Scholarship
The Vegan Journey
Education on Behalf of All Living Beings and the Planet
Tapestry Founder, mentor, and scholar, Dr. Lisa Kemmerer, has been an activist engaged with anymal studies for nearly half a century. She describes those decades as an ongoing journey from a narrow vision to an increasingly wider understanding of oppressions. Tapestry currently focuses research and information sharing in the following areas: interconnections between anymals/speciesism and
marginalized peoples/sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, etc.
the natural world/capitalism, consumerism, and environmental degradation
religious ethics
Research, writing, and sharing information lie at the core of Tapestry’s mission, and Tapestry is is particularly proud of the following three projects:
1. Vegan Ethics: AMORE (book and website)
We eat every day, yet most of us do not understand the moral weight of what we put on the table. Published in 2022, Vegan Ethics: AMORE, using clear and simple prose and an abundance of enlightening and inspiring quotes, explores the many moral reasons to choose vegan: animal well-being, human health, human oppressions (such as world hunger, sexism, and homophobia), religious commitments, and the health of the planet.
Vegan Ethics is a must-read for anyone interested in animal-studies, environmental philosophy, intersectionality, social justice, religious studies, animal activism, and ethics in general. Watch for this book to be turned into a website! (Until then, it can be purchased, supporting Tapestry, on the publication page at lisakemmerer.com.) For more information, please see the publication page at lisakemmerer.com.
2. Animals and Religion.org (book series and website) About 85% of humanity identifies as religious, and anymals and religious ethics is one of Tapestry’s strongest threads. (Recall that Tapestry founder and scholar, Dr. Kemmerer, is the author of Animals and World Religions.) Religious ethics are likely the most powerful—and overlooked—avenue of bringing change for animals.
While religious ethics overwhelmingly teach compassion and caretaking of earth and animals, neither people of faith nor animal activists tend to be familiar with these basic, critical moral teachings. Making matters worse, few people of faith, activists, or animal studies scholars are aware of the depth and range of core religious ethics protecting animals, while many are aware of arguments against animal rights and the vegan lifestyle. Consequently, speaking with people of faith about animals, ethics, and diet requires more than a cursory understanding of religious ethics.
Although people are increasingly reliant on the internet for information, there is not even one website that provides high-quality educational resources on the subject of religious ethics and anymals—this despite the well-known power of faith for inspiring change for the world’s 5.8 billion religious people. The Animals and Religion Book and Website Project fills this gap, providing comprehensive, systematic coverage of ethics and animals in each of the world’s largest religious traditions. (For those who prefer books, a book series accompanies the website, and Tapestry receives all proceeds.)
Tapestry’s Animals and Religion program shares information on what is likely the most compelling reason for change among people of faith. The website will include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Jewish, Daoist, and Confucian ethics, and perhaps indigenous traditions. Armed with an understanding of religious ethics, activists, scholars, and educators will be more effective anymal advocates.
This project got underway in 2020 and Judaism and Christianity are already uploaded! To see what we have been working on, please visit https://www.animalsandreligion.org/
3. Animals and World Religions Traveling Banner Exhibit
The Animals and World Religions traveling banner exhibit, designed for people of all ages, explores what eight world religions and a handful of indigenous traditions teach about ethics and anymals. Focusing on such topics as ethics, sacred stories, key terms, and at least one controversial practice involving anymals, this exhibit includes 10 magnificent double-sided pull-up banners (or 20 wall-hanging banners).
Animals and World Religions Traveling Banner Exhibit reminds viewers of some of the most beautiful teachings religions offer—protect the vulnerable, respect life, be kind—including words from religious leaders like Gandhi, Mohammed, and Jesus, and exquisite passages from sacred texts like Genesis, the Dhammapada, and the Mahabharata. Viewers are likely to recognize that what religions teach about our relations with anymals is both simple and profound.
We invite you to access both the traveling banner exhibit on world religions and anymal ethics and the Animals and Religion website.
To participate in Tapestry’s information-sharing, please leave a donation.
