Articles

Mostly About Religion

Original Christianity

Was the Last Supper Vegetarian? -- The main issue is Jesus' attitude towards the temple

Jesus and the Moneychangers, by J. R. Hyland -- It wasn't about the moneychangers, it was about animal sacrifice

Against the Scholars -- Contrary to Marcus Borg and John Crossan, Jesus was against animal sacrifice

Was Jesus a Vegetarian? -- A survey of the main issues surrounding this problem

Strange New Gospels -- Do the modern gospels given to us by Notovitch, Ouseley, and Szekeley offer any solid historical information?

Implications of the Jesus Family Tomb at Talpiot -- if it really is the tomb of Jesus, it forces us to look closer at Jesus' family and first followers

The Ebionites -- Basic information on the Ebionites.

Wikipedia on the Ebionites
-- My comments on the Wikipedia article (the version as of August 17, 2006) on the Ebionites.

Wikipedia on the Ebionites -- the Saga Continues -- my further comments on the Wikipedia article on the Ebionites as of August 19, 2007, almost a year later

The Jesus Seminar Meets the Ebionites -- The Ebionites were not a legalistic conservative group; they ditched most of Leviticus, for starters.

Literature on the Ebionites -- Others have written on Jewish Christianity as well, and here's a guide

Why are the Recognitions and Homilies Important? -- "Frequently Asked Questions" about the Recognitions and Homilies

Selected biblical passages of interest to vegetarians -- A quick list of bible citations of interest on vegetarianism

The Gorilla in Early Christianity -- a discussion of Acts 15

Contemporary Christianity

Goodbye, Regina -- Regina Hyland, author of God's Covenant With Animals, died on October 8, 2007

The Jesus Family Tomb -- and Peak Oil -- These two phenomena both demonstrate, in two completely different disciplines, our civilization’s inability to see what is directly in its path

Too Radical for PETA -- PETA attacked Christianity at its foundations with their "Jesus was a vegetarian" campaign, and then backed off. That's unfortunate.

Jews For Jesus: Why Not? -- Thank you very much for asking. Here's my response.

What Would Jesus Do About Terrorism?
-- Jesus doesn't like killing, no matter what the reason

Christian / Vegetarian Dialogue -- If you say that Jesus ate meat, then you've lost most Christians and most vegetarians to this discussion

The Origin, Fate, and Aim of Vegetarianism by Carl Anders Skriver -- Carl Skriver redefined Christianity in a radical way to include vegetarianism

Eastern Religions

Nourishing Ourselves, Nourishing Others, by Kate Lawrence -- What guidance do the Buddha's teachings give on the question of a vegetarian diet?

10 Steps to a More Peaceful Life, by Kate Lawrence -- Eastern religions include vegetarianism, but there's more to a peaceful life than just this one practice

Recent resources on Eastern spiritual practice and vegetarianism, by Kate Lawrence -- Latest books and web site.

Buddhism and Heifer International -- why donate to a charity that slaughters animals?

Truth-Force and Vegetarianism -- Gandhi’s views require us to speak up about vegetarianism

Religion and Animals

Is Nothing Sacred? -- The movement for animal liberation needs to engage the world of religion constructively

The Universal Prayer Circle For Animals, by Judy Carman and Will Tuttle -- Compassion for animals already exists in truth and is waiting to be manifested in the material world

Unity School of Christianity

Unity and Early Christianity -- Unity School of Christianity embodies three key ideas which are found in early Christianity but have been rejected by most of modern Christianity

As to Meat Eating, by Charles Fillmore -- Charles Fillmore's 1903 article on vegetarianism, significant because Fillmore was one of the founders of Unity

Charles Fillmore and Spiritual Vegetarianism, compiled by Dr. Will Tuttle -- More quotations from Charles Fillmore, compiled by Dr. Will Tuttle

Seventh-day Adventism

Flesh As Food, by Ellen G. White -- Ellen White, a prophetess of the Seventh-day Adventists, was a believer in ethical vegetarianism

The Temple Cleansed Again, by Ellen G. White -- This brief excerpt from The Desire of Ages shows that Ellen White thought that Christ spoke through the prophets such as Isaiah in condemning animal sacrifice.

Mostly about Peace

The Memory of Violence -- we are still fighting wars, and killing animals, because of a failure of memory -- a half-review of Chris Hedges' book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

Against "War in Any Form" -- a few comments on "selective conscientious objection"

A Better Way to Fight War Crimes
. . . would be -- reject the resolution condemning Iran's President Ahmadinejad for inciting to genocide

Does Something New Need to Be Said about the Middle East? -- Like maybe: war crimes are not a good idea?

Uri Avnery's Speech -- At the anti-war rally in Tel-Aviv, August 5, 2006

Help! Peacemongers! (Uri Avnery) -- Uri Avnery's latest thoughts on the Middle East situation, September 16, 2006

Peace Rally and Counter-Rally in Crawford, Colorado -- Protesters and counter-protesters find that they share a lot in common

Speech by Karen W. Gallob at the Crawford Peace Rally

About Iraq -- September 11 was a terrible tragedy, but there are other tragedies in the world as well

Rice for Peace (circulated on the internet, from various sources)

A Proposal to Listen for Peace and Security, from Plum Village

Vegetarianism, World Peace, and Justice, by Dilip Barman
-- There's a relationship between excessive consumption and violence.

