Monthly Archives: July 2018

Berlin, Cooking, Education, health care, plant-based lifestyle, politics, society, vegansim, vision

Choose vegan: Update #1

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A few readers have asked me whether I have managed to maintain a plant-based diet since I started just over three weeks ago. Answer: yes.

So I thought I’d give you a quick update as to the pros and cons. I’ll begin with the pros.

Pros

  1. It feels good to know that no animal has undergone unnecessary suffering in order to produce my meal.

I receive a weekly e-mail from challenge22@anonymous.org.il that provides me with recipes, encouragement and information. This week’s newsletter included news about what happens to chickens, in particular in free-range situations. The males are still killed at birth because they can neither produce eggs nor grow fast enough to be raised for meat production. The dairy industry really is as cruel as the meat industry.

2. Weight loss and a general feeling of well-being

Without changing my sport/exercise regime, I have already lost 2 kilos in weight. More importantly, my stomach feels lighter somehow, I am sleeping better and I generally feel healthier, although I know this is entirely subjective.

3. Not craving meat of dairy

This has taken me by surprise. Even though I still cook meat for three out of my four children, I so far haven’t caught myself wishing I could be eating what they are eating. On the contrary, especially when I have to scrape away congealed fat off their dinner plates!

4. Adventure and experimentation

Inevitably, I’ve had to become more creative with my cuisine, at home and when eating out. I’ve now discovered, for example, almond milk, soya yogurt, tempeh, saitan and tofu and my culinary experimentation has undergone a revolution. What’s more, my fridge looks less like a morgue and more like a garden. And talking of fridges, you may need a larger one in order to store all your fresh fruit and vegetables! On a personal note, I have also so far discovered that I prefer to eat dishes just with vegetables rather than with meat substitutes.

5. Most meals do take more time

I was about to put this in the negative section, but then realised that it doesn’t have to be negative if your food preparation takes longer. If you become a vegan, you will need to take more time learning about your new options and reading labels. You will need more time when you go shopping on account of trying to find new shops and new ingredients. And you will need more time for food preparation. For example, making a breakfast from muesli, soya yogurt and fresh fruit will take you a bit longer than jam on toast. Yet being forced to slow down your pace of life a little and savouring your food can surely never be a bad thing.

Cons

1. It’s a pain cooking two family meals instead of one

So far, the only real negative I can think of is that I often have to cook two meals per meal: one vegan and one non-vegan. If you don’t really enjoy cooking, then this is a little annoying, but it won’t go on forever since most children eventually leave home. Or else they might even follow your example and become vegan. Children do what you do and not what you say.

Conclusion: Some of you have also asked me how much thought, preparation and research I had put into become vegan before I got going. The honest answer is, almost none. Having watched a few videos about the meat and dairy industry, I just switched from one day to the next. For me, that was the best way, otherwise I would have made endless excuses about all the things I needed to do before I one day became a vegan. Now I am learning everything as I go along. I guess you have to decide what’s best for you.

Resources: “You will never look at your life the same way again.” and “A life-changing speech.”

“If you think that being vegan is difficult, imagine being a factory farmed animal.”   Davegan Raza

Berlin, Children, God, new writer, society

The Church destroys families – Part One

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I have been encouraged by so many of you to tell my story, so I will. In installments, I guess. Not at all out of revenge, but because I’d like once again to warn others of the dangers of getting involved in Christian Churches that may not look like a sect , but actually, they are.

If you’d like to read a check-list that will help you discover if the church you are in is a sect, please read my earlier blog article “Am I in a sect?”

I want to stress throughout this biography that I take full responsibility for my choices and actions and that I do not wish to place the blame for my actions with anyone else. I believe, even after all this hurt, that I am, whatever my circumstances may be, a free agent and can and must decide for myself what I do each day of my life. I sincerely apologise for and deeply regret the devastating damage I have caused in the lives of those whom I most love and respect. Even though we are all trying to pick up the pieces, our lives will never be the same as a result of my irresponsible and selfish actions. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to those who have treated me with inexplicable grace.

This is not about blame, it is about telling my story so that others can be helped to avoid the mistakes that have cost me my marriage and career. In my experience, certain churches destroy certain families. Especially when combined with certain character weaknesses in its members.

In 1992 I got involved, via my mother-in-law, with a church called King’s Church Hastings, which was a member of a Christian movement called Newfrontiers. Both the church and the movement seemed to me back then like the extremely authentic version of Christianity that I had subconsciously been looking for. These people seemed to believe uncompromisingly what is written in the Bible. I admired this stance because I had always questioned why other Christian movements accepted some elements of the Bible but not others. For me, either the Bible must be entirely correct and relevant or it is all wrong. “Why would it be only partially right if it is God’s word?” I reasoned.

