"Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared" (Matthew 13:24-26 NIV).
1. Compassionate Seeds Withdrawn by Graham
Were Evangelical Pastor Franklin Graham to recommend people to eat compassionately, healthily and in an eco-friendly manner, he would sow good seeds instead of weeds. However, by often promoting a certain multinational fast food enterprise on social media to his millions of followers, Graham is actually sowing bad seeds in terms of endorsing and encouraging murder, rape, torture, abuse, and enslavement of trillions of innocent creatures of God on an annual basis, junk food consumption, exploitation of workers, the robbing of the poor, and systematic destruction of our environment.
Unexpectedly, on December 27, 2016, Franklin Graham announced on Facebook (Note 1) that he's "going on a vegan diet" to lose weight, quoting Daniel's healthy vegan diet (Daniel 10:3); and asked his followers how long they thought he would last. PETA then praised him for choosing compassion by going vegan (Note 2). Unfortunately, Graham has really relapsed to consumption of flesh and animal products in recent years, and we wonder why?
Full Text Link: https://www.hkbnews.net/post/pastor-franklin-graham-please-spare-creatures-of-god-and-sow-good-seeds-by-dr-chapman-chen
2. Examples of the Pastor's Support of Animal Abuse
For example, on April 11, 2024, Graham posted a picture of himself devouring Q----ter Pounder with cheese and fried apple pies at MxDxxxxd's, with the following remark:-
Today in Poland, I had lunch at MxDxxxxd's! The M-R-y-l is their version of the Q----ter Pounder with cheese, and it’s great! Good news—they have FRIED apple pies!
Saturday I will be sharing a message of hope at the Tauron Arena in Krakow, and I hope everyone will come. (Note 3)
Another example, on Feb 2, 2024, he wrote on Twitter:-
I’m excited about MxDxxxxd's new and improved burgers! I’ve eaten there three times in the last week and can say firsthand that their Q----ter Pounders with cheese were great! (Note 4)
3. Problems of MxDxxxxd's According to FoodNotBombs
FoodNotBombs (Note 5) points out that MxDxxxxd's are responsible for the following misdeeds:-
3.1. Cruelty to animals
The menu of the burger chains are based on the torture and the murder of animals. Most of them are intensively farmed, without any access to fresh air and sunshine, and no freedom of movement. Their short lies are cruel and their deaths are barbaric -- "humane slaughter" is a myth. MxDxxxxd's is responsible for the killing of 67 thousand cows per day. We have the choice to eat meat or not, but the trillions of animals slaughtered for food each year have no choice at all.
3.2. Promoting Unhealthy Food
MxDxxxxd's promote their food as "nutritious", but the reality is that it is processed junk food -- high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and vitamins. A diet of this type is lined with a greater risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Their food also contains many chemical additives, some of which may cause ill-health, and hyperactivity in children. Farming and production methods are geared to maximise profits. As a result, the widespread use of unnatural practices and chemicals has also affected people's health, e.g. BSE and food poisoning.
3.3. Exploiting Workers
Workers in the fast food industry are paid low wages. MxDxxxxd's do not pay overtime rates even when employees work very long hours . Pressure to keep profits high and wage cost low results in understaffing so staff have to work harder and faster. As a consequence, accidents, particularly burns, are common. Employees are people who have few job options and so have no alternative to being bossed around and exploited. And they are compelled to smile, too. No surprisingly staff turned over at MxDxxxxd's is high, making it virtually impossible to unionise and fight for a better deal. The same is true for workers toiling in sweatshops in China to produce MxDxxxxd's "happy meal" toys.
3.4. Robbing the Poor
The demands made by multinationals for cheap food supplies result in the exploitation of agricultural workers throughout the world. Vast areas of land in poor countries are used for cash crops or for cattle ranching, or to grow grain to feed animals to be eaten in the West. This is at the expense of local food needs. MxDxxxxd's continually promote meat products, encouraging people to eat meat more often, which waste more and more food resources. Seven million tons of grain fed to live stock produces only 1 million tons of meat and byproducts. On a plant-based diet and with land shared fairly, almost every region could be such self-sufficient in food
3.5. Damaging the Environment
Forests throughout the world -- vital for all life -- are being destroyed at an appalling rate by multinational companies. MxDxxxxd's have at last been forced to admit to using beef red on ex-rainforest land, preventing it regeneration. Also, the use of land by multi nationals and their suppliers forces local people to move onto other areas and cut down further trees. MxDxxxxd's are the world's largest user of beef. Methane emitted by cattle reared for the beef industry is a major contributor to the global warming crisis. The heavy use of chemicals in modern agriculture destroys wildlife, plants and the soil.
Every year MxDxxxxd's use over 1 million tons of unnecessary plastic, the production of which requires environmentally damaging chemicals and degradation of forest. Most of the packaging ends up littering our streets or polluting the land buried in landfill sites.
4. Leave Animals Alone!
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve," emphasizes Jesus in Luke 22:24-27 (ESV). Even if Pastor Franklin Graham does not want to follow Christ by serving the innocent creatures of God and sowing good seeds, we hope that he will at least leave them alone, thereby avoiding the sowing of bad seeds.
Notes
1. "We only have a few days left to prepare for a New Year’s resolution. Have you given any thought to what you’re going to do differently in 2017 than in 2016? I don’t know about you, but I have some extra pounds I’d like to get rid of. I’m 64 years old and it doesn’t come easy. I would love to get down to the weight I was as a freshman in high school. Well, that might be impossible--so how about my weight as a freshmen in college. The problem is, I love Q----ter Pounders with cheese, barbecued ribs, brisket, steak, and I find I don’t do very well at moderation! Therefore, beginning January 1, I’m going to try something drastic—I’m going on a vegan diet. Vegetables and fruit anyway you can fix them. Do you think I’ll survive? Everyone is betting I won’t last two days. Remember in the Bible, Daniel went on a complete vegetable diet and after 10 days his appearance was better than the others who hadn’t. If you have any great vegetable recipes, post them here so I can try them! What do you think—how long will I last?" (https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/posts/1359672840755560?ref=embed_post)