

For example, farmers crowd egglaying
hens in cages so small they can’t
spread their wings. Some birds are immobilized
when their feet get caught
in the wire mesh; unable to reach food,
they starve to death. Millions of chicks
are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service
each year. Although mortality rates are
high, chicks are deemed cheap and not
worth the cost of humane transport.
It seems that contemporary farmers
embrace any practice that increases
productivity, regardless of how much
animal pain and suffering it inflicts.

During transport to slaughter, animals
are often handled roughly and
exposed to extremes of heat or cold.
Finally, slaughter typically involves terror
and, often, great pain (Gail Eisnitz,
Slaughterhouse). Illustrating the industry’s
callousness, animals too sick to
walk are painfully dragged to slaughter
rather than humanely euthanized.
Typical of the industry’s attitude, Hog
Farm Management advised, “Forget the
pig is an animal. Treat him just like
a machine in a factory.”
If we eat the products of factory
farming we are, Fr. John Dear notes,
“paying people to be cruel.”



I know many will immediately reject the above statements, but I pray that you will at least think about them.

Here is the link to the web site for the Christian Vegetarian Association