Forwarding a Message about Wiccans and Veganism

The following is from a 2007 article titled:

Why Wiccans Have to Suck It Up and Realize "Harm None" Includes Diet

Written by Paloma

Yes, I am aware that many in the Wiccan community like to believe that Wicca is a design-your-own mix-and-match hodgepodge spirituality that has no "dogma." Because dogma is of Western Religions and therefore evil. You're Wiccan as long as you believe in the duality of Deity and the Wheel of the Year, blah blah blah.

Sure you are still Wiccan if you eat meat and dairy and all that-- but are you a "good" Wiccan? Are you a Wiccan living your Wiccan path according to what the tenets of what being Wiccan means? Before you start, don't send me emails asking how dare I judge other Wiccans, who I am to say who is a "good" Wiccan, whatever. Please listen first:

Being "religious," having a "spiritual tradition," walking the Wiccan "path" all mean the same thing. People coming out of bad experiences in Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, etc, can be wary of initiating this sort of dialogue into Wicca because it brings up bad memories of Judgement and Hellfire. The difference between what I'm suggesting and what occurs in those religions is that Wiccans should "judge" or evaluate themselves, instead of being judged by their community.

In evaluating themselves and their diet choices, Wiccans must ask themselves if they are truly doing everything they can to reduce Harm. I can absolutely understand how people who work long hours and overtime, or single parents, full time students who work full time and plenty of other situations will make it difficult if not impossible to educate oneself on complete nutrition overhaul.

But what about those that have the time, energy and resources and accuse me of being too dogmatic for Wicca? Or cite gods and goddesses of the hunt and say it's part of the natural cycle to eat meat, as long as it's in moderation? "In moderation" is the most abused prepositional phrase in Inanna's gift of language. Would anyone say that using IV drugs is okay in moderation? Haha, I doubt it. But just like I wouldn't judge someone addicted to IV drug use, I'm not going to say those addicted to meat and dairy are horrible people either, but they are putting themselves at huge personal risk and causing Harm to themselves. But everyone knows that and I'm not here to preach.

Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

That's part of the longer poem, The Celtic Wiccan Rede. I'm not Celtic, and I think this poem can get silly in parts, there's still great stuff in it. Fairly take and fairly give... If the same plot of land can sustain healthfully TWENTY vegans or ONE omnivore, is that really taking fairly? Or is that willfully contributing to a preventable imbalance of Nature? The argument that "even vegans have to kill, and therefore Harm for food, so just giving up animals is pointless!" is silly against this fact, and it's really grasping at straws. If there was something you could do to lessen inevitable Harm, you have to ask yourself why you wouldn't do it.

So, while Wiccans who won't stop eating animal products are of course, still Wiccan, they are going against the tenets of what Wicca is if they are aware of the implications on humanity and the environment (you know, the body of The Goddess,) and this is one inconsistancy they may choose to work on in the future. Catholics who use birth control are still Catholic and good human beings, but are going against teachings.

It's hard to forego animal products, as it is a physiological addiction, and addictions are terrifying to overcome.

The Animals' Christmas

The Animals' Christmas album features vocals by Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, and Wimbledon King's College Choir. The Animals' Christmas tells the story of the Nativity of Jesus from the perspective of the animals present. The album cover art was created by Abby Levine.

Dare To Rise Edition 2

 

This video is similar to the previous edition of "Dare to Rise" but now has multiple vocalists with a richer sound. Also, new and improved slides have been added. This is a music video about the wonder of creation, which helps us have reverence for all life so our spirits can be nourished and we can help heal the world.

Written by Anna Huckabee Tull and given by her and Kathyrn Shane (from the First Parish in Concord) to the Reverence for Life Program, Unitarian Universalist Animal Minister. Vocalists are from the First Parish in Concord

Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures

 

 

Animal Wise takes us on an odyssey into the inner world of animals, from ants to elephants to wolves, and from sharp-shooting archerfish to pods of dolphins. With 30 years of experience covering the sciences, Virgina Morell uses her gifts as a story-teller to transport us to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing us to pioneering animal-cognition researchers and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects; the unique personalities of the pioneering researchers involved; the moral and ethical issues raised; and the dilemmas involving how we can accurately uncover animals' cognitive abilities like memory, feelings, personality and self-awareness – traits that many in the 20th century felt were unique only to human beings. By standing behaviourism on its head,  She explores how this rapidly evolving, controversial field has only recently overturned old notions about why animals behave as they do. She probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality, and self-awareness--traits that many in the twentieth century felt were unique to human beings.

 

There are stories about the researchers and their creative studies involving slugs, chimps, voles, hummingbirds, ants and many other creatures.

 

Most people have no idea that dolphins are self-aware, rats love to be tickled, chimps grieve, killer whales have cultures, and octopuses have personalities, dogs have extensive vocabularies and birds practice songs in their sleep. Voles love, jays plan ahead. A moth remembers its life as a caterpillar. 

 

Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures takes us on this journey into the minds and emotions of animals through the unusual, bright, and committed researchers who study them.


Costa Rica Bans Sport Hunting

This could be a sign posted in the country of Costa Rica!

Costa Rica is now the first country in the Americas to ban sport hunting!

An overwhelming majority of the country’s lawmakers voted 41 to 5 to protect its greatest treasures--the animals--who call this tropical paradise home. Costa Rica is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, and welcomes around 300,000 visitors a year who come to enjoy exotic species like jaguars, pumas and giant sea turtles.

This small Latin American nation, of just under five million people, has become a model for the world to strive to emulate.

They said they have declared peace with nature. They feel a strong sense of responsibility about looking after their wealth of biodiversity.

Costa Rica also takes top honors as the happiest country on the planet, according to the Happy Planet Index.

Dare To Rise

Music video about the wonder of creation, which helps us have reverence for all life....Performed and written by Anna Huckabee Tull....

http://youtu.be/SP9XgbtRju8

Task Force Phone Conference

 

I had my very first phone conference this afternoon with 6 other people as we discussed ways of getting the word out more regarding having reverence for all lives, based on the Unitarian Universalist 7th Principle:

Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Which, in simpler terms, means we need to take care of our planet, Earth, the home we share with all living things.


The one-hour phone conference went very well. We came up with a lot of great ideas, and decided to keep several old ideas that work. We also made some clarifications about certain issues. We decided to have another meeting--be it via phone or online--sometime in the near future.

I'm really looking forward to our next meeting!