"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Ed. Dr. Chapman Chen

In his influential book, The Dominion of Love: Animal Rights According to the Bible, US animal rights advocate cum autodidactic theologian Norm Phelps (1939-2014) compassionately interprets "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6) as follows:

The cheeseburger might be enjoyable, yet it fails to satisfy a deeper need that we can’t fully define. Consequently, we attempt to calm this hunger by indulging in larger and more extravagant cheeseburgers, but it remains unfulfilled because our true hunger is not for meat and cheese, but for righteousness. What disturbs our inner peace is the awareness that we are engaging in cruelty, not love, when consuming the flesh of sentient beings. A soy burger, on the other hand, provides the same pleasure but leaves no negative spiritual after-effect, as we understand that our choice caused no harm or death to innocent creatures who had not wronged us. It fills both the stomach and the soul (Phelps 2002:151-2, my paraphrase).

Norm Phelps was a leading voice in the animal rights movement, particularly known for his work bridging spirituality and animal advocacy. He was a longtime member of The Fund for Animals and later a founding member of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV). Apart from The Dominion of Love, he also authored The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights, and The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA. #VeganChrist #VeganGod #VeganChurch  #VeganTheology

Full Text: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/blessed-are-they-who-hunger-and-thirst-after-righteousness-ed-dr-chapman-chen