Very soon after joining the church, my wife and I were asked to be its youth leaders. The youth group grew numerically at this time. Then I was encouraged by the church leaders to quit both my well-paid job at a local university and my almost-finished D Phil in order to become the paid leader of the church. This I did for 9 years, and towards the end of my time there I was encouraged to go to start a new church, similar to the one in Hastings, in Berlin, largely, I guess, because I could speak fluent German. Starting new churches in other nations had become a big issue in Newfrontiers at that time so I was given lots of encouragement and profile. As in any other social grouping, although you are technically free to choose, the perceived need to confirm often blinds you to real consequences of the choices you are making. So I was massively applauded for making the gravest mistake of my life.

Nearly all the new churches were started with teams of about 20 people or more in order to provide much-needed support and protection but in the end we were sent out on our own as a family of two parents with four young children by a man called David Stroud, today the leader of a multi-site church in London. So we landed abroad in a city of 3.5 million people where we knew not one single person. We were given some money, but that was all. David Stroud, the man who took responsibility for sending us to Berlin, never even visited us once. We were left high and dry and I had to take on two full-time jobs in order to keep the family going. I will never forget the night when my middle woke up in the night and caught me answering church e-mails at 2 am and said: “Dad, you work to relax.”

All our children, who had been doing very well in school in England, did badly in school in Berlin because they could not speak German and my wife understandably became depressed as the children became more and more unhappy.

Nonetheless, the pressure increased weekly to grow a new church quickly. Articles and trendy videos were published across Newfrontiers about other new churches that were growing really fast, with no regard for cultural context or the size of the start-up teams.

The church I had come to know back in 1991 that preached grace, family and friendship turned out to be a sect shaped by rabid competition, the male ego and fake relationships.

Tragically, this was the perfect environment for me to blow everything up. For in me there had been a time-bomb ticking away since my childhood about which I had no real knowledge. Until, of course, the bomb went off.

To be continued …

“Religion. It’s given people hope in a world torn apart by religion.” Jon Stewart.

Berlin, Brexit, European Union, politics, vision

UK General Election 2018?

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The damage being inflicted on the UK at the moment is painful to observe. In every area: political, social, economic, cultural and diplomatic. If you are British and living outside the UK, it is also highly embarrassing.

The recent tactical resignation of Boris the Buffoon and Davis the Dumb has both added to the damage and made it clear that at least one of these men intends to take Theresa May’s place.

I have written before that I desperately want this woman to be ousted or for her to resign. She reminds me of a rather scared, out-of-touch grandmother who is permanently overwhelmed and even scared by everything that is going on around her. Her latest nickname in Germany is “Mrs Planlos” (Mrs Without-a-Plan). To be fair, though, she does now finally have a plan and it has ripped her Conservative Party to shreds.

Maybe we are getting closer to her “Mexit” now? Yet the scary thing is that most obvious alternatives to Theresa May would cause even more damage to the country. Imagine “Mexiteers” Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg or Michael Gove as prime minister! At least Donald Trump has this week praised Boris and suggested he would be a good prime minister, thereby lessening the Buffoon’s chances of realising his dream.

And it’s such a shame that the Labour Party cannot offer a viable alternative.

Most of my European friends are hoping now that yet another General Election will be called soon and that the new government will offer the British people a second referendum on the Brexit issue. Were that to happen, they are confident that the UK would then rightly remain in the EU.

Whereas I am not so sure my friends are right, I would be delighted with such an outcome. Then, all as the UK would need, is a charismatic, pro-European prime minister with a passionate vision for democracy, freedom and globalisation. Some one like … Barack Obama perhaps?

“As an entrepreneur, I have been known for taking risks throughout my career, but leaving the European Union is not one of the risks I would want the U.K. to take – not as an investor, not as a father, and not as a grandfather. I am deeply concerned about the impact of leaving.”  Richard Branson.

Berlin, European Union, free literature, health care, politics, society, video

Anonymous for the voiceless

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As I was going shopping recently, outside the mall was a small group of people wearing Guy Fawkes masks and holding laptops depicting images of suffering animals. They labelled themselves as “Anonymous for the Voiceless.” I guess all my life I have pushed this important issue to one side and carried on being carnivorous.

On this occasion, however, a particular phrase caught my attention: “Why are my taste-buds more important than the suffering and death of another living creature?”

