A Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leader helped draft a statement against animal cruelty released Sept. 30 that is being hailed as a possible tipping point for raising animal-rights awareness among evangelicals.
On the heels of Pope Francis’ June encyclical terming any act of animal cruelty “contrary to human dignity” and just before the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, which liturgical traditions observe with a special ceremony called the Blessing of the Animals, a group of evangelical pastors, scholars and theologians issued a declaration titled “Every Living Thing: An Evangelical Statement on Responsible Care for Animals.”
The statement, drafted with participation by Barrett Duke, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission vice president for public policy and research, calls for “confronting any and all cruelty against animals, seeing it as a violation of our rule and an affront to the ultimate Ruler who created, values and sustains these animals.”
While Scripture teaches that God gave mankind authority to rule over the animals and to use them for food, the statement says, “This does not mean we can treat them as objects or act cruelly toward them.”
Unveiled in a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, the statement is a first step in a comprehensive campaign aimed at uniting evangelical Christians in a Scripture-based call for animal welfare.
Compassionate care
The movement began in 2011 with a discussion involving Duke and two other co-authors, Michael Cromartie, of the Ethics & Public Policy Center, and Mark Rodgers, of the Clapham Group, at a lunch of evangelical leaders discussing how Christian faith compels believers toward compassionate and thoughtful care of God’s creatures.
Discussing the tradition of animal welfare gleaned from past leaders such as Methodist founder John Wesley, British abolitionist William Wilberforce, author C.S. Lewis and evangelist Billy Graham, the trio determined it an issue that needed to continue in their Christian legacy.
In a survey commissioned by Every Living Thing, LifeWay Research reported Sept. 30 that 89 percent of Protestant pastors said Christians have a responsibility to speak out against animal cruelty. Two-thirds, however, said they seldom or never preach about the treatment of animals and 4 in 5 said their churches are not involved in animal welfare issues in the community.
Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research, said the disparity between pastors’ beliefs and churches’ action represents “a noteworthy gap” that merits exploration.
The statement affirms that God created humans as distinct from and superior to animals, but when sin entered the world it corrupted relationships not only between humans but also between humankind and animals.
“God included animals in the covenant He made after the flood and commands us to show the same respect and concern for the life and welfare of animals that He does,” the statement says.
An accompanying background essay rejects and disagrees with arguments that the Bible mandates a vegetarian or vegan diet. It notes, however, that the Hebrew word in Genesis 2:7 translated “the breath of life” describing the creation of man also is applied to animals in Genesis 1:30.
“We resolve to rule and treat all animals as living valued creatures deserving of compassion because they ultimately belong to God, because He has created them, declared them good, given them the breath of life, covenanted with them and entrusted them to our responsible rule,” the statement says.
“We resolve to examine all our practices relating to how we treat the domesticated animals that live among us and provide us with companionship, food and service as well how we treat animals that live in the wild apart from us.
“We resolve that because all kinds of animals are created by God and are sustained by Him, we need to work for the protection and preservation of all kinds of animals God has created, while prioritizing human needs.” (BNG)
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