Today I met someone who is a member of PETA and refuses to eat meat.

I made a remark that instead of being concerned with the welfare of animals and eating animals, we should be concerned with the rights of human beings. The right to life, the right to food and shelter, the right to be happy. We must work for the oppressed. In the end when our lives end God isn't going to say, "What did you do to save the whales" He wil be asking, "When did you clothe the naked, feed the stranger, and visit the prisoner. When did you help the poor. For whatever you did for the least of my people you did for me. And whatever you didn't do for the my people you didn't do for me."

What do you think? Is it rude?

Let me know.

Thanks,

Edward

I don't think its rude...
i think that God will probably ask what we did to save the whales, at least as far as being stewards of creation. we arent the only creation that matters, we are just the high point of it. so while humans come first, we should to some extent protect animals....definitely not to anywhere near the extent of PETA, but we do have the obligation to be faithful stewards of creation. but i dont think you were rude....I am rude....i have a sticker on teh back of my planner that says "For every animal you save I'll eat three.".....

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Good stuff Rev. (and this is coming from a vegetarian). As I remarked elsewhere, in a nearbye town, there is a planned parenthood next to a humane society -the sad, sad irony!

That's a interesting situation . I think it's ok to be concerned about the welfare of animals , because it should stem from our love and appreciation of God ...it's a form of good stewardship. However, some people can go too the extreme with it. Was this person not concerned with the rights of human beings: The right to life, the right to food and shelter, the right to be happy ect...if not then there's a contradiction .

I think taking care of animals and the environment is extremely important (this is God's creation that we are talking about) and as the 'high point' of this creation we do have a responsibility to care for it.

I don't have a problem with eating meat as such, for example, but if Catholics are getting their chicken fillets and eggs from battery farms where hens are kept in cruel, uncomfortable, and unnatural conditions, there is a problem. We do have compassionate alternatives to the kind of farm where a chicken is kept in such a small cage that its feathers poke out and it is never permitted to move. There's no excuse for treating an animal with cruelty just for convenience's sake. At home I eat free-range meat; at university, where that's not possible, I am a vegetarian.

As far as I see it, you were making a very valid point. God gave as power over the animals, that means we can eat them, just like they eat each other, but while they live they should not be tortored or used as expiraments. But, again, you are right, we need to worry about our fellow human beings before splitting hairs over weither or not I am entitled to have leather seats in my car or fur on a coat.

People have said that stuff to me and to be honest, I found it hurtful. I -do- care about my fellow human beings, and I -do- do stuff for them. Not eating meat doesn't hurt any person, nor do I think I've "done my part" and do less for other HUMANS because of it. Why would you think that? I care about humans more than I do about animals - one of the main reasons I don't eat meat is because some farm animals are fed with soy grown in Africa, on fertile soil that could be used to feed humans.

I'm sure you didn't mean it to be hurtful, and you're absolutely right that we should care about humans more than animals. But when people say that to me (again, this is how I felt it when that happened) it was like they just assumed I didn't care about humans. And that hurts.

I want that sticker...where did you get it?

Depends on the tone in which the comment was made. What you said was 100% correct. If the comment was made in a charitable manner, then if the person was offended, perhaps the truth of the comment struck home and their conscience has convicted them?

One of my 8th graders had a good question this Sunday along the same lines: "If humans have so much greater value than animals in the sight of God, why do we have more animal shelters than homeless shelters?" He is quite an astute young man, methinks....

Just highlights the disparity in society's viewpoint from that of our Lord. Personally, I CANNOT donate a single dollar of my limited income to help an animal if that same dollar could have gone to help a person. It would so severely go against my conscience and my understanding of the Natural Law that it would haunt me for quite some time.

Also cannot fathom donating $3 of my taxes to presidential campaigns on my tax formes either, for what it's worth.