Invitation to Religious Vegetarians
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Open Invitation to Religious Vegetarian Advocates

Greetings,

Because of your valuable efforts for vegetarianism, this message is to
introduce you to SERV (Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians) and to
invite you to join the "Governing Board."

SERV is an interfaith effort to gain a more humane, just, peaceful, and
environmentally sustainable world. We believe that applying spiritual values
to scientific knowledge encourages plant-based diets, with major benefits for
humans, animals, and the environment. We wish to respectfully make religious
communities aware that the realities of animal-based diets and agriculture
are inconsistent with basic religious teachings, such as those to preserve
our health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve
natural resources, reduce hunger, and pursue peace and nonviolence.

SERV does not aim to replace any religious vegetarian groups, but hopes
to help all such groups by showing the strong teachings in every religion
that point to vegetarianism as the ideal diet today. We also believe that
our interfaith approach will help gain greater media coverage.

Among the initial leaders of SERV are the following vegetarian and
animal rights authors and activists: Carol J. Adams, Keith Akers, Nathan
Braun, Bruce Friedrich, Roberta Kalechofsky, Stephen R. Kaufman, Norm Phelps, Richard H. Schwartz, Stephen Webb, and Richard Young. We expect to add many more leading people in our movement as we strive for a very diverse group involving representatives of all the major religions.

Our initial efforts include producing a bibliography of religion-based
vegetarian books and key articles, compiling a list of websites with
religious teachings on vegetarianism, compiling a set of religious
vegetarian-related quotations, and setting up a website.

Please become a member of our Governing Board and join us in our efforts
to make breakthroughs toward getting vegetarianism squarely onto the agenda
of religious groups and society. As a member, you will be kept appraised of
SERV activities through periodic e-mail messages and, will have opportunities
to have an input on SERV projects. There are no obligations - you can do as
much or as little as you wish.

Finally, if you are a vegetarian and animal rights activist, perhaps you
would like to be considered for the "Governing Board" of SERV, the group that
deliberates and makes decisions related to SERV and its projects. If so,
please let us know, and send information about your background on
vegetarianism and animal rights issues, and briefly indicate any ideas about
projects you would like to work on.

Please tell us if you would like to be a member of SERV's Governing
Board, and please let us know of other activists you think we should contact
about SERV. We also welcome any questions, comments, and suggestions you may have about SERV.

Thanks, and best wishes,

Richard Schwartz
Acting Coordinator