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For ease of reading all quotations appear in a
Purple Font
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To add interest I have
interspersed this commentary with thought provoking
quotations from Religious Sacred scripture, philosophers, ethicists,
and other notable thinkers both past and present.
In the beginning of all things,
wisdom and knowledge were with the
animals. The Creator, the One Above,
did not speak directly to man. He
sent certain animals to tell man
that he shows himself through the
beasts and that from them and from
the stars and the moon should man
learn all things told of the
Creator.
~Eagle Chief, West Coast, late 19th
Century
The highest religion is to rise to universal
brotherhood; and to consider all creatures your equals.
Guru Nanak : the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
May
all beings be free from enmity;
May all beings be free from injury;
May all beings be free from suffering;
May all beings be happy.
Buddhist Prayer for Animals to be Free From Suffering.
Animals are endued with a capability of perceiving
pleasure and pain; and, from the abundant provision
which we perceive in the world for the gratification of
their several senses, we must conclude that the Creator
wills the happiness of these his creatures, and
consequently that humanity towards them is agreeable to
him, and cruelty the contrary. This, I take it, is the
foundation of the Rights of Animals, as far as they can
be traced independently of scripture and is, even by
itself, decisive on the subject, being the same sort of
argument as that on which Moralists found the Rights of
Mankind, as deduced from the Light of Nature.
Thomas Young, an English genius and polymath
This is an extension of the issue of the religious and
philosophical ideas briefly mentioned in the article
Animal Rights
And Why They Matter. In this section I would like to
discuss from the perspective of world religions and
philosophical ideologies why animals matter and why we
need to treat them differently, more humanely. The main
focus will be on farm animals and other animals who are seriously used and abused.
However much of the
information in this article will apply to our
consideration and our treatment of all animals because
in some way man has adversely interfered with the
natural lives of most creatures on the entire plant.
He created the earth for all creatures.
In it there are fruits, and date palms with their
hanging fruit.
Also grains and the spices. (O humans and jinns,) which
of your Lord's marvels can you deny?
Quran 55 :10,13 Sacred scripture of Islam
While it is commendable that we save many of the species
that are endangered it does seems somehow incongruous
that we do so whilst systemically destroying others.
Altering their very natures to suit our needs. We are
horrified about cruelty to a cat or dog yet few care or
even consider the dreadful cruelty that is inflicted
upon farm animals day after day. Millions of these
sentient beings are confined in the dreadful conditions
of factory farming before being
cruelly slaughtered. There is no such thing as humane
slaughter, the very fact of causing death to another
being is inhumane, it is
unethical to deny any creature the right to live for the
natural duration of his or her life. To take the life of
any creature is the ultimate cruelty.
If you have men who will exclude any of God's
creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you
will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow
men.
St. Francis of Assisi, Christian monk and mystic
There is indeed a most bizarre contradiction in our
attitude to farm animals. Cute TV shows such as Shaun
the sheep depict the idyll of life on a farm far removed
from the reality. (Please refer to the
Animals
Rights page to find what
happens in factory farms.) The cock crows in the morning and awakes
Shaun and his happy flock of sheep who graze contentedly
in the sunshine looked after by a kindly old farmer.
This Is of course meant for children but it may surprise
you that many adults retain a similar fantasy concerning
the life of farm animals. Obviously most people are
aware of factory farming but somehow the reality seems
far removed, as though this is more of a fantasy than
such depictions of farming as Shaun the Sheep.
In
this section I will discuss from the perspective of
religion the importance of animals, why they matter and
why we need to address issues concerning animal rights.
Included in this section are the teachings and beliefs
regarding animals from the perspectives of the world's religious traditions and philosophical
ideologies concerning our treatment of, and our
relationship with the nonhuman animals with whom we
share this world. Included are the beliefs of the Abrahamic religions
(Christianity, Judaism and Islam) Buddhism, Hinduism,
Jainism and the
philosophies of Gandhi, Plutarch and other philosophers
and ethicists.
There is no religion without love, and people may
talk as much as they like about their religion, but if
it does not teach them to be good and kind to beasts as
well as man it is all a sham.
Anna Sewell, Black Beauty.
Although it is only Jainism that has consistently
advocated against harming other creatures most religions
adopt some teaching concerning compassion towards
animals and denounce mistreatment and cruelty.
