On Sunday, a Methodist church near Philadelphia dared to feed its flock with pork, incurring the wrath of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ anti-meat “crusade.” PETA’s Bruce Friedrich had warned its pastor to expect activists, including at least one dressed as “Jesus,” to try and disrupt his “Country Fair and Pig Roast.”
Friedrich has long been PETA’s point man in the group’s ignorant and futile attempt to convince Americans that Jesus of Nazareth was a vegetarian. PETA has even given Friedrich his own “Christian Mercy” web site, hailing him as “the most influential animal welfare advocate the Christian community has produced” since animal-rights theologian Andrew Linzey.
Setting aside Jesus’ well-known penchant for catching (and multiplying) fish, His willing participation in Passover feasts (including lamb meat), and Saint Paul’s warning about those who “shall depart from the faith…speaking lies and hypocrisy…and commanding to abstain from meats” (1 Timothy 4:1-4), one wonders about the wisdom of taking religious advice from a zealot who would encourage activists to blow up banks and businesses (click here to hear Friedrich’s priceless 2001 rant). Our press release on Friday advised reporters that an extremist like Friedrich has “no business lecturing Hibernia United Methodist Church on the Christian value of roasting a pig.”
The pig roast, by the way, occurred as scheduled, and Caleb Wheeldon — the activist dressed as “Jesus” — was arrested for trespassing on church property. Wheeldon is the same lunatic who appeared three weeks ago dressed as another “King” (Elvis Presley) for a PETA protest in Columbus, Ohio. While PETA’s campaigners planned to use the middle-aged, overweight Elvis as a cautionary icon against eating meat, they seem to have forgotten that his favorite food by far was a fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich. Yep — 100 percent vegan.
