Creation: Interview with Bruce Friedrich

Recently, The Progressive Radio Show had a great interview with Bruce Friedrich, vice president for policy and government affairs at PETA. During the conversation, Friedrich responded to several challenging questions about PETA’s tactics, drew connections between his Christian faith, his veganism and his activism on behalf of nonhuman animals, and discussed his book The Animal Activist’s Handbook, which he co-authored with Matt Ball (co-founder of Vegan Outreach). You can download the MP3 at the Progressive Web site. We also have it here.

Truth be told, I am highly critical of the way PETA’s public campaigns often reinforce sexism in their efforts to combat speciesism, and the way they don’t seem to make deep connections between ALL oppressions as evidenced by their ill-conceived KKK-action (see Humans are also animals article for a pretty solid critique). That said, I think Friedrich is very thoughtful and candid, and he makes some excellent points about why our call to nonviolence and mercy as Jesus-followers should be extended to nonhuman animals, and why our concern for nonhuman animals does not mean disregard for human suffering.

Tags: creation, speciesism, theology, veganism