Not a headlining blockbuster sin like Jimmy Swaggart, but an unfortunate missing of the mark.
I blew our commitment to a cruelty free diet today. We have gone all year successfully avoiding suspect meat from fast food outlets and cheap supermarkets. But i recently found a large post-easter turkey (neither organic nor cruelty-free) for a ridiculous price, and since we had some crowds of people coming over to our house, i weakened and bought the stupid thing. At the moment, it is roasting in our oven. My wife is a little angry with me and i am angry with myself.
Anyway, after my moral failure today, I am back on track with a righteous diet. [The righteous man is not cruel to his animals (Proverbs)]
does that mean you’re not eating the beast?
Didn’t Martin Luther say something to the effect of, if you’re going to sin, sin boldly not timidly? I hope you not only ate the beast, but that grace allowed you to enjoy it, too.
And spare a thought for poor Luther while you’re at it – he had to settle for a Diet of Worms…
I guess that throat cutting and bleeding out on the altar in Jerusalem was a pretty gentle affair, huh. Ooor not. I know that’s probably completely out of context but I couldn’t resist. Peace and freedom to you my Kiwi Scottish brother, who’s actually Welsh if you get right down to it.
I am curious. How do cheep supermarkets differ in how they treat their animals? At least here in Australia all abattoirs have a code of practice and as far as I know, most supermarkets don’t slaughter their own animals.
But at least you (and your family) have the conviction to stick to a principle. Blessings.
There is some sensitivity to market forces on the part of those who order in food for sale at large supermarket chains in Australia, as members of the public start to request organic-meat, free range poultry and so on. Intensive factory farming is an industrial nightmare, as well as a perversion of the creation.
Whilst a standard code of practice exists at abbatoirs in Australia, different slaughtering processes are used when some products are made for sale as “kosher” (for traditional Jewish communities) and “halal” (for traditional Islamic communities) in Australia. The transport of most animals from farms to abbatoirs is a problem, as the code requiring care for animals in transport is often not enforced.
Anti-cruelty laws are very limited in scope and only address the rather nebulous expression “unnecessary cruelty”.
My wife and I took the first-ever Animal Law” course in Australia in Feb 2005 at UNSW. There is a tremednous need for a creation-based ethic here as the high ground is currently held by people who are very antipathetic towards Christianity.
If this issue interests you further you can have a look at a preliminary theological-juridical foray “Animals Matter To God”, which is in the latest edition of Sacred Tribes. See
http://www.sacredtribes.com/issue2/STJ-finals/Animals_Matter_to_God.pdf
Or go to the main index page
http://www.sacredtribes.com/issue2/index.htm
Hi – a couple of folk in our church keep chickens, goats, ducks, sheep etc etc on a small holding. They treat their animals well and they are completlely organic etc.
They tell me that a supermarket chicken is basically raised on growth hormones – growing from chick to shelf in 6-8 weeks. A ‘real’ chicken takes aty least nine months to reach the same size.
Think how many growth hormones you’ve eaten…hmmm
Chicken breast meat in supermarkets/fast-food joints etc is from chickens who have been raised on growth hormones and oestrogen – which grows very large breasts.
Hmmm…uuuuuuurgh
Now, I don’t condone cruelty to animals at all, but I think it’s a little silly to talk about treating an animal kindly and then eat it…
yeah – that would be silly if it were true
i have explained the cruelty free diet in a post
here