So Sad! If you traveled west of Amarillo, TX, on I-40, the Nortex Feedlot, no doubt, you have driven past a huge cattle feedlot with hundreds of thousands of cattle, calves included, standing, or lying down on huge mounds of manure. The cattle and their calves are cruelly packed side-by-side like sardines, with no shade, contained in small pipe lots -- all held there for months, where the penned animals are fattened before being shipped to slaughterhouses. There is no telling what they are being forced to eat and drink. It is a living in hell on earth for those cows and calves!!!
It is a horrifying, pitiful sight to see and smell as you drive past! If you are even half a human, you feel much compassion for the cows and their calves! Just behind the small side-by-side pens are acres and acres of grassy fields. Can you imagine being a cow, if you have a shred of empathy, looking through those pipe bars, while standing or lying down on mounds of wet shit, seeing all that grassy acreage with grass as far as the eye can see, wishing to walk, to room free, to run, to graze on that huge grassy field, even during that last months of your life?!
I am surprised that in this area, with all the "Are You Saved," "Believe in Jesus" Billboards all up and down the interstate, in the Heart of the Bible Belt, that there are "Christians" who are quick to preach Scripture word from word, who are quick to judge others and to tell people how to live their lives, yet fail, Fail, FAIL to "walk to talk!"
They fail to truly understand, to integrate and to practice the Teachings in the Bible, in every, Every, EVERY aspect in their own lives?! Their beliefs are lived superficially, maybe just on Sundays? What about the other six days? For a Christian, for all of us, everything we do should be sacred! That includes how you raise your family, how you value your relationships and treat others, in what kind of work you do, and with your business! Blessed is the one who integrates the Bible's Teachings in every aspect of their lives, who sees and understands that everything in Divine!
The cows and calves, who are crowded together, who are standing, lying down in mounds of shit, are Creatures of God! Yes, they are a valuable food source for the country, the world but they, during the last months of their life, should be treated with more dignity, compassion and care for their comfort!
Here are some Bible quotes for you: In Genesis 1:28: "And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Subdue doesn't mean to shove them into shit filled pens, feed then crappy food, dirty water, neglect them, and treat them like shit until you can load them into a livestock trailer and collect a paycheck! The subtle cruelty that man inflicts upon animals, especially food source animals, is often denied, ignored, overlooked, and/or justified by himself and by others when their attention is solely fixed on money! Such a man has no credibility with God! Joel 1:18: "How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly, Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer." Your "beasts groan!!! They can't "wander" because you have penned them up in small spaces where they stand and lie in shit month after month... day and night! Do you understand that it is a living hell for them! Do you not have any empathy for creatures of God? Are you so focused on money that you can't see just how cruel your operation is? So, WWJD? What or how would Jesus treat his cattle?
Have you heard of the Principle of Good Stewardship where each person is morally obligated to respect the natural environment as well as his own being as precious gifts from God, and thereby, to use these gifts wisely in accord with their design and purpose. Recognizing the distinction then between a person and an animal, and following the principle of stewardship, animals can be used for labor, food, clothing, transportation, or other needs. However, human beings must not cause animals to suffer and to die needlessly. Many of your cows died of sickness, from the heat. If animals are raised specifically for a purpose, like cows for meat, then they should be treated with care and not with neglect, mistreated or cruelty.
Now, In stark contrast, less than one mile away, your neighbor, another rancher, has his cattle roaming free on his grassy lands. What an excellent example of a responsible cattlemen, who practices Good Stewardship, who treats his cattle as God's creatures despite that they are animals and our food source! So Sad! And, God is watching! read more
