Lobsters and the Episcopal sect

In a story that went unnoticed last year, PETA raised a stink when it was revealed that Episcopal parishes were hosting lobster dinners, as reported in the Washington Post,

PETA staff noticed a pattern of lobster dinners as church fundraisers, and decided to look into it. They identified 28 Episcopal congregations advertising lobster fundraisers in more than 10 different states.

The PETA staffers looked into how many lobsters each church cooks at a fundraiser and got answers ranging from 75 to 2,000. In total, PETA said Episcopal churches kill well over 10,000 lobsters a year, a total that could not be verified by The Post.
It’s evident, however, that the number is high — St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, N.C., for instance, boasts on its website that its annual fundraiser has sold more than 65,000 lobsters since 1978. “Put in perspective, we’ve sold around 40 tons of lobsters, or the equivalent of a couple of school buses,” the website says, with accompanying jovial clip art of buses. (Lobsters at St. Timothy’s cost $16 each, and children can also enjoy a bouncy house and a hay ride.)...

...At St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Springfield, Va., the Rev. Peter Ackerman said that his church would continue its lobster dinner, but “PETA raises a thoughtful point. I have shared this with our church board in the hopes that we can respond in a way that keeps the annual celebratory dinner gathering intact but also brings forth our awareness and sensitivity to how we interact with God’s creatures.” That sort of reflection, he said, would be in line with the church’s social action activities like offering free physicals and school supplies to local children.

I have been waiting to see a response to PETA's request from the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal sect, but I have not found one yet.

This weekend, if weather permits, our local Anglican church is planning on having an oyster roast. This is not a fundraiser, it is a fun raiser. I asked my vegetarian friends if they could eat oysters, and they said that if it could walk, fly, or swim, they would not eat it. I explained that oysters just sit there, attached to an oyster bed. Their larval form swims a little and moves a little with a foot, but the adult that we eat just sits there. My vegetarian friends concluded that they could not eat oysters.

I have not heard about PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) protesting oyster roasts, but they have taken on the more ambulatory lobster as a pet project, "rescuing" these creatures from restaurants and supermarkets and protesting lobster dinners.

I will keep a watchful eye out for the PETA police this weekend to see of they will try tackle the mighty oyster roaster of our local Anglican church.

Good luck with that!