Barefoot Vegan Mag Jan_Feb 2017

“My advocacy has
reminded me over
and over again that
compassion is a
choice we make and
that applies to
humans (including
ourselves) as well
as animals.”
during my seminary studies, where I did a lot reading
about nonviolence, liberation theology, and creation
care theology. I would get so frustrated because there
was this obvious blind spot towards animals in the vast
majority of the works. So, in Animals Are Not Ours, I
wanted to demonstrate how animal liberation was a
natural fit with other liberative theologies. It’s a very
wide-reaching book, and I didn’t hold back.
My second book is Vegangelical: How Caring for
Animals Can Shape Your Faith (Zondervan, 2016). I
really wrote this book for my dad. I needed a very
careful, biblically-based introduction to animal issues.
In Vegangelical, I talk about how a few core Christian
beliefs and values can shape our understanding of our
responsibility towards animals. So, once we’ve
established what it is we believe, we can look at the
different ways we use animals today—as pets,
entertainment, research subjects, clothing, and food—
and ask ourselves if what we believe is played out in
how we live. It was a fun book to write, it’s super
accessible, and my dad went vegan after he read it, so I
think I did my job well.
You can read some of
Sarah’s writing at her
website. Click on the
images below for more
info on Sarah’s books.
Is there anything else you’d like to share
with readers?
I feel really lucky every day that I get to work on
CreatureKind, which is a project working from within
the church to engage Christians on farmed animal
welfare. You can read about our first ten months on our
website. We are always looking for partners and are
eager to talk to people who have a heart for this work,
no matter their own faith expression. BV
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