An uneddited message from

Vlado Began, The society for the rights and liberation of animals, Slovenija

Animals, the Church, Christmas slaughter and climate change

Every year people, above all Christians, remember at Christmastime the birth of Jesus from Nazareth. Many of them gather with their families rejoicing over Jesus’ birth. Christmas tables and Christmas trees are weakening under the load of presents and good food and many people have meat for their Christmas dinner and many of them wish each other Merry Christmas. But is Christmastime merry and happy for animals, too? Regretfully it is not so.

For millions and millions of animals is Christmas, similar as Easter, a time of immense suffering. Right on this occasion even multiplied number of innocent living creatures is being slaughtered, especially by Christians, who afterwards consume them as food.  They kill them although they know the fifth commandment: You shall not kill. It is very clear. It states: You shall not kill and not: You shall not kill humans, which makes it very clear that it refers to animals too. Feasting of ones causes suffering and dying to the others.

Despite of the clearness of the mentioned commandment The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in its catechism expressly permits and supports slaughter of animals for food. Animals, which are according to the Church itself, created by God, are sacrificed on the altar of pleasure and the Church gets its members and other people to destroy God’s creatures. The RCC is even of opinion, that it is human’s duty to consume meat. This can be derived from the fact, that as early as in 6^th century AD the Church has excommunicated vegetarians and thus sent them to hell, where they would, according to the doctrine of the Church, suffer everlasting torment. Isn’t it an absurd condemning to everlasting torment those who save lives of animals with their vegetarianism and act ethically towards animals in this respect? Those but who torture and kill animals shall be rewarded with heaven. Fortunately this is just the doctrine of the RCC. However in the reality things work differently. As you sow so you shall reap.

The Church supports and permits stockbreeding. It’s been doing it all along its existence. Thus raises a question what can be the consequences of this support. It is well known by today that stockbreeding is one of the main culprits for the environmental pollution. The RCC therefore supports the environmental pollution.  It is also well know that enormous amounts of greenhouse gases are released from the livestock industry and its share of greenhouse gas emissions is with 18% even higher then that of the entire world transportation. Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect. The RCC therefore supports the greenhouse effect. The consequences of the greenhouse effect are more frequent occurrence of extreme nature phenomena such as floods, hurricanes, droughts and others. The RCC therefore supports such phenomena. The consequences of the greenhouse gas emissions have already been catastrophic for many, but referring to the scientists’ accounts the prognoses are even worse for the future. There are further negative consequences of the Church’s support to the stockbreeding. It is well known that meat is a risk factor for many civilisation diseases and that a human can obtain everything he needs for his life from vegetal food. These diseases are in progress and more and more people are suffering and dying because of them. The Church’s support to livestock industry is therefore a support to the diseases that ride over the mankind. By doing so, the RCC  supports suffering and dying of all those who fall sick because of meat consumption instead of protecting and telling them the truth about the meat. .

Stockbreeding is the main cause for hunger in the third world, since food is sold as a fodder for animals instead for humans. Livestock of the rich devours food of the poor. Every day more then 100.000 children die due to hunger. It wouldn’t happen, if there was no stockbreeding. And there would be no stockbreeding, if the Church carried out the commandment You shall not kill and apply it to animals.

Of course humans are not the main victim of the Church’s support to livestock. By all means these are animals. 45 milliards of animals are slaughtered for human’s food every year. In the entire history of the RCC several thousands of animals have been killed for the food of humans. Streams of blood of innocent living creatures have flowed and still flow. Milliards and milliards of animals suffer from unimaginable torment. The Church bears the greatest guilt for massacre of animals, which today takes place in unimaginable extent and consecutively it is responsible for the climate change.   

Perhaps one would wonder how the Church can be the leading culprit for the immense suffering in slaughter of animals. The answer is very simple. For centuries and millennia the Church was the leading social power which influenced and directed social development with its doctrine and actions. The doctrine of the Church has permitted consumption of meat from its very beginning. If the fifth commandment You shall not kill would have been applied to animals as well, there would be no slaughter of animals. There would be no stockbreeding, no hunting and no other forms of abuse and killing of animals. Development of the society would take another course and humans would be vegans. So would be animals. Very likely there would be no present climate change: no greenhouse effect, no catastrophic floods, no droughts, hurricanes and similar. There would be no water or food shortage, no climate changes. The Church is responsible for climate changes due to its millennial support to stockbreeding, but it also bears the main guilt, due to its crucial social role, for the climate collapse that is in opinion of many yet to come.

Vlado Began, The society for the rights and liberation of animals, Slovenija