Contrary to popular belief vegetarianism plays
a larger role in all religions, particularly in ancient
times, and now again in the modern era vegetarianism
is once again becoming an important part of religious
practice. It is only in
the interim that religious doctrine has appeared to be
biased towards meat eating and other unethical treatments
of animals often through misinterpretation of ancient
scriptures upon which these religions have been founded
and man's personal interpretations down through the ages
to justify his greed for meat and his need for
exploitation. For example in the early Christian era in
monasteries for the most part the diet was vegetarian
until the austerity of monastic life was replaced with a
relaxation of former rules of conduct and, concerning
the consumption of flesh, was altered to accommodate
man's taste for meat rather than accurate interpretation
of biblical teachings.
By
ethical conduct toward all creatures, we enter into a
spiritual relationship with the universe.
Schweitzer, Rev. Dr. Albert
Many people of a religious persuasion in particular
those belonging to the Abrahamic religions namely,
Judaism, Islam and Christianity when the subject of meat
consumption is
challenged will argue that it is the will of God.
Although I rather think that reasonable people of these
persuasions would not consider the modern methods of factory farming as what
God intended, nevertheless they continue to believe that
God meant man to eat meat and it is this belief that
helps to perpetuate the meat industry and factory
farming or at least helps this practice to go
unchallenged. However in these religions there is no
commandment to eat meat and no prohibition against
adopting a vegetarian diet. There is no scriptural or
other doctrinal reason why followers of the Abrahamic
religions cannot be vegetarian or vegan.
Please do keep in mind that all three of
these traditions believe in the same God. The Jews and
Christians call him Yahweh although most Christians
simply refer to Him as God whilst the Muslims call Him Allah. The reason
these religions are referred to as the Abrahamic
religions is because they all stemmed from the religion
of Abraham. All the above religions basically adhere to
the passage in Genesis where God gave man domain over
his entire creation despite the fact that many,
particularly Christians, now believe in the theory of
evolution rather than creationism. Nonetheless
despite such seemingly incongruous beliefs most
Christians consider that God created nonhuman animals
for us to eat. However all is not what it seems and we
need to look more closely at the beliefs of each
religion rather than to continue to adhere to
concepts that may not be as accurate as we assume them
to be. All too often we continue to believe the
interpretations of others regarding religious teachings,
in fact such interpretations are carried on through
generations without being questioned. For example
if we read Geneses carefully we can see that God intended
for man to eat herbs:
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.
Genesis 1:29 Bible
An
area of confusion is the word dominion. Although the
beliefs concerning the account of the creation in
Genesis differ in some respects in the respective
beliefs of the Abrahamic religions all agree that God
gave man dominion over creation.
Lets first look at the chapter in Genesis often quoted
by those who wish to continue killing animals for food.
After God created all the animals except man we read in
chapter One verse 25: in the King James version of the
Christian bible
"And God Said.' Let us make man
in our own image, after our likeness: and let him have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the foul of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing and creepeth upon the
earth.
The key here is the word "dominion" consider that
instead of the exploitative domination we have at
present, dominion refers instead to stewardship or
responsibility to manage and care for the earth and her
creatures rather than meaning that we have cart blanch
license to do whatsoever we wish with other animals with
whom we share this earth. The word dominion is derived
from the Greek rahe, which unlike the modern
interpretation means in this context to have a relationship of
compassion over the rest of creation rather than a heavy
handed exploitative one. Certainly such a stewardship
should be undertaken in accordance with God's plan for a
paradise on earth rather than to satisfy our insatiable
greed for meat and wealth, wealth often accrued by the
shocking abuse and exploitation of other creatures. St.
Francis of Assisi most remembered of saints because of
his compassion for all beings, including of course non human animals,
saw himself as a caretaker of all God’s creations, he
considered all animals were aware of God and preached to
birds and other creatures. He held the belief that all of creation is
united through its oneness in God.
Lets look individually at some of the world's
religions and philosophical ideologies and see what each in turn actually teaches
concerning our relationship with animals and how we
should treat them.
With the exception of Jainism the eating of meat is not
explicitly prohibited in any of the religions discussed
below, even in Hinduism meat eating is not specifically
renounced however most Hindus adhere to a vegetarian or
vegan diet and Hindu teachers and scriptures often
expressly encourage a vegetarian diet. However, I
believe that I can safely say that in the main no
religion would condone the huge scale of animal abuse
that takes place in factory farms that is perpetrated each and every day
against defenceless sentient beings. Islam explicitly
forbids it. Furthermore
according to my understanding none of the religions I
have included here reject or condemn Vegetarianism or veganism, and
there are increasingly more adherents of these
traditions who take up a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle,
and moreover you will find various faith based
vegetarian websites and associations becoming
increasingly more common.
Jainism is probably the most animal
friendly religion, nevertheless in the
past Jains
consumed milk, however due to the cruelty
of factory farming cows for their milk
many Jains in modern times abstain from
milk.
