People for the Ethical Treatment of Religion

Well, that doesn't describe People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA.
David Martosko has been reading "Mere Comments" and finally has "something to contribute":

A new report from the Center for Consumer Freedom (it's called "Holy Cows") outlines the ways the animal-rights group PETA is attacking Christians and other religious believers as a part of its twisted strategy.

This year during Holy Week PETA staged a tasteless mock-crucifixion of an activist wearing a pig mask. PETA uses billboards to taunt Christians with the claim that livestock--not Jesus--"died for your sins." Last year PETA paraded a statue of a cow dressed as the Pope in front of Catholic churches. The "cow pope" statue even held a Papal staff, topped with a crucified cow!

PETA holds protests outside houses of worship, and sued a Kentucky church this year when it tried to protect its congregation from Sunday-morning harassment. Worse, PETA's "faith-based campaigners" work under the direction of a man who has publicly advocated "blowing stuff up and smashing windows" as a legitimate protest tactic.

As our secular culture continues to take cheap shots at Christians, I think it's important for believers to know that PETA is embracing a style of in-your-face advocacy calculated to offend, provoke, and otherwise show contempt for us.

You can find a summary of the report here. You can download a full PDF from the site here. I did, and I have to say it's every bit as bad as Mr. Martosko's description above, which is why I am posting it, FYI.

Comments

[Hannah]

I don't understand PETA. They seem to favor theatrical gestures over winning hearts and minds, or even taking practical steps in promoting the welfare of animals. One would think that they could build a coalition with Christians to lobby for humane animal farming (there was a recent article along these lines in the American Conservative). Does their ideology preclude them from doing practical things? It seems that to them fishing is as equally abhorrent as hunting for fur, medicinal animal testing as cosmetic animal testing. If they won't accept anything less than for everyone to become vegetarian I don't see how they can actually help animals.

[David]

This shouldn't come as a surprise -- PETA's world view obviously precludes respect for any faith which places men above animals. Don't forget, they launched the despicable "Holocaust on your plate" campaign a couple of years ago. As the columnist Christopher Hitchens said apropos of another group of extremists, "their degradation is bottomless."

[Will S.]

This from the same organization that goes courting Christian support with their erroneous, misguided, recent "Jesus was a vegetarian" campaign. Rational consistency isn't their strong suit, to say the least...

[Gabriel Sanchez]

Regardless of whether or not one agrees with PETA's purported goal for "ethical treatment of animals", their activist tactics are deplorable. From having formerly participated in what some on here might dub "leftist activism" in my early college years, I have to say that many involved tend to be ill informed about the issues they are advocating on behalf of and tend to get a bigger rush out of drawing attention to themselves. Oftentimes you will see a justification made for their resorting to shock tactics as it being their only option to snap people out of their apathy. What amuses/disturbs me about that is the dreadful lack of evidence that any of these groups have actually tried to exhaust all of the other viable, less alienating options.

[Bobby Winters]

There is a breed of human who would rather feel the burn of righteous indignation and fail than to work quietly and succeed. It seems that some of the folks at PETA are of that ilk.

And they love attention. Not too long ago they offered the ciy council in Slaughterville, Oklahoma many thousands of dollars worth of veggie burgers for the local school to change the name of the town to Veggieville. After a few nano-seconds of contemplation, the city declined the offer, but they did get their attention.

[Christine]

While I don't dispute anyone's right to eat meat I would hope that you would recognize that the Center for Consumer Freedom speaks for agribusiness and other companies that could care less about the deplorable conditions on today's factory farms and how the hormones, drugs and other additives used to raise animals affect human health.

I am not a member of PETA but I do agree with the Catholic Rural Life Conference's statement that "eating IS a moral act."

[sally]

i think you are crazy to do this cos animals donot diserve to sufer in this way if you think that this is ok then talk it to woshington and write a bill on it and make a legislation to the concresman! ok animal theifes!