A new relationship with animals, nature and each other.

Posts tagged ‘religion’

“I Am Not an Animal!” – the video

It’s surely the most important question in the world today: Why are we humans driving the Earth into a Sixth Great Extinction – an extinction event that will likely include our own species?

Why, despite the fact that there are more animal protection groups and more environmental organizations than ever before, is the situation for our fellow animals and the whole world of nature getting worse by the day?

And why do we humans, a supposedly highly intelligent species, continue hurtling down this catastrophic track?

Pope Francis – Day 6

By last weekend, we hadn’t heard much, if anything about the new pope’s relationship to anything except humans. But today, at his official installation, Pope Francis spoke out for protection of the environment, urging his people to shun “the omens of destruction and death.” Perhaps that phrase was a little unclear, but he added this during his homily at the inaugural Mass:

Pope Francis and the Animals–Day 2

We have a new pope, round-the-clock news coverage, reporters and commentators all over the world talking about St. Francis of Assisi, and not a word about whether this might relate to how we live our lives in relation to our fellow animals.

Are Religions Bad for Animals?

While religion itself is not in itself bad for animals, religions that seek to separate humans from the natural world are indeed a problem.

(And, incidentally, there’s very little difference between a fundamentalist religious believer and an atheist transhumanist worshipper of technology.)

Poland Bans Kosher and Halal Slaughter

Poland’s top court has ruled that ritual slaughter of animals according to religious requirements is illegal. Specifically this means that the kosher and halal method of slaughter, by which a conscious animal is held upside down while her throat is slit, cannot be continued.

How Your Wishes May Come True

We are not humans as something separate from other species, says India’s former Environment Minister Maneka Gandhi. You can only love yourself if you love all the other kinds of animals. “I love them because all of them are me and it is the ultimate self-love to see myself in every blade of grass and therefore to be respectful of it.”

World Animal Day and a Cathedral Cat

Carmina was a stray, struggling to care for her newborn kittens in a deserted parking lot in Washington, D.C. But on Sunday, October 3, 2010, she began her new life as the official Cathedral cat of the National Cathedral.

Blessings Galore at St. John the Divine

Inside Manhattan’s Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the pews fill quickly, and the air thickens with anticipation. As people await the Blessing of the Animals service, the hush is broken by music, whispered conversations and the occasional bark. Here and there, someone leans over to murmur a few words to the dog by his side, or to the cat or rabbit in a carrier at her feet. Soon, the clergy begin to offer communion to the faithful. Songs and prayers follow. Finally, the cathedral’s massive front doors swing open.