The Buddhist precept of nonharm to all
beings should be enough to ensure that
adherents of this faith abstain from
meat:
I undertake the precept to abstain from
killing living beings
Ist precept Buddhism
In every country in the world,
killing human beings is condemned. The
Buddhist precept of non-killing extends
even further, to include all living
beings.
The Venerable Thich Nhat Hahn,
Vietnamese Zen master
Concerning factory farming I cannot
imagine that any religion could condone
the eating of meat or the use of animal
products derived in this way. Also those
of any religious persuasion surely
cannot condone the consumption of meat
at the expensive of millions of starving
people throughout the world and the
damage that rearing animals for meat
causes the environment.
Consider the following reasons why a devotee of any
religion should for ethical
reasons adopt a Vegetarian diet,
for the sake of
the well-being of other human beings,
other animals,
their own health and the
environment.
All religions teach compassion towards
animals and renouce cruelty.
With the introduction of the cruel
methods of factory farming in the last
century the consumption of meat and the
use of animal products is not compatible
with the humane compassionate treatment
of animals taught by all religions.
Therefore the best way forward for those
of any religious persuasion is to adopt
a vegetarian and preferably a vegan
diet.
Consider also the following:
NEW DELHI, India, Nov 21 -- A simple
statement from a friend when
discussed our common love for
animals, 'If you love animals then
why do you eat them?' set me
thinking on how most religions, the
Abrahamic as well as the Vedic,
discourage meat eating. Clearly meat
eating is not banned in some of
these, but it is discouraged
indirectly.
A very interesting common thread
that runs through them all is that
sacred or blessed food is almost
always vegetarian such as manna,
amrit or wine. According to one
Hadith one must wash one's mouth
after eating meat.
The Hindustani Times
In
the articles below I endeavour to respectfully remind
or bring to the fore the teachings of each respective
tradition concerning the humane treatment of animals and
adopting a vegetarian, preferably vegan diet
This is quite a significant undertaking on my part and
will take many months to complete in its entirety.
Therefore I will include web pages as and when they are
completed rather than wait the considerable time to
complete the entire section.
Therefore at the present time only two pages concerning
Buddhism and Jainism are available. Also included further down
are
quotations pages for each of the religions listed above
with links to Vegetarian associates and websites and
articles of interest.
Important:
I have a keen interest in religion and consider all
religions as a force for good, but I am neither an
adherent of any religious belief nor an expert on the
subject.
Please
note the articles in this section, together with the
quotations pages, are included for interest only
and to provide basic information concerning the humane
treatment of animals from a religious and philosophical
perspective, they are not suitable for serious study as precise accuracy
cannot be guaranteed. Please keep in mind that
information included in this website has been researched
to the best of my ability and any misinformation is
quite by accident but is of course possible. My
apologies for any mistakes which I will be happy to
rectify on notification
Buddhism
Jainism
Coming next Philosophy
The rest will be added in due course.
In
the meantime, or if you prefer just basic information,
below are a selection of quotations from the above
religions, followed by links to websites of each
of the respective religions that advocate vegetarianism or
veganism :
Christianity
Islam
Judaism
Hinduism
Jainism
Buddhism
Philosophy
Why should man expect his
prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when
he shows no mercy to what is under him?
Pierre Troubetzkoy
Links to external websites with
the theme of animal rights and religion
Websites concerning individual religions and animal
rights are included in the Quotations section of each
respective religion.
Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians
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.
Religions stress that we should treat all creatures with
compassion. Yet, ten billion animals are raised in
abusive "factory farms" and brutally slaughtered
annually in the U.S. Farmers deny animals fresh air,
space to move comfortably, and fulfillment of their
instinctive needs.
Please read more by clicking the link above, this
a very important website for followers of all faiths who
wish to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet.
International Vegetarian Union (IVU): Religion and
Vegetarianism
International
Vegetarian Union - Religion and Vegetarianism
Access to articles concerning the perspective of most of the
world's main religions regarding vegetarianism. A
wealth of information
The role of animals
in religion.
Information, quotations and links to animal rights
resources
Society & Animals
Forum
Since
1981, Society & Animals Forum (formerly Psychologists
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) works with social
scientists, mental health providers and other animal
protection organizations to reduce the suffering and
exploitation of both human and nonhuman animals.
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in this series:
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Important please note:
I
am not an animal expert of any kind just your average
person who loves animals, all animals, and feels deeply
about the plight of many of our fellow creatures.
Neither am I a writer, or any other expert. Therefore
please keep in mind that the information included in
this website has been researched to the best of my
ability and any misinformation is quite by accident but
of course possible.
Copyright, accreditations and
other matters, please read
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