Posted on by johnc

What would Sean Diener do?

PETA Campaign Coordinator Sean Diener, a devout Latter-Day Saint who grew up in Salt Lake City says,“Anyone who thinks that Jesus would approve of the way that these animals are raised and killed completely misses the gospel’s greatest message: compassion.”

Do you think that the gospel’s greatest message is compassion?

11 Replies to “What would Sean Diener do?”

  1. Well, it’s probably close.The 2 commandments in the NT? Love thy God, love thy neighbor. That’s compassion. (Where’s the Love thine bovines? Did I miss that one?)On the other hand, one might ask how much compassion the apostles felt for the fish they caught. It’s not like they were vegetarians (were they?) I don’t know if Jesus would have time to not approve of the way we treat food animals – compared to how much He wouldn’t approve of the way we treat each other.  Posted by FaithHopeLove

  2. *laffs* Honestly, there are people on this earth who have to deal with much more trying circumstances than any animal does. Or am I just being insensitive & thinking Brother Diener is really missing the mark? I don’t know.To me, the gospel’s greatest message is hope. Hope for a better world…hope of forgiveness for transgressions we’ve committed…hope to be with our families eternally. Christ died so we could have hope and purpose in our lives. Hope is what we try to offer to a hurting world. Compassion may be our method, but hope is our message. ~~

  4. I suppose I can’t deny that to love is the first and greatest commandment. But compassion doesn’t seem to be the same thing to me. Compassion has been taken nowadays to cover a whole host of things that I wouldn’t normally consider acts of love (euthanasia, for instance). Posted by John C.

  5. John:Please resend the FF invitation. I was an idiot and deleted it ‘cuz I only read the sender line & thought it was spam. I kicked myself in my own butt for that one. Thanks. ~~

  6. Comments on another blog led me to look up the definition of compassion; here is what I found:Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.So no, I don’t believe the relief of suffering is the Gospel’s greatest message. Or not exactly. The “good news” of the gospel is that, in spite of our sinfulness and rebellion, we are not cast out forever, we are not lost without hope. There is a way back. There is One who can rescue us and return us to be “at-one” with the Father.Suffering is an unfortunate but necessary part of mortal existence. God could end all human suffering in the blink of an eye if He so chose, but I think there are things he wants us to learn from suffering, and from ministering to those who suffer. A life without pain is also a life without joy, and joy is what the gospel is about. Joy at returning to our Heavenly Parents, at reuniting with our earthly families, at being made clean through our Elder Brother’s sacrifice.Does this mean we should abandon our brothers to their suffering, so that they will learn from it? Of course not. We covenant to mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, regardless of whether they deserve it or not. Pure religion is to visit the widows and the fatherless, and minister to them. But I think that God’s greatest message is not that He will take away all our pain, but that despite our pain, we can return to Him, and become like Him, through His Son.

  7. Will one of you PLEASE post something new here?? I am getting kind of tired of coming to the site & always seeing Sean Diener’s name pop up on the top of the page. It’s football season now & the FFL has seven teams (including mine…you better not let David Patten get drafted before it’s my turn, ‘cuz that dude was a member of the ORIGINAL Quorum of the Twelve & so totally fits on my team…think about it…) & we’re all out for blood (I particularly want Ned Flanders’s, but that’s another story for another time)…why not talk about that?!? ~~

  8. I think the dictionary definition of compassion (as quoted by Rob)as well as his implicit definition of suffering (the trials that befall us as mortals) fall short for me and seem to lead him into a narrow view of the Savior’s compassion for us. Through the atonement, Christ suffered with us (com-with, passion-suffer). The atonement was meant to bring us at-one with Christ, or in other words to end the ultimate cause of all suffering, our estrangement from our Heavenly Father. It is not surprising that we are also instructed to have compassion…mourning with those that mourn. An indenification with the pain of others seems to be a pre-requisite in any Christian act.However, this would suggest that compassion is not an end unto itself, but rather a means through which we are enabled to overcome. Perhaps that is the central message of the gospel. We can overcome. Christ suffered for our sins, sufferd death, and overcame. This allows us to overcome death, sin, and all other suffering. But it does not end there. Christ’s atonement ultimately results in the bestowal of all that the Father hath, to the faithful. Compassion is a necessary step to transcending. Posted by Jon

  9. The atonement was meant to bring us at-one with Christ, or in other words to end the ultimate cause of all suffering, our estrangement from our Heavenly Father.Well, I disagree (slightly). The atonement is meant to bring us back to the Father, not to Christ. We are cast out of Father’s presence for rebellion, but Christ comes down to our level to raise us back up through His sacrifice. Suffering can be a result of our estrangement from Father, but I think even He suffers, viewing the heartache and misery and spitefullness of His children. However, these are quibbling points. Essentially, we are saying the same thing: that compassion, whether you define it as “relief of suffering” or “suffering together”, is not the main message or aim of the gospel, although it is a component. The central message is that through Christ we can overcome our estrangement from the Father, be brought back into His presence, and remain there and become like Him.

  10. Too many people incorrectly personify animals and makes them equal to humankind.

    God made animals subservient to man. They are to serve our purpose. I don’t think waste is ever acceptable, but kiling animals and eating meat is in complete harmony with the gospel.

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