What Would Jesus Eat (WWJE)?

Readings for Feast of St. Francis:
Gen.1: 1-2; 24-31; Jn. 16:12-15
October 6, 2002

The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt

St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino, CA

"And God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1)

Today we are celebrating the feast of St. Francis, an icon of compassion. As you may remember, Francis was born during the 12th century in Assisi Italy. His attempts at military glory failed, and he returned from the crusades, injured and disheartened. During his period of recovery from the war, Francis had a conversion experience. His self-centered personality gave to way to an enormous sense of compassion for the poor, the diseased, and the oppressed. He no longer saw himself as an isolated individual but rather was deeply aware of the interconnectedness of life. As a result, he extended his compassion above and beyond the human sphere into the rest of creation, including the animals. This is the reason why we at St. Jude's celebrate the blessing of our animals on the Feast Day of St. Francis.

I think that many of us here today have a special place in our hearts for our pets. I know I do. So what I would like to talk about today, is extending that circle of compassion beyond our pets and think about extending it to all of the animals that God has given into our care.

Anthropocentrism is a way of thinking that can result in violence towards animals. Anthropocentrism is placing humans at the center of the created order at the expense of other living creatures. When human beings become the center of all significant concerns, the ecological well being of our planet is at risk. In this arrangement, it becomes easier to forget that animals feel, and suffer, and have needs and interests too.

In today's first reading from the book of Genesis, we read part of the first creation story. This story is not a scientific account of creation but rather a theological account. Three issues stand out for me:

1. God created the animals and declared that they are good.
2. God has made human beings stewards over these animals, not to exploit them but rather to care for them.
3. God gave plants, fruits, and seeds for human beings and animals to eat.

Now as time went on, human beings as well as 6% of the animals began to supplement their eating of fruits and vegetables with the eating flesh. We refer to this eating of flesh as: Carnivorous eating, The food chain, Mother Nature, The law of the jungle. Let me tell you three stories about this so-called law of the jungle.

1. During the month of May, I was driving to the Church. On the street were two small black birds screaming at a crow. I stopped the car, jumped out, and noticed that the crow had stolen a new born baby bird and was eating it. Being defenseless against the large crow, all the birds could do was to scream. I guess we can call this "the law of the jungle" or even Mother Nature.
   
2. Last week, Pastor Mary was walking by the tree in our parking lot. She looked up and saw two squirrels hanging from a branch, screaming and screaming. A large hawk had descended upon their nest and was eating their babies. Being defenseless against the large hawk, all the squirrels could do was to scream. I guess we can call this "the law of the jungle" or even Mother Nature.
3. The other day, I was reading the September issue of The Witness, an Episcopal periodical which focuses on issues of justice. The theme of the month was "Recovering our kinship with animals." One of the articles described the plight of dairy cows in the USA. 40 years ago, cows walked about 5 miles/day, ate grain, and were free to roam as needed. Today, cows are forced into feedlots where they are corralled, fed hormones and antibiotics and specialized feed. They look almost frankenstein, with their massive utters. Because of specialized breeding, they produce massive amounts of milk. So they lie in the feedlot waiting to be relieved of their agony. They are impregnated every year and their babies are stolen away within a couple of days of birth. And in every single instance, these animals scream out in fear and frustration just like any human mother would. This is not "the law of the jungle." It is the law of greed! Another name for it, is modern day factory animal farming: the cheapest and most efficient method of raising animals for food by exploiting the natural life cycle and dignity of animals.

Over the centuries, Christians have had to struggle with exploitive relationships such as slavery, child abuse, and the status of women. Can we, people of conscience, sit by and ignore these exploitive relationships with animals? What might God be calling us to do in response to the violence perpetrated by modern day factory animal farming? People do not usually think about food and the raising of animals as a theological issue. But it is. What are we to do?

Other than a few pieces of Scripture which talk about the goodness of creation, stewardship of animals, and not muzzling an ox while it is grinding at the mill, there are little specifics about ordering our relationships with animals. We know that Jesus ate meat- both fish and lamb and that he had nothing to say about modern day factory animal farming. It just wasn't an issue in his day. But knowing that it would be impossible to lay out a plan for every situation for all times, Jesus said to his disciples: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." (Jn. 16) It is this spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, that small still voice in each of us, seeking to enlighten us into all truth, that I believe is calling us to deal with the issue of modern day factory animal farming. In our more conscious moments, the spirit of truth causes us to feel guilty or angry or loving towards those animals who suffer day in and day out. These feelings of guilt, anger, or love are all good in that they are the first step in seeking justice. Concern for animals is a matter of social justice.

Last year, I had the honor of attending Kim Adams' birthday party where I saw her taking care of two baby birds. A few days earlier, they had fallen out of the tree. She heard a commotion in her back yard and went out to see what was going on. Her dog was standing by the shattered nest, protecting the birds from the local cats. Kim placed the birds in a shoebox, fed them every two hours, and nurtured them until they were able to fly away. One survived and returned to its natural habitat. What made Kim take the time and effort to feed those birds every two hours? Was it the law of the jungle? No, it was a higher law. It was the law of compassion!

Jesus did not speak to nor experience the violence of modern factory animal farming. But if he were here today, what do you think Jesus would eat? This is the theological question that I would like you to struggle with on this feast day of St. Francis.

Updated 10/10/02

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