PETA's Jesus People for Animals program is a resource for Christians who want to learn more about how our faith should influence our relationship with animals.

"Jesus people for animals" come from all walks of life. We are united first by our faith in Christ and second by our common desire to be better stewards of God's creation. We're "for animals" because we're asking all Christians to behave like Christians toward other creatures. After all, shouldn't the Christian community be leading the charge toward more compassionate, sustainable choices for a world "on earth as it is in heaven"?

We have three core messages:

1. Animals are not ours. They're God's, and we are their protectors. The overarching message of the Scripture is that creation is good, that it is God's, and that we humans are to be caretakers of it. Being made in the image of God is a call to compassion and mercy, not dominance and violence.

2. Today, animals are among the least of "the least of these." Christians are called to be radically inclusive in their love for the least and most marginalized of society, as demonstrated by the life and death of Christ. In the past, the church has struggled to bring about suffrage and basic rights for women and children, the abolition of slavery, and more. Acknowledging and working to relieve the plight of animals is a logical extension of that prophetic witness.

3. A vegan diet is a Kingdom diet. Everything about eating animals flies in the face of what it means to be a good steward of God's creation. The Kingdom of God—the vision of life fully reconciled to God—is marked, in part, by peace between species, nonviolence, and life over death. Using animals for food, clothing, experiments, and entertainment necessitates violence and death. One easy way to live a more compassionate life is to adopt a vegan diet.

That's just a taste of what the Bible has to say about compassion for all of God's creation. To learn more, visit JesusPeopleforAnimals.com. less