ancient words have meaning; ancient words from the master of the universe- even more. bearing this in mind, the people for the ethical treatment of animals (peta), according to a foxnews report, have created their own self-serving artificial intelligence crafted vegan version of the bible. equally disturbing is the foxnews reporting which presents as journalistic embarrassment.
the words of deuteronomy 13:1, are explicit with respect to the torah’s contents: “everything i command you that you shall be careful to do it. you shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.” over the thousands of years, the torah’s words have been carefully copied so that the present day we can hear the same words that were read to the people in the times of ezra and the same words which were announced at mt. sinai when the ten commandments were delivered to the children of israel.
thus, it was initially surprising that foxnews, when reporting on the matter, did not obtain any quotes from any religious authority. rather, the only the authority reported on was the peta president. the article provides the readers the quote: “the bible has long been used to justify all forms of oppression, so we’ve used chatgpt to make it clear that a loving god would never endorse exploitation of or cruelty to animals,” says peta president ingrid newkirk. “it took god only six days to create the entire world, but we realized it would take us years to rewrite the whole bible, which is why we’ve started with just the first book.” [would you think a rabbi, priest or minister could make some insightful comment on the legitimacy of this statement?]
this quote- if it is complete- insults the master of the universe. the torah is replete with care and concern for the ethical treatment of animals. perhaps, peta, in present day, would not even exist had it not been for the bible planting the seeds for respectful treatment of animals.! further, the torah, as it is written, is meant to provoke discussion and meaning as to the issues of the proper care and treatment of animals. the torah sends a clear message that animals are to be respected. distorting its language dilutes both the message and the lessons to be learned. the torah documents god viewing animals as good; tasking noah to save animals to save them from the flood; presenting a world where the idea in which humans were vegetarians; presenting a world that placed moral limits on the consumption of animals; and protecting animals in the workplace.
sadly, peta chooses to practice the religion of presentism. per the fox report, in peta’s bible “animals are referred to as “beings” rather than “beasts” or “creatures” and plants like hemp and bamboo are used for clothing instead of animal skins because “no one with any fashion or moral sense would wear animal skins in the 21st century.” this bogus version of the bible goes so far to document abraham and sarah adopting a dog named “herbie”. it also removes the fact that an animal was sacrificed instead of isaac at the time of the abraham’s most controversial test of faith.
in sum, this outrageous act is precisely why it is so important that both the hebrew torah have true and scholarly interpretations readily available and accessible. again, while peta believes that the bible somehow is oppressive toward animal rights, there are many who believe that the bible- unaltered- is, has, and will continue to be a powerful force directing people to treat animals in both a respectful and ethical manner.
be well!!
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The Ten Commandments Project 