The Easter Bunny reminds us of The Episcopal Church's GC2003 Resolution D016

This is a week late, but I decided to post it here anyway -- for as long as the link works:


Click here to listen to a surprising message from the Easter Bunny.


This is a reminder that we do have a resolution to "support ethical care of animals" in the Church's archives.

I just gave GC2003 Resolution D016 a "thumbs up" on "Stumble Upon". Since it was the first time anyone highlighted that web page, I had to write a review. Since adding some hyperlinks here, this is an "amended" version.

It is important for Episcopalians to know that our Church has a resolution on supporting the ethical care of animals in our archives. With so much controversy over a couple of things that get people worked up, everything else "collects dust". This is an FYI for those who didn't know, and a call to become educated on the way animals are treated by the animal use industries, and to do something about it, to make the world a more humane place for animals. But we should not wait for the Office of Government Relations to send out e-alerts on animal protection legislation, because it is 2008 now, and they haven't yet.

Please take the initiative to visit a site like the Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary or others to learn about the various issues, and any legislation that is in the works.

The Bishop of California went public as an endorser of the California humane farming initiative. Other Californians should follow his lead, and vote "Yes" on November 4, 2008.

Look beyond how animal (ab)use benefits you personally, and think about what life is really like for them every day of their lives. Look at who profits by keeping things the way they are, and how they do it in ads, in the media, with lobbyists, etc. Look to see who is against the animal rights advocates, and find out what their motivation is, who they represent, who pays them, etc. Then we can begin to break the myths, and get on with creating a better world for "the least of these" of the Church's concerns.

What kind of God do we worship?

When I Google for "I desire mercy and not sacrifice", my "boycott fur" page shows up # 5 out of 1,610,000.
When someone in NZ Googled for
the same thing, my page showed up # 3 out of 1,580,000. This is what shows up on Google:

'I desire mercy and not sacrifice', says God. Boycott fur.
31 Dec 2005 ... "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." -- God (Hosea 6:6). Of all the forms of animal exploitation that
benefit humankind, fur is the easiest ...
episcoveg.weblogger.com/2005/12/31 - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

Interesting that there's a difference in ranking & number, depending on where one is in the world.

Another page that shows up on that Google search is this one
this one from the Girardian Lectionary
with some anti-sacrifice quotes attributed to the same God who is credited for our Maundy Thursday reading that some of us found substitutes to read, to avoid "doing violence to our faith".

(As I've mentioned in the past, one of my favorite questions that the "unhappy" Episcopalians do not seem to have an answer for, or are unwilling to engage when they talk about the "plain meaning of Scripture" is, does God desire mercy and not sacrifice? Or does God desire sacrifice and not mercy? The "plain meaning" doesn't seem so plain to me. Inquiring minds want to know.)

Choose this day....

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=73802486

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell:
but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
(Joshua 24:15 KJV)

Dangling Carrot Veganic Farm

I posted this to one of my listservs this morning, looking for a reason not to drop out of the church "for a season":

I've been in one of my "moods" lately, wondering how I'll spend my Sunday mornings in the weeks/months to come. (I'm home today, because I didn't set the alarm. I'll be there next week, because I'm scheduled, and because I hope to retrieve my DVD of the speakers at the unveiling of "A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion", whether previewed or not by then for some unlikely future event. I want my life back.)

So. What will it take to keep me going to church?
It would be easy to stay home if Sunday is only one of two days I have to work in the yard this Spring & Summer.

But I remembered my idea last September about starting a congregation-based locally-grown organic food exchange club .

My first thought was that I had zero responses to the article I put in our newsletter a few months ago -- that no one at my church has a "square foot" to spare. (Not surprising, although I know there are a handful of gardeners there.)

My second thought was that if I have a few extra strawberries or whatever paltry extras to put out during Coffee Hour, it won't be impressive enough to generate interest in a meaningful way. And the point of growing it is to raise my own food, not to impress other people with my whole harvest. I thought about putting out a sign of some sort, like "Free to food exchange club members; free-will offering for non-members" (knowing that there are no members, and thinking that any proceeds could go toward defraying the cost of General Convention).

My third thought was that potatoes might be a decent, substantial table-space using crop that recreational gardeners don't normally grow, but that most people eat, where a weekly harvest might be more than I'd need and look like a decent offering. (And potatoes are on the "Dirty Dozen" list of foods that people should buy organic or go without.)

My fourth idea was that I could start out with starting plants from seed in the house early (like any time now), and for the first week or two in early-mid May, offering those to anyone who would like to plant them, and recruit gardening club members from whoever they might be. I could also have hand-outs explaining the reasons why it is a good idea to grow free organic veggies, and especially being able to share the extra with people who don't want to (or can't) pay extra for organic in the stores. Giving away plants might create anticipation that something will happen a month or two later, so that a few extra strawberries won't seem so paltry. (I currently have only one strawberry plant that bears fruit. But it does have some runners. So I might get more than 12 berries this year if the birds don't eat them.)

Up to this morning, I have recalled the litany of dangling carrots that prevented me from dropping out of church over the years -- "carrots with empty calories." This is my own dangling carrot. It just might work. So I found a name for my future "farm". But I don't think I'll tell them why I named it that.

I'm not dead yet.

Introduction

I decided to start a new blog. I'll keep my old one. But even though it covers some controversial topics, I tend to let other sources speak my opinion for me. In other words, I post things that either outrage me, or that I agree with, but rarely say how I actually feel about a topic. So I need a place to say what's on my mind.

I'm at a cross-roads. We'll see what I'll decide to do with this space. But I will say, that this seems like an easier format for posting. I wonder if I'll figure out how to edit, and do fancy stuff here.