Christspiracy

I just watched Christspiracy, the eye-opening film about how universal spiritual doctrines of love and peace, have been misrepresented by the religions that claim to follow them, in order to justify and perpetuate a reign of violence, for the purpose of greed.

It shows how, as human beings trying to live a life of compassion, we have been manipulated to perpetuate power, through structures based on subjugation of other beings for profit.

This greed/profit motive is fulfilled at the expense of our humanity, and our shared future on mother earth.

I cannot recommend this film enough. It makes sense of so much and has strengthened my resolve to continue to try to live a life of compassion, a life free of harm to other beings.

I invite you all to please watch it, however hard it may be, with a compassionate mind.

Wow, as a kid my mother had to bribe me to lambs fry (live), with pancakes after.

I was like the little girl in the documentary who can't come to terms with animals whom she loves ending up on her plate.

Your mother uses misinterpreted scripture about "God gave us dominion over all living creatures" not to kill, but to protect. Everyone has been compromised into believing a lie (at best a misinterpretation). A Chinese Man. An activist and dog rescuer broken down on camera. He has saved thousands of dogs, but millions need to be saved. Animals cry when they know they are walking towards death.

I have now seen this film twice, as there is certainly an awful lot of information to take in. It flows very well and I didn't get bored. The ending was also inspiring and hopeful.

The film looks at most of the main religions and was interesting to me even though I am not personally religious! In particular I found the interviews with the Buddist monks very enlightening indeed and not what I was expecting at all.

The film-makers took 7 years to make it and decided NOT to release on Netflix as originally planned as they did not wish to censor any of it so recommend you give it a watch!

Do watch this film and make up your own mind on how Jesus would have ethically killed an animal.

After viewing Christspiracy at my local theatre, I googled numerous reviews, and the one from a Roman Catholic publication had nothing negative to say about the film. This tends to negate the sensational suggestion that "the church" will not stop at any nefarious act to keep the message of "Christspiracy" from spreading. If there is a conspiracy to stop the message of Christspiracy, and if the film producers are being surveilled, it is most likely by animal agribusiness.

Overall, I found the film inspirational and provocative, although it totally misrepresented Mohammad's view of meat-eating. The film implied that Mohammad wanted his followers to stop eating meat, which is false. Mohammad did institute "halal" slaughter, which like kosher slaughter was intended to cause animals as little suffering as possible (though the rules are almost always ignored); and there are many beautiful passages about animals in the Quran, including about animals being nations to themselves and all of them worshiping Allah. However, Mohammad only wanted his followers to stop eating meat sacrificed to idols, and Mohammad himself was not a vegetarian or vegan. The filmmakers should have left out erroneous claims about Islam.

They also included specious stories about Leonardo da Vinci and quotations from Leonardo for which there are no source documents that I have been able to find.

I was pleased that the filmmakers called out certain prominent Buddhists for their self-serving misinterpretations of the First Precept of Buddhism, which is not to kill any sentient being. And I was glad to hear Maneka Gandhi's critique of the hypocrisy of Hindus being against cow slaughter but consuming vast quantities of dairy products - enabling cow slaughter to the magnitude that India is the world's largest exporter of leather and one of the largest exporters of beef (much of it to the Middle East).

The filmmakers' claims about Jesus being against animal sacrifice and the consumption of meat were well-researched and revealing. Revealed by a scholar is that the word translated from ancient Hebrew as "thieves" or "robbers" in the passages that describe Jesus driving out the sacrificial animals for sale and the sellers from the Jerusalem Temple actually mean "the violent ones." This is a critical piece of information.

A closer examination of the miracle of the loaves and fishes indicates that Jesus fed the loaves of bread to the assembled multitudes but not the fish. How do we miss such things, except that we are conditioned to believe as we are taught.

There was also something about the Last Supper, with Jesus describing the bread as his "body" and the wine as his "blood" that deserve further scholarship and analysis. It seems to confirm that Jesus consumed no meat or blood sacrifice. It might be taken as a refutation of the idea that Jesus gave himself as the "last sacrifice" as the "lamb of God," but as I see it, Jesus wanted animal sacrifice to end (as did Isaiah and some other prophets) and he was willing to die for it. Some may think there is an implied threat to the integrity of the sacrament of the eucharist, but I don't think it needs to be viewed in such a light. One can think of the eucharist (communion) as a holy and supernatural ritual of transubstantiation OR as a ritual that has been sanctified by its practice going back 2,000 years in the way of morphic resonance as described in the theories of Rupert Sheldrake. According to Sheldrake, when we repeat a ritual long enough, it is ingrained with a spiritual meaning.

The portrayal of Jesus rang true to me. Hopefully the film will cause serious discussion of the ideas presented. At the very least, it should create controversy that might cause individual Christians and others to re-evaluate their beliefs and conditioning about animals.

Christspiracy is an intriguing and thought-provoking documentary that challenges its audience to critically examine the intersection of faith, morality, and compassion. As someone who isn't religious but finds religion fascinating, I found this film deeply engaging and insightful. It explores the contradictions many religious individuals face when reconciling their belief in compassion with the act of killing and their interpretation of dominion over sentient beings.

The film's strength lies in its ability to provoke reflection. It highlights the moral inconsistencies in some religious practices while encouraging viewers-particularly Christians-to align their actions with the teachings of Jesus. It's not preachy but rather presents its arguments in a logical and heartfelt manner, urging believers to strive for moral consistency.

With its compelling narrative and sensitive yet bold approach, *Christspiracy* is an important watch for those seeking to embody the true essence of compassion and morality in their faith. It's a challenge to live not only spiritually but ethically, and it left me reflecting long after the credits rolled. A must-see for anyone interested in ethics, faith, or the teachings of Jesus.

Rating: 9/10.