PETA Asks Bible Museum to Keep Menu Merciful—and Vegan

Plant-Based Dishes Would Honor Command to Be Good Stewards of God’s Creation

For Immediate Release:
October 8, 2014

Contact:
Alexis Sadoti 202-483-7382

With Hobby Lobby President Steve Green set to break ground next month on his Bible museum in Washington, D.C., PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—has sent a letter asking Green to ensure that when the museum’s biblical-themed restaurant opens in 2017, it will serve exclusively humane and eco-friendly vegan dishes.

As PETA notes in its letter, today’s factory farms defy the biblical charge to show mercy to God’s creation, as animals are intensely confined, mutilated without painkillers, and suffocated or killed in other frightening and painful ways. PETA also cites the meat industry’s toll on the environment and waste of life-giving resources, such as grain and water, that could be used to end world hunger.

“The Bible instructs us over and over again to care for God’s Earth and all its inhabitants,” says PETA Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement Sarah King. “PETA hopes Mr. Green’s museum will honor God’s command to be good stewards of His creation by leaving animals off the menu.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Museum of the Bible Chair Steve Green follows.

October 8, 2014

Steve Green, Chair
Museum of the Bible

Dear Mr. Green,

As a fellow Jesus-follower, I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and our more than 3 million members and supporters worldwide to suggest a simple way to convey God’s biblical plan for the world and the compassionate teachings of Christ to visitors of the Museum of the Bible when it opens: Serve exclusively vegan meals in the museum’s restaurant.

We read in the first chapter of Genesis that Eden was vegan. God created the world, told humans to steward it well, and then immediately prescribed a vegan diet for all. Christ said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the merciful,” and we know that when Christ comes again, “[t]hey will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.” But we humans are not meeting the charge of stewardship, and animals raised for food are given no mercy. Before they are killed for a fleeting taste of flesh, chickens are crammed by the thousands into dark sheds reeking of ammonia, fish suffer excruciating decompression when pulled from the water and separated from their oxygen source, and cows and pigs are routinely mutilated without painkillers.

Committing to a plant-based menu would not only set an important example of true compassion for all of God’s creatures but also affirm the truth that the fastest way for people to make a significant reduction in their impact on the environment and relieve world hunger is to go vegan. It can take up to 16 pounds of grain and nearly 4,000 gallons of water to produce just 2 pounds of meat. As a Christian, I hope you agree that this is an appalling waste of life-giving resources in a world where billions go hungry each day. And did you know it takes 55 gallons of water to produce just two slices of cheese? The Bible tells us over and over again to care for God’s Earth and all its inhabitants. Vegan meals are a sustainable, easy way to foster a world “on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Bible is clear: A vegan diet is a Kingdom diet. Will you commit to serving only plant-based meals in the Museum of the Bible so as to honor God’s command to be good stewards of His creation?

Thank you for considering this request.

In grace and peace,

Sarah Withrow King
Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement