Seeking a just and peaceful world for all beings
The Christian Vegetarian Association released their latest version of their Are We Good Stewards of God’s Creation? booklet. The new version adds information on how eating animals significantly contributes to global warming.
Mercy for Animals (MFA) went public today with their most recent undercover investigation. Not suprisingly, they found that turkeys and chickens at the North Carolina slaughterhouse they investigated are grossly abused and mistreated. Check out MFA’s photo gallery, worker’s diary, and the reactions of experts at their Web site.
Interestingly enough, all of us have the power to stop our support of this abuse by changing our diet. So share this info with a friend and edge towards veg. Thanks.
What could be more fun than being cut into slices and eaten? Apparently nothing, as this cow is ready to dig in!
Suicide Foods is a blog that collects pictures which portray animals as more than happy to be eaten. Not surprisingly, most of these images are generated by meat-peddlers. The disturbing picture above comes from A.C. Butcher, based in Leichhardt, Sydney, Australia.
But before you dive into your next steak, chicken leg, or fish fillet with a reassured conscience, watch Meet Your Meat and see how animals honestly react to being eaten.
Mom helps me staff TeachKind’s humane education booth at a conference for educators.
Today is the day we celebrate our mothers. They take care of us, protect us, raise us, love us, correct us, guide us, and help us in so many ways. Yay, for moms! 
My mom is an especially wonderful mom. So, mom, here is a poem for you!
“Happy Mother’s Day” Means More
“Happy Mother’s Day” means more
Than have a happy day.
Within those words lie lots of things
We never get to say.It means I love you first of all,
Then thanks for all you do.
It means you mean a lot to me,
And that I honor you.But most of all, I guess it means
That I am thinking of
Your happiness on this, your day,
With pleasure and with love.
Happy Mother’s Day mom!
With Lots of Love,
Freeman
The poem is by Nicholas Gordon and reprinted here by permission.
Lori was the host of the episode of Personal Profiles in which I was interviewed.
On Friday, May 4, 2007 I walked into Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring. Lori, who is a student there, had called and invited me to be interviewed for a school project called Personal Profiles. She got my number from her mother, who got it from me when I gave her one of my business cards one Sunday at church.
Originally, I was unclear about what this interview was about. Was it an audio or video recording? Would it be shared with her class or just her teacher? Imagine my surprise when Lori took me to a fully functioning studio with three cameras and an editing room!
Behind all of the equipment were other students in her class, operating it. The dozen or so students who were not running cameras, signalling cues or working the editing board, served as the studio audience. Moreover, the video would be played on a local Montgomery County, Maryland cable access station.
Quiet on the set!
One of the students showed me how to put the mike on, and another, from behind the glass of the editing room started the countdown on his fingers. My brow was starting to sweat. Was I nervous, or was it just the hot lights bearing down on us? Read the rest of this entry »
Is this picture too racy for my clean-cut blog?
Take it from me, when you mix animal rights with a gay guy, you are going to have some fun. 
That’s why I’m inviting all of you to join Dan (and me) at the DC Borders (1808 K St., NW) this Wednesday (May 9th) at 6:30 (pm 
).
You see, pretty boy, animal advocate, and Vice President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Dan Mathews will be signing his new book, Committed: A Rabble-Rouser’s Memoir.
Dan is the brain-child (emphasis on the child ) behind PETA’s outrageous media-grabbing shenanigans. His party-boy life is filled with celebrities, schmoozing, and jail cells; so you know he will have some good stories to tell. Read the rest of this entry »
Bless Mrs. B, the kitty who was taken to the shelter twice for simply talking too much. Meow!
Many of you were interested in my previous blessing of the animals blog. To follow up with that, I want to direct you to Elizabeth’s blog which has a detailed outline of the blessing of the animals service that was used at her church. Good stuff!
I especially like the Fyodor Dostoyevsky quote they read:
“Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”
Our faiths must not forget that the spiritual values of mercy, personal responsibility, strength, love, and compassion also apply to our treatment of other-than-human beings. It is only appropriate for our faiths to reinforce this fact in their sermons. Yay!
Many educators attended the Carlsbad Sowing Seeds workshop; including teachers, youth camp coordinators, travelling presenters, and even a puppeteer!
I’m finally back in DC! California was wonderful. The Sowing Seeds Workshop in Carlsbad, California was awesome! We had a fantastic group of enthusiastic, passionate educators who had a lot of collective wisdom which they shared with each other during the workshop (April 28-29).
A “Big Time Thank You” goes to Christopher Greenslate for hosting the conference in his La Costa Canyon High School classroom where he teaches English, Journalism, and Social Justice (follow the link for an excellent video that his students created).
On the first day of the Sowing Seeds Workshops, we explained the theory, pedagogy, and best practices of humane education. Then we practiced good communication skills. The second day was devoted to showing activities and lesson that educators could implement in the classroom.
Alene and Leighann take part in a humorous yet poignant activity that introduces the topic of how farmed animals are raised today.
During the workshop I mentioned several resources that can be found online. Here are the links to those items and a photo gallery of pictures from the weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
