---Permission to cross-post.--- The minister and congregation of a church in Stanislaus County are devoting several weeks to a Faith & Politics Series, exploring current legislative issues which require moral and thoughtful consideration. Next thing you know, rich lobbyists from Washington D.C. are flying into farm country. The deceptively named Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) came to town last night. Patti Strand, National Director of the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) asked me to attend and report back. Here you have it. (More detailed quotes from all panel members will come in a later report.) A "Faith & Politics" theme leads to the logical question. What would Jesus do? Well, it's hard to know for sure, but if memory serves, Jesus isn't a big fan of hypocrisy and abuse of power. It takes an awful lot of hubris to sit in front of a large crowd in a church of God and lie to the audience. This might explain the chilly reception that Wayne Pacelle, HSUS President, received in the United Methodist Church in Modesto, California last night, as he tried to convince residents of this rural community that Proposition 2 is a good idea. (Prop 2 is the Standards For Confining Farm Animals initiative Californians will vote on in November.) You have to give Pacelle this - he's a good-looking man in an expensive suit, and he's well-versed in his emotional, hot-button lines. None of that seemed to play well to this crowd. Pacelle has made millions of dollars for HSUS playing fast and loose with the truth, and apparently being in church doesn't slow him down. This did not go unnoticed. I chatted with a group of local gentlemen after the event was over, and asked for their perspective. One of these distinguished looking men slightly bowed his head, as if to offer a silent prayer, shook his head slightly, and looked back up at me. "Hopefully HSUS will soon realize how wrong they were to stray from the church" he said softly. Amen, brother. In fact, about an hour earlier, sitting in the front row, not far from Mr. Pacelle, I flashed on Bill Cosby's joke about stepping back from a liar, lest he also be hit by the lightning bolt. A panel of 5 answered questions posed by meeting attendees. For Prop 2: Mr. Pacelle, and the HSUS paid consultant Reverend Bruner. Opposing Prop 2 were three subject matter experts: Dr. Nancy Reimers, DVM, MSpVM, Dip. ACPV; Jill Benson, local egg farmer and Vice President of JS West & Companies; Bill Mattos, President of the California Poultry Federation. In a relentless triumph of science and agricultural expertise, Dr. Reimers, Jill, and Bill consistently refuted the arguments of Pacelle/Bruner. Throughout the evening, these three experts presented clear, compelling, compassionate, science-based evidence opposing Prop 2. Reverend Bruner seemed awfully angry for a man of God. All the ministers I've known have tended to be quiet, reflective types, with an aura of, well - spirituality. I was sitting fairly close, and felt none of that from Reverend Bruner, who came across as hostile and condescending. In response to a question about how Christians can justify the human suffering/devastating economic havoc that Prop 2 passage would wreak, he went off on a bizarre tangent about the spotted owl controversy. He seemed particularly attached to AVMA references, at one point angrily stating "The AVMA minutes refer to 'flock stress management.' Obviously these hens are stressed." One might surmise that Dr. Reimers was getting a little fed up with the amateur hour comments coming from the other end of the table by now. She picked up her microphone, leaned into it, and stated, "The definition of stress is adaptation to change. Lack of stress equals DEATH." The audience had been polite and respectful (no applause or comments throughout), but this one got a big laugh. Several times throughout the evening, Bill Mattos invited Mr. Pacelle and Reverend Bruner to tour Ms. Benson's egg farm, so they could see firsthand the living conditions of the hens. Each time the question was ignored. He asked them again, when they were speaking privately during the break. Pacelle replied that he had already toured another egg farm. A crowd of approximately 325 people literally packed the room. It would be a generous estimate to say that Mr. Pacelle and his teammate Reverend Bruner had support from 5% of the audience. Apparently oblivious to the fact that their anti-farming initiative was receiving a hostile reception, during the break, Mr. Pacelle and Reverend Bruner stated confidently and repeatedly to Bill Mattos that Prop 2 would pass by a large margin. I seem to remember a certain level of arrogance about a bill called AB 1634. It took us eighteen months but we kicked ___ and took names on that one. David and Goliath, indeed. Tina M. Perriguey *2006 California egg production statistics: Merced County = about 1.88 billion. Stanislaus County = approximately 604 million. San Joaquin County = approximately 337 million. Obviously, the economy of this region is heavily dependent upon egg farmers. Merced County already suffers high poverty and unemployment. (The UC Davis study conclusion on Prop 2 passage: "The most likely outcome, therefore, is the elimination of almost all of the California egg industry over a very few years," Therefore, not an increase in cage-free hens, instead this: a loss of over 3,000 egg industry jobs in a state ALREADY suffering our highest unemployment rate in 12 years.) http://www.safecaliforniafood.org/node/28 http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfmstory=1124 http://www.avma.org/press/releases/080826_california_proposition2.asp http://aic.ucdavis.edu/publications/eggs/executivesummaryeggs.pdf ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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