Being in the image of God implies that humans have certain capacities for the transcendent, which confers them their rights. Because animals have certain capacities for love and self-mastery, Daniel Mascarenhas, SJ reflects that they too deserve to be treated with dignity.
In Corinth, meat in marketplaces often came from sacrifices to gods — and Saint Paul thus warned it carried a demonic character. Daniel Mascarenhas, SJ asks if our modern food system carries its own spiritual dangers.
Many people eat chicken without knowing the harrowing realities of factory farms. Daniel questions whether Christians, in light of the Beatitude to show mercy, can continue to eat factory-sourced meat.
Why do we expect a young girl to cry over a pet goat she must give up for slaughter but not over the animals we eat on a daily basis? Compassion for all God’s creation should motivate us to consider more deeply the ways we relate to all animals, not only some of them.
We need to understand why care for creation matters to us because truths about environmental degradation have no power over us if they do not relate to us.
As the Church prays this November for those struggling with mental health, Daniel Mascarenhas, SJ draws attention to an often unseen group: slaughterhouse workers. In this reflection, he links compassion for animals with care for the human souls bearing the trauma of the meat industry.
The idea of billions of sentient creatures slaughtered to satisfy our gastronomic wants around the holidays should give us pause. There are no good reasons for eating animal products as part of holiday traditions.
The damage inflicted by animal agriculture is often ignored, but its impact on God’s creation is undeniable. Daniel Mascarenhas, SJ, argues that Christians cannot settle for an “out of sight, out of mind” approach to the ecological crisis.
Our contemporary culture seems to suggest that free time should be spent in mindless entertainment or in rest for the purpose of being more productive later. However, leisure can put us deeper in touch with creation and our Creator when set aside for contemplative wonder.
The California drought is an opportunity to examine how meat-heavy diets cause a strain to our water supply.