(AgapePress) - David Martosko, director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, says People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is using tactics that offend and show contempt for many religions, especially Judaism and Christianity.

Martosko says PETA historically has demonstrated that it apparently has had no problem with giving offense. However, he says the group seems in recent years to be going out of its way to offend people of faith -- particularly mainstream Christians.

For example, CCF's research director notes, in the last year the animal rights group has "held mock crucifixions, where they would supposedly crucify fellow PETA activists who were wearing pig masks, and that sort of thing." Also, he notes, the organization has "erected billboards in parts of the United States that showed pictures of a small piglet along with the message that 'He died for your sins.'"

In addition, Martosko says one long-running PETA campaign claims Jesus was a vegetarian -- an assertion that the researcher feels is a deliberate distortion of scripture. He contends that PETA activists are using religious icons and ideas to wage what he calls a "vegan holy war," and they are not above twisting God's Word to do it.

The CCF spokesman says PETA "willfully omits lots of information from scripture -- claiming, for instance, that Jesus was a vegetarian while leaving out the episodes where Christ ate fish and also leaving out information about him being a faithful Jew, in which case he would clearly have had to eat lamb during the Passover."

The Center for Consumer Freedom has printed a booklet called "Holy Cows," which is designed to show Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of other faiths how PETA has distorted their beliefs to push animal rights. Martosko says PETA is working to take away Americans' right to choose what they eat, and the fact that they are manipulating the Bible and other religions' writings to do it is particularly disturbing.

Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

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