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PETA Wants Atheists' Vacant SaMo Nativity Spot to Post Vegan Message of "Peas"
Proposed sign (Image courtesy PETA)
Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is an atheist, and she believes that kindness to animals is the greatest religion of all. So knowing that the atheists' nativity scene spots in Santa Monica are vacant of displays or signage, she has written a letter to Damon Vix, one of the atheism advocates who is seeking equity in the city's annual holiday display event, asking if he will relinquish one such vacant spot for a PETA sign.
The non-religious sign asks for people to go vegan and "give peas a chance."
Here's Newkirk's letter to Vix, courtesy PETA:
December 23, 2011 Dear Mr. Vix,
As an atheist, a friend of the late Madeleine Murray O'Hare, and a former speaker at the American Atheists convention in Florida long ago, may I ask for your help? Would you be so kind as to allow PETA to use one of the vacant spaces you have so cleverly obtained in the Santa Monica "nativity lottery" so that we can set up our "Give Peas a Chance" billboard? As you well know, many bloody wars, from the Crusades to Bosnia and more, have been sparked by religious disputes. This billboard shows people of various ethnicities breaking bread and encourages peace on Earth regardless of whether one is of any religion or none. The billboard asks that everyone give a thought to the more than 1 million animals per hour who are mutilated on factory farms, transported in all weather conditions, and slaughtered in deeply frightening places simply to celebrate holidays or to satisfy a fleeting taste—and all because they are “different” from us in unimportant ways. We would be happy to support your efforts and to point out that the tenet "Blessed are the merciful" should surely mean showing mercy to all, not just to those you agree with or relate to. Adopting an all-inclusive consideration for others does not require that anyone believe in Jesus or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but simply in kindness, the greatest virtue of all.
Please let me know right away and we’ll be there. Thank you.
Yours truly,
Ingrid E. Newkirk
President
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