Rebel Jesus......

....I wanted to post some sort of greetings, something noting this day that seems to carry so much for so many...however my own notions about the way things are makes such difficult.

Luckily the world of vegan blogging offers multiple inspirations and Vegan Feminist Agitator wrote the perfect entry. She also posted the words (which I reproduce here) to a song that I am totally in accord with and that marks this day wonderfully. Jackson Browne has written a number of songs that are very powerful (Lives in the Balance being one) and that have impacted me greatly.

Rebel Jesus will also always be one of those. (you can listen/see here)

Enjoy...

The Rebel Jesus

by Jackson Browne

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
While the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well they call him by "the Prince of Peace"
And they call him by "the Savior"
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

Well we guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

Now pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus

The Eastern Shore Sanctuary Blog summarizes beautifully........

The post over at the Eastern Shore Sanctuary Blog presents a very well written and concise synopsis of the historical precedents for the obscene (but sadly all too common and ubiquitous) notion that the lives of the cow people and the chicken people (and all the other non-human people) do not belong to themselves, rather that their lives are the property of human people.

The author is writing in reference to the recent revelations about abuse and torture at a dairy:

 Patriarchy must punish the most extreme public expressions of its violent nature so as to obscure the less extreme expressions taking place everywhere, at every moment, all around us.

Pastoralism employs the same tactics. If we punish the most egregious forms of animal abuse, then we won’t notice the twelve trillion other examples of it going on every second of every day all over the world. ALL OVER THE WORLD, in every nook and cranny of this pastoralist, patriarchal world.

 An insightful and revealing observation.  Go read the post, it is well worth your time and attention.  If it resonates as much with you as it does with me, take the time to give the author a salute in the comments.

Update: A post over at Vegan Feminist Agitator offers further elaboration about the sometimes contradictory nuances of outrage over an outing of particularly egregious cruelty.  A partial quote from the post:

I believe that our job as animal advocates is to supplement the important exposés with the message that taking what doesn't belong to us is an intrinsically exploitative practice, and that the threat of violence (again, beyond what is accepted as necessary) naturally accompanies such a mentality.