"Bring the Criminals to Justice"? -- whether it makes sense to bring Bush to trial for war crimes

Mostly about politics and culture

Make England Great: A Peak Oil Thought Experiment

Dear President-elect Obama
We need to head towards a steady-state economy

The Spiritual Dimension of the Economic Crisis
The economy is in the tank because we've hit the limits to growth of our consumptive lifestyle

Discussion Questions for The Great Work, a set of 15 discussion questions for Thomas Berry's book of that title

Discussion Questions for Reinventing Collapse, a set of nine discussion questions for Dmitry Orlov's thought-provoking book

A Global Marshall Plan?, a discussion of the Network of Spiritual Progressives' proposal to help the world through massive aid

Vegetarianism, Al Gore, and PETA
PETA's inaccurate personal attack on most environmentalists and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize creates more problems than solutions.

Uncommitted For President -- neither of the Democratic candidates addresses the question of peak oil, or the consumerism of American society which is pushing us to the breaking point, and perhaps beyond.

Do Some People Need Meat?

Temple Grandin and the Dalai Lama seem to think so, but the evidence does not support this idea

Letter to Laurie David
Uh-oh. It looks like "eating low on the food chain" could be too politically charged for the global warming community to mention.

Laurie David and Vegetarianism
After hearing Laurie David's talk, I have some thoughts as to why "eating low on the food chain" is too politically charged. I regret to say that vegetarians themselves are partially to blame here.

Arthur Poletti's Polemic Against Al Gore
Another case of vegans making impolitic statements.

Defeat: Another Inconvenient Truth -- We can't extricate ourselves from Iraq, because almost no one wants to admit defeat and almost no one wants to deal seriously with our dependence on oil

America Enters the Crisis Period: Is it the Fourth Turning Yet? -- Neil Strauss and William Howe predicted, back in 1991, that America would enter a period of crisis ("fourth turning") about, well, now -- has it happened yet?

"America is Addicted to Oil": Twelve Steps to End Oil Addiction -- In which I actually agree with something that George W. Bush says

The McDonald's Lawsuit: What's the Story? -- A divisive controversy within vegetarianism -- what's at stake?

Vegetarian or Vegan? -- Vegans need to be allies, not enemies, of lacto-vegetarians

Community and Individualism -- Or, why simple living is so complex

Sustainable Beef -- Response to a letter in WorldWatch magazine -- grazing is worse than factory farming.

Sustainable Beef (Again) -- Wow, they printed my response (above)! But with their response; here's my response to their response.

The Future of Vegetarianism -- It depends on emphasizing ethics and the environment, not just health

Bringing an End to World Hunger -- If you’re talking about anything more than a stopgap measure, you’re talking about vegetarianism

History of the Vegetarian Society of D. C. -- The oldest vegetarian group in North America has a history which reflects the currents in the vegetarian movement

Out of Synch? -- The main struggle we face is not to persuade others to our point of view, but just to get them to think about it at all

The Night in Which All Cows are Black -- It's not too late to make a few comments on the really obscure stuff in nineteenth century philosophy

Is Honey Vegan? -- A lot of people didn't like Dr. Michael Greger's celebrated article "Why Honey is Vegan" in Satya -- but they might want to read the article first

"Be the Change" -- did Gandhi say this?

Reviews

How Jesus Became Christian -- by Barrie Wilson

World Made By Hand -- by James Kunstler

Vegetarian America -- by Karen and Michael Iacobbo

Take This Bread -- by Sara Miles

The Family of Jesus -- James Tabor's book The Jesus Dynasty

The Brother of Jesus -- by Jeffrey Bütz

The Da Vinci Code: A Modern Religious Romance

Are the "Chronicles of Narnia" Christian? -- C. S. Lewis' fantasy series for children

Is "Peak Oil" Here? -- Kenneth Deffeyes' Beyond Oil and Matthew Simmons' Twilight in the Desert

Peak Oil and "The Long Emergency" -- A review of James Kunstler's excellent book

Would We Be " Better Off" Without Technology? -- A review of Eric Brende's book Better Off

Collapse -- A review of three books on the collapse of societies, by Jared Diamond, J. R. McNeill, and Joseph Tainter

Five More Good Books on the Collapse of Civilization! -- The Empty Tank, The Collapsing Bubble, A Short History of Progress, The End of Fossil Energy, and High Noon for Natural Gas all provide more grist for the mill

Is The Lord of the Rings Christian? -- J. R. R. Tolkein, the book and the movie

Review of "Generations," "The Fourth Turning," and "Millennials Rising" -- by William Strauss and Neil Howe

Review of "The High Price of Materialism"
More evidence that consumerism does not help consumers

Review of "Dominion" -- by Matthew Scully

Review of "Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West"

Review of "God’s Last Offer" -- by Ed Ayres

Review of "The Lives of Animals" -- by J. M. Coetzee

Review of "Eternal Treblinka" by Charles Patterson

Review of "Food for the Gods" by Rynn Berry

Review of "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lyman

Review of three books on "traditional Christianity" and vegetarianism -- Reviews of Good News for All Creation, Is God a Vegetarian?, and God's Covenant With Animals

Review of The Origin of Christianity by Charles Vaclavik

About Shemayah Phillips and Ebionite.org -- my response to a negative review of The Lost Religion of Jesus