Yep, it's Thanksgiving Day here in Canada (we Canucks are way ahead, snort), and as a vegan I don't have to tell you about the accompanying sadness that this day brings. Sure, I'm grateful for all personal blessings and am happy with whatever gains have been made by the animal rights movement this past year, but the idea of so many folk celebrating by indulging in cruelty and either not giving it a thought or excusing it by citing tradition overshadows what is supposed to be a joyful occasion.
In the days leading up to this annual glorification of unnecessary slaughter of innocents I found myself increasingly in a foul mood, so to make myself feel a bit better I finally (yes, I've been meaning to do it for ages!) mailed out some of the Would Jesus Eat Meat Today? pamphlets produced by the Christian Vegetarian Association. Had no idea my little town has so many churches covering so many denominations, but 16 of them received the "good news", snort. Have to admit I was a bit tempted to mail them out anonymously, but instead I attached a short note saying "Thank you for reading!" a smiley face, my email address and a postal address on the envelope in case any of them want to get in touch. I also made sure to address them to the person in charge. See, I'm hoping for a trickle-down effect so that if even one pastor/minister/priest takes the message to heart then perhaps they will relay it to their congregation.
I don't know if mailing them out so close to Thanksgiving was such a great idea, but since a fowl stench is in the air anyway I figured it was a good a time as any. And, I was pleasantly surprised to have received one response already:
Dear [my name]
I have received the info booklet that you have sent
It is very informative and well presented
Thanks and God bless
Msgr [name]
Who knows? Even if one little seed gets planted...
p.s. I apologize for being WAY behind in commenting (the human animal I call mom is taking up more and more of my time these days), but I hope to catch up soon.
