A number of years ago, it was common to see people wearing colorful rubber bracelets with four letters engraved:  WWJD.  Christians wore those bracelets as a reminder that if they were in an ethical quandary, they could consider any potential action in light of what Jesus would have done in their shoes.

Although I never wore one of those bracelets myself, I think it’s an appropriate strategy.   If we are to live our very best lives, shouldn’t the ethical lessons offered by the world’s religions point the way?  That’s the premise behind a new, feature-length documentary called A Prayer for Compassion.

Local Screening Arranged by Veg Society of DC

The movie had its world premier in New York City on March 5, 2019.  A few weeks later, I was able to attend a Sunday-afternoon showing of it at the vegan-friendly New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt, Maryland.  The March 24 showing was arranged by the Veg Society of DC (VSDC), which was founded in 1927 and is the nation’s oldest continuously operating veg society.  This event at the New Deal Cafe was right in line with VSDC’s mission, which is to “promote the tremendous benefits of veg eating through education, community-building, and social activities.”  As soon as I saw the event announcement on the VSDC Facebook page, I signed up to attend the film screening via the group’s Meetup page.  I was not alone, as 60 other people rapidly snapped up the available seats.  And on the much-anticipated date, we ordered food from the extensive menu and claimed our seats in the screening room. (The delicious Herbed Tofu bowl that I ordered is shown here.)

The Role of Spirituality in Human/Animal Relationships

I was eager to see the movie, because the spirituality of human/animal relationships is a very important part of my life.  I am the treasurer of a national organization called Unitarian Universalist Animal Ministry (UUAM).  Originally founded in 1986 as Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, UUAM “empowers individuals, chapters, and congregations to build justice and compassion for animals.”  UUAM has 40 local chapters that are spread across the United States, including several in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area.  I am the leader of one of those chapters, the Animal Ministry task force at River Road UU Congregation (RRUUC) in Bethesda, MD.  Our local chapter publishes a periodic e-newsletter and conducts a variety of projects designed to help wildlife, companion animals, and farm animals.

“Animal Ministry” might be a confusing term for some people.  What it means to me is that we are a group of spiritual seekers who express our faith through compassion toward all other living beings, including marginalized people and non-human animals.  Although people sometimes ask me if my efforts to help animals are misdirected and should be directed instead toward humans, I believe that’s a false binary — and it’s not an either/or proposition.  Being aware of the suffering of a dog who lives on a chain in someone’s backyard might make me more aware of the plight of the homeless man sitting on the street corner.  Similarly, knowing that dairy cows are separated from their calves when the babies are less than a day old makes me cringe and think about the pain experienced by women who lose their precious babies to war, hunger, accidents, disease, and climate disasters.  I don’t see any reason that we should have to put a limit on our compassion.  I would like to see the circle expanded to include *all* beings (not just charismatic megafauna but also spiders and earthworms)  — as well as mother Earth.

Do Religions Promote Compassion?

I firmly believe that no one group of humans has a corner on the truth and that spiritual guidance can be found in all religions.  So it is that I have often wondered what various religions might say about the spirituality of human/animal interactions, and I have been concerned when I have seen religion used to justify harm to animals.  I have been dismayed when people use the “dominion” phrase in the Bible to excuse whatever they want to do to the web of life and non-human animals.  And last fall I became alarmed when I learned about the Orthodox Jewish ritual of “Kapparot,” in which chickens are ceremonially chosen to assume a person’s sins and are then killed.  This practice raised many questions for me, such as:  Why is it right for the innocent chicken to be used to assume the penalty of a human’s sins?  Why is it not enough for the human to ask God directly for forgiveness?

Having learned about the plight of nearly 50,000 chickens that are killed for this ritual annually in Brooklyn, I could not turn away.  So my husband (who is Jewish but does not practice this Kapparot ritual) and I sent a donation to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit which had rescued a small number of the hapless chickens destined for the ritual.  That gesture did not save the masses but at least made a difference in the lives of those few individual chickens.

With examples like these in mind, I had questioned whether or not the major world religions, as a whole, would come down on the side of compassion.  This documentary was my chance to find out.

A Prayer for Compassion

The documentary follows filmmaker Thomas Wade Jackson on an extensive journey, during which he asked two main questions: “Can compassion grow to include all beings?” and “Can people who identify as religious or spiritual come to embrace the call to include all human and nonhuman beings in our circle of respect and caring and love?”

Jackson’s interviews with representatives of many different religions are interspersed with sometimes disturbing (though usually not too graphic) footage of animals who endure a miserable existence and frightful death in the animal agriculture system.  One after another, the religious representatives that Jackson interviews confirm that love and compassion are at the center of every religion, that all life is intertwined, and that we are called to both prevent and alleviate suffering wherever it exists.

The film includes poignant statements about compassion toward animals from religious officials in a wide range of religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, the Native American tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Zoroastrianism, and the “spiritual but not religious” point of view.

The individuals who were interviewed in the film give me reason to hope that religions can indeed guide us — and sometimes chide us — toward compassion.  Take the words of Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, who said in the film, “…our grandchildren will be ashamed of what we allowed to happen on our watch.  Each of us has to ask ourselves a spiritual question.  What side do I want to tell my grandchildren I was on?  Was I on the side of mercy and compassion, or was I on the blind side that helped to perpetuate suffering?”

Blindly Looking Past the Package to the Animal

This compelling documentary establishes the point that many of us know:  people who buy packages of meat, seafood, dairy and eggs in the grocery store have managed to blindly disconnect those packages from the lives of animals that they represent.  Like most of us, those people were probably taught by their parents to eat animals and may assume that those animals live bucolic lives on beautiful farms.  They may never have investigated further or looked at the animal agriculture system from an ethical standpoint.  And I can certainly understand how that happens; my own journey toward more ethical eating has taken many years.  I grew up in a meat-eating household.  In fact, I come from a family of cattle ranchers!  But with my father and grandfather both dying of heart disease before the age of 60, it became clear to me during my 20’s that a meat-centered diet was unhealthy — so I started my journey toward veganism for health reasons.  Only later did I learn more about the equally-convincing ethical and environmental reasons for a plant-based diet.

Watch the Trailer — and the Film

The interviews included in the documentary are interesting and powerful but too numerous for me to recount here.  Therefore, I’d advise that you take a look at the trailer and watch for a local screening of the film — or, better yet, arrange for a showing at your own church, congregation, synagogue, mosque or gathering place.  (We’re aiming to host a screening at RRUUC, so please contact me if you’d like to know when that will happen.)

One Last Question

I will leave you with one last question to consider, particularly if you are worried about the violence and hate that you see in the world.

What will I do today to make the world a more peaceful and compassionate place?

It’s as easy as leaving meat off your plate.