Unión Vegetariana Europea

Messages of support for the EVU Talks 2007

 

FROM AFRICA

Africa Network for Animal Welfare works with communities promoting vegetarianism and humane treatment of all animals. We laud the EVU talk 2007 initiative as an important activity.

The Bible is opposed to inhumane treatment of animals in Proverbs 10:24 which notes that "the righteous man cares for the needs of his animal but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel".

Josphat Ngonyo (Kenya)

Director

AFRICA NETWORK FOR ANIMAL WELFARE (ANAW), the Secretariat to the Kenya Coalition for Wildlife Conservation and Management; a coalition of 21 conservation NGOs opposed to consumptive utilization of wildlife

 

FROM ASIA

'The world is not created by material objects, but by our mind. When you choose compassion and go vegetarian, you don't just avoid waste and preserve the world's resources, but you also increase the flow of good karma among your friends and family, which will contribute to the enlightening of consciousness.'

Patric (Taiwan)

VegTomato

http://www.vegtomato.org/

Information@vegtomato.org


FROM EUROPE

If in certain periods of the human history people were dependent on animal food to avoid hunger, this is certainly not the case now. We can produce enough vegetarian food to feed all the people of the world.

Killing and torturing animals is a sign of low consciousness. It goes together with the prevailing patterns of selfishness and greed that rule the world. That's a major reason why we have so much human suffering around the world and so many people starving and dying from hunger.

A more balanced society based on higher consciousness could assure enough food for everybody, without killing and eating animals. It's very clear that animals have feelings and that they can be happy or suffer. But people who torture and kill them have no feelings and no consciousness. And those who eat dead animals share the responsibility.

I can foresee that in the not-so-distant-future people will eat only vegetarian food. Eating animals will be as unimaginable as is cannibalism today. And there will be much more harmony and peace in the world.

Dr. Janez Drnovšek, President of the Republic of Slovenia

FROM USA

Mindfulness is a precondition for meeting the challenge of world hunger. In the affluent West, it is easy, and often tempting, to banish thoughts about people suffering from hunger, malnutrition, and preventable disease and death in remote regions of the world. Dealing with hunger is difficult and requires ingenuity and commitment, because many factors contribute to the problem, including world food supplies, population dynamics, and political conflicts. It will be difficult to find effective strategies to alleviate world hunger if it is not a focus of our attention and concern.

Those who eat animals are, in general, contributing to the world hunger problem, because animal products are an inefficient way to obtain nutrients. However, become vegetarian does not necessarily go a long way towards resolving the problem, but it does help. Just as importantly, the diet helps brings the vegetarian into sympathy with those people who have difficulty obtaining any food, much less meat and other animal products.

From this perspective, vegetarianism is a practical approach to world hunger as well as a spiritual response.

Stephen Kaufman, M.D. (USA)

chair, Christian Vegetarian Association

www.christianveg.com


Based on Jewish values and Jewish history, we must identify with the starving masses of the world. We must be involved by speaking out and acting. Some traditional Jewish ways to help needy people are to pursue justice, practice charity, show compassion, share resources, and simplify lifestyles.

To help the poor and hungry, Judaism places great stress on the giving of charity. The Hebrew word for charity (tzedakah) literally means justice. In the Jewish tradition, tzedakah is not an act of condescension from one person to another who is in need. It is the fulfillment of a mitzvah, a commandment, to a fellow human being, who has equal status before God. Although Jewish tradition recognizes that the sharing of our resources is also an act of love - as the Torah states, "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev.19:18), it emphasizes that this act of sharing is an act of justice. This is to teach us that people who are in need are entitled to our love and concern. They too are human beings created in the Divine image; they too have a place and a purpose within God's creation.

In the Jewish tradition, failure to give charity is equivalent to idolatry. This may be because a selfish person forgets the One Who made us all, and in becoming preoccupied with personal material needs makes himself or herself into an idol. So important was the giving of charity by Jews that Maimonides was able to say: "Never have I seen or heard of a Jewish community that did not have a charity fund."


Closely related to the Jewish values of justice and charity is the importance the Jewish tradition places on compassion. We are not only to have concern and compassion for Jews, but for all who are in need.

Vegetarianism is consistent with this Jewish concept of sharing. As Jay Dinshah, former president of the North American Vegetarian Society, states: ‘After all, vegetarianism is, more than anything else, the very essence and the very expression of altruistic SHARING,... the sharing of the One Life,... the sharing of the natural resources of the Earth,... the sharing of love, kindness, compassion, and beauty in this life.’

Recently a new Jewish group, Mazon, was formed to help Jews share their joyous events with hungry people. It urges people to contribute 3 percent of the money spent for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other celebrations to the group which funnels the money to organizations working to reduce hunger.

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. (USA)
Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island
Author of "Judaism and Vegetarianism," "Judaism and Global Survival," and "Mathematics and Global Survival," and over 130 articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz
President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and
Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV)
Phone: 718-761-5876 FAX: 718-982-3631
rschw12345@aol.com

Message from His Holiness Mahamandaleshwar

Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda to the EVU Talks 2007 at Vienna

Blessed Selves, dear participants and delegates from different parts of the world, gathered here in Vienna for the sake of care and protection of our dear planet family-members whom we love and without them one cannot imagine that humans can exist.

We humans are born as protectors not as destructors, therefore our prime duty is to protect all creatures, to love them, to feed them, and not to eat them.

You all have a divine consciousness and divine blessing of God that you developed such feelings and love in your heart. I admire and respect all of you.

Let all creatures live in happiness and freedom on this planet.

Unfortunately due to my pre-scheduled programs I cannot be here with you, and I extend my good wishes for the success of this congress.

Let us work together and inspire and open the hearts of millions of people for animal protection and love for the animal world.

With Blessings,

Yours,

Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda

http://www.yogaindailylife.org

The EVU Talks 2007 will take place in Vienna from 27 April to 1 May 2007 under the theme 'The veggie answer to world hunger'.

 

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