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Articles by Keith Akers
Climatological limits to livestock: A plea for plant-based diets
There isn’t any specific scientific consensus on the precise impact of livestock on the climate. It is a contentious issue, partly because it’s so difficult to measure. We can say, however, that the impact is likely colossal. Moving towards plant-based diets will not, by itself, solve the climate problem. We still need to end our reliance on fossil fuels. However, it is necessary to solve the climate problem.
V-COP17 - “Christspiracy” online and much more
You’ve probably heard of the international COP meetings on climate change (COP = “conference of the parties”) . Now there’s the vegan version of this conference, V-COP, which stands for “vegan convergence of the peoples,” working together to reverse the destruction of the biosphere. V-COP 17 is occurring all day this Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28, online.
Book Reviews | Vegan Journal | Vegetarian Resource Group
Book Reviews Embracing Limits: A Radical and Necessary Approach to the Environmental Crisis by Keith Akers Keith Akers' Embracing Limits is an enjoyable and intriguing read that offers a unique perspective on the environmental crisis our generation is faced with and will continue to be affected by in the future. Akers argues the cause of environmental destruction, at its core, is the human desire for limitless growth and expansion.
Basic Income and Veganism
Systemic, radical changes in the United States are now in the cards. You can feel it in the news and in the streets, even with COVID-19 acting as a damper on protests. But we haven’t had much discussion of what specifically these changes should be. We know—though mainstream economists still haven’t figured it out—that economic growth isn’t the answer: we have hit the limits to growth. We need a basic income: a guaranteed cash payment to all adult citizens sufficient to support a minimal lifestyle.
Veganism as a Response to Limits to Growth
Limits to growth are now here. Our economy used to work just fine, but it hasn’t been working so well for the past few decades. With limits to growth, it is now not going to work at all. One failure is our way of dealing with social inequality. The only way that we have tried to deal with social inequality is through economic growth. We’ve assumed for some time that capitalistic expansion of the economy will solve problems of inequality.
Shut Down the Slaughterhouses
On April 27th, the Denver Post reported that “5th Greeley JBS worker dies.” JBS is a Colorado slaughterhouse employing 6000 workers. Over 100 JBS employees tested positive for COVID-19, and five have died: four workers and one person who worked at the corporate office.
Was Jesus Killed for Opposing Animal Sacrifice?
Just before his death, Jesus went into the temple and disrupted the business supporting the temple operations, by driving out all those who were buying and selling sacrificial animals. It was this act which led to his arrest and crucifixion. Disciples, by Keith Akers, goes into greater detail about these and other topics. Jesus was killed because he was a palpable and physical threat to public order.
This Pandemic is About Animals
The current COVID-19 pandemic is a pivotal event, not just for vegans, but for almost everyone on the planet. There’s a lot that we still don’t know. But there can be no doubt that this pandemic is a consequence of our treatment of animals. Despite this obvious animal connection, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) doesn’t fit the standard vegan narrative about our treatment of animals. That narrative emphasizes our harsh treatment of domesticated animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens.
Is Clean Meat Vegan?
By now, many people have heard about “clean meat” — also known as “lab-grown meat,” “cell-based meat,” or “cultured meat,” among other monikers. It’s meat that doesn’t come from slaughtering an animal, but through cultivation of meat cells in a lab. No slaughtering of animals is required. Now the question is, is clean meat vegan? At first glance, the answer to this question seems obvious. Clean meat is, well, meat. And meat is not vegan. Therefore, clean meat is not vegan.
Was Jesus a Vegan?
The historical Jesus, as I’ve argued elsewhere, was clearly vegetarian. To recap: (1) The controversy in the early church over vegetarianism shows that the leadership of the early church promoted vegetarianism and opposed animal sacrifice. (2) The testimony of later Jewish Christianity echoed and preserved this vegetarian, anti-sacrifice tradition. (3) Jesus himself was killed after disrupting the animal sacrifice business in the temple. But can we say that Jesus was a vegan?
The Gap Between Knowing and Believing: Jonathan Safran Foer and Being Not-Quite-Vegan
We Are The Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast. Jonathan Safran Foer. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2019. There is now a growing chorus of well-known popular books on the subject of climate change. Everyone from Al Gore to Naomi Klein has gotten into the act. Jonathan Safran Foer has now outdone them all, because almost alone among such writers, he discusses livestock agriculture in some depth.
Reforestation is a Solution to Climate Change, But Not Without Veganism
Environmental activists Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot have made a short and excellent YouTube video on forests and climate change. Their thesis: to deal with climate change, we need to eliminate fossil fuels, but this alone will not be enough. We also need reforestation. Key quote: “There’s a magic machine that sucks carbon out of the air, costs very little, and builds itself: a tree.” Plant trees, suck carbon out of the air. What’s not to love? What they don’t mention is veganism.
Was Jesus a vegetarian?
Jesus in the temple (Greco) Was Jesus a vegetarian? The long answer is to investigate both Jesus and the movement that he was part of, something I’ve done in my books The Lost Religion of Jesus and Disciples. This post will give a shorter answer that briefly discusses three key points: the controversy over vegetarianism in the early church, the later history of Jewish Christianity, and Jesus’ attack on animal sacrifice.
Whole Foods Escalates Attacks on Rabbit Advocates
Well-known vegan and social justice activist lauren Ornelas was arrested for leafleting during a peaceful protest against the sale of rabbit meat on Sunday, November 16, in Sebastopol, California. Then, a week later (i. e. yesterday), there was another protest, with three protesters briefly entering Whole Foods, but this time no arrests were made. That’s right: Ornelas was arrested for leafleting. The official charge is “trespassing,” but in California (and in over half of the other U. S.
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