Since then I have watched two of the videos recommended by the group, one by Ed Winters (UK) and one by Gary Yourofsky (USA), and I have felt obliged to review my standpoint. Apart from the horrendous suffering inflicted upon the animals that are slaughtered for meat, I also discovered some things I never knew about the dairy industry.

I had never thought about how, in order to produce milk, cows have to be artificially inseminated and then have their calves taken away from them very soon after birth so that the cows can produce milk for human consumption.  Nor did I realise that these young calves soon had their insides ripped out as a by-product of selling veal so that the rennet can be obtained from their fourth stomach in order to curdle the milk used to make cheese. As for the condition of even the chickens that lay eggs for us … best not even go there. So now I understand why, for vegans, the dairy industry is pretty much on the same level of the meat industry. There is no such thing humane suffering or a humane death.

In the same week as I watched these videos, I read an article about Air New Zealand serving up a vegan burger on its flights to the USA. This received an angry reaction from the country’s carnivores. NZ MP Nathan Guy wrote on Twitter: “Disappointing to see Air NZ promoting a GE substitute meat burger on its flights to the USA. We produce the most delicious steaks and lamb on the planet – GMO and hormone free. The national carrier should be pushing our premium products and helping sell NZ to the world.”

Jingoism used to justify insane human cruelty?

A few years ago, when I was so unenlightened that I believed in God, some vegetarian friends asked me why I ate meat. I had no real answer. Now, however, I understand it has a lot to do with the fact animals and the environment are unimportant to the great Christian myth. The Bible tells us that God was more pleased with Abel’s fat-laden animal sacrifice than with Abel’s vegetable sacrifice (Genesis 4:2-7). It tells us that God gave humans permission to eat meat and that all animals would forever live in fear of humans (Genesis 9:1-3). It tells us that animals do not have a soul (Genesis 1:26-27) and so do not require salvation. It tells us that humans are to rule over the animals and nature (Genesis 1:26-27). It tells us that animals were sacrificed to cover human sin (Hebrews 9:22). And it tells us that this world will one day be destroyed and a new, beautiful, sinless world will be created to replace it (2 Peter 3:10-13).

When such narratives can be used to justify your cultural behaviour, you don’t need to give any thought to the suffering of animals or our willful  destruction of the environment. When was the last time you heard a sermon in church encouraging you to become a vegan?

Conversely, many Hindus are vegetarian. In Hinduism, animals are treated with greater respect (perhaps shaped by reincarnation?) and there is no notion of this world being destroyed and a new one created to replace it.

In conclusion, I challenge you to watch the video below. I can assure you that once you do, you will have no excuses left to remain a carnivore.

In case you are wondering, should non-believers tell Christians to become vegans? No.  Have I become a vegan? Yes.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of humankind.”   Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

politics, refugees, society, vision, war

Low-life blunders on

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This sick, jingoistic low-life blunders on after over a year in the role of the President of the United States of America. Every time I think he cannot do anything more outrageously unethical, he does.

As we have recently discovered, thanks to the “biased, lying, fake-news-ridden press”, his racist obsession with dealing with illegal immigrants entering the USA has led to the intolerable separation of children from their parents. The (so far) 2,300 children are not only separated, but being held in make-shift detention centres, given sedative drugs that are being presented to them as vitamin pills and some have so far never got to see their parents again (source: BBC news).

Even since this Auschwitz-like atrocity has come to light, Trump shows absolutely no signs of adjusting his zero-tolerance policy. On the contrary. This week he wrote on Twitter:

“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no judges or court cases, bring them back to where they came from. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and law and order … Our immigration policy, laughed at all over the world, must be based on merit – we need people who will help to Make America Great Again.”

America once was great, largely thanks to its cultural diversity. Just take a look at the names in the cast and crew list of some of the greatest US movies ever made. This man Trump is a disgusting, perverted affront to the values of humanity, the riches of cultural diversity and to the rights of children and families.

And the greatest irony in all of this is that the US likes to regard itself as a Christian nation. It is estimated that over 40% of the nation go to church every week and 70% regularly attend a service. If Christianity is meant to have a positive influence on the moral behaviour of a nation, then it clearly is not working.

At the end of the day, the increasingly hollow slogan “God bless America” is an insult to prayer, an insult to racial tolerance and an insult to human equality. Even more so when it comes out of the mouth of an ignoramus like Trump.

Let’s hope God wakes up soon and gives the Americans the president they really deserve.

“Is man merely a mistake of God’s? Or God merely a mistake of man?”   Friedrich Nietzsche