BOVINE BENEFACTORIES: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN COW SANCTUARIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES _______________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board _______________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ________________________________________________________________ by Thomas Hellmuth Berendt August, 2018 Examing Committee Members: Sydney White, Advisory Chair, TU Department of Religion Terry Rey, TU Department of Religion Laura Levitt, TU Department of Religion Tom Waidzunas, External Member, TU Deparment of Sociology ABSTRACT This study examines the growing phenomenon to protect the bovine in the United States and will question to what extent religion plays a role in the formation of bovine sanctuaries. My research has unearthed that there are approximately 454 animal sanctuaries in the United States, of which 146 are dedicated to farm animals. However, of this 166 only 4 are dedicated to pigs, while 17 are specifically dedicated to the bovine. Furthermore, another 50, though not specifically dedicated to cows, do use the cow as the main symbol for their logo. Therefore the bovine is seemingly more represented and protected than any other farm animal in sanctuaries across the United States. The question is why the bovine, and how much has religion played a role in elevating this particular animal above all others. Furthermore, what constitutes a sanctuary? Does not the notion of a sanctuary denote a religious affiliation to salvation and sanctity, and as such are bovines so sacred that they need sanctuaries? Or is it simply that they are so exploited by the livestock industry that they, above all other animals, need salvation? In such a way, this study asks the question, who is the benefactor: the bovine or the human? I highlight that depending upon the motivation the roles can be reversed, so that at a Hindu based cow sanctuary the cow is the benefactor, venerated in gratitude for the numerous gifts it bestows upon us. However, at the Vegan inspired cow sanctuaries it is the human who takes on the role of the “bovine benefactor,” for they are specifically looking to protect and offer bovines sanctuary so that they can lead an autonomous life free from exploitation. I have therefore coined the term “bovine benefactories” to refer not only to the sanctuaries where are they are ii venerated and protected, but also as an apt juxtaposition to the ‘fear factories’ where the bovines are made to suffer – fear factories being a more figurative name for what the industry labels as CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations). At the heart of this study is therefore an emphasis upon the stark juxtapositions and contradictions that Americans have with the bovine. What is deemed holy by one bovine sanctuary is deemed profane by another. At the same time, all bovine sanctuaries stand united in complete contrast to the present-day treatment of bovines within the livestock industry. Furthermore, there is an intriguing juxtaposition between America’s reliance and infatuation with beef and dairy products and their treatment of the bovine. For what is deemed more holy to Americans than the hamburger? As such, I also question whether such a dependence and passion for bovine products is a form of religious expression in itself? This study therefore analyzes to what extent food is deemed sacred to a diverse American public. For example, is the bovine sacred to a secular America because it is their ultimate benefactor? As such, this study looks to deconstruct and question what constitutes bovine veneration, highlighting that the bovine is not only venerated for its virility, aggression, and abundance, but that it has also taken on new significance as a symbol for exploitation, consumerism, and speciesism. In such a way, I highlight that there are many different religious motivations for protecting and offering bovines sanctuary. While some seek to venerate and use the bovine as a symbol, others seek to award the bovine its own autonomy – whereby it is not merely a symbol, but also an animal, with its own identity, will, and purpose beyond that of the human. iii This work therefore stands squarely on the shoulders of many postmodern and critical theorists that have come before me, from Judith Butler and Rebecca Alpert to Clifford Geertz and David Chidester. Their work has demonstrated that all constructs are limited by presuppositions of what is considered to be the normative – and as such, what is religion and what is deemed sacred is relative to both the individual and the community that one seeks to identify with. In such a way, I shall conclude that the largescale rearing of bovine, the mass producing and consuming of beef and dairy products, and indeed the offering of sanctuary to the bovine can all be analyzed and interpreted as unique, and at the same time intertwined, forms of religious expression and practice. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………...ii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………….………...…vii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………….………....viii CHAPTER 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO BOVINE JUXTAPOSITIONS………………..….........1 2. DECONSTRUCTING THE BOVINE………………….…………….………...….28 Introduction: Poststructural Analysis of the Bovine…......………….............28 History of Bovine Veneration…………………….………...……………….34 American Bovine Narratives..………………………….…….………….…..45 Bovine Diasporas and Hegemonies…………………………………..……...70 3. THE SANCTITY OF SANCTUARIES……...…………………………….………77 Introduction: History of Sanctuaries…………….……………………..……77 Sanctuaries in U.S. History…………………...…………………….……….84 Dualisms in Western Traditions…………………………………….….……98 4. RESTORING PTE OYATE……………………………………...……….………123 Introduction……………...…………………………...…...…………….....123 Positioning Pte Veneration……………………………...…………………128 Plight of the Pte………...…………………………...……….….………….139 Protecting the Pte………………………………………...…………..…….153 Appropriating the Pte…………………………...………………………….166 v 5. HARI HARI HOLY COW………………………………………………………..174 Introduction…………...………………………..………...………………..174 Dhenu Diaspora…...…………………………………...…………………..179 Proselytizing Prithvi…………………………………………………….…198 Keepers of Kamadhenu……………………………………………………211 New Age Nandini………………………………………...………………..217 6. VEGAN VISIONARIES………………………………..………………………..221 Introduction……………………………………………………..…………221 Veganism as a Religion…………………………………………...……….225 Emblematic Bovine………………………………………………………..246 Bovine Benevolence………………………………………………….……256 Bovine Emancipation…………………………………………...…………262 7. A BOVINE RUMINATION…………...……….………………………………...267 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..286 APPENDICES A. RAW DATA……………………………………………………………………..313 B TABLES & FIGURES……………………………………………………………325 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Farm Animal Slaughter Statistics in the United States…………..…..…………...333 2. List of Popular American Cheeses…………………………………………….…333 3. List of Cheese Brands in the United States……………………………………....334 4. List of Yogurt Brands in the United States………………………………………335 5. List of Ice Cream Brands in the United States……………………………………336 6. List of Hamburger Restaurants in the United States……………………………..337 7. Companion Animal Statistics in the United States……………………………….338 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Line Chart of New Animal Sanctuary Statistics in the United States………….…325 2. Bar Chart of New Animal Sanctuary Statistics in the United States……………..325 3. Animal Sanctuary Statistics in the United States…………………………………326 4. Specific Animal Sanctuary Statistics in the United States……………………….326 5. Percentage Breakdown of Animal Slaughter Statistics in the United States…….327 6. Dairy Brand Statistics in the United States……………………………………....327 7. Animal Sanctuary Statistics in California………………………………………..328 8. Animal Sanctuary Statistics in Arizona…………………………………………..329 9. Animal Sanctuary Statistics in New Hampshire and Vermont…………………...330 10. Bovine Sanctuary Statistics in the United States………………………………..331 11. Bovine Statistics at New Vrindaban Goshala in West Virginia………..……….331 12. Veganism Statistics of Sanctuaries that use the Bovine as an Emblem…...........332 13. Benefactor Statistics of 43 Vegan Inspired Animal Sanctuaries…………....….332 viii CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO BOVINE JUXTAPOSITIONS I love cows. Big, beautiful, breathing cows. I grew to love them when I worked on farms, milking and feeding these peaceful creatures and getting to know their distinct individual personalities. My heart broke each time one of my friends was sent to slaughter, which is the sad reality of farm life. But what could I do? I made their lives as decent as possible while they were in my care, then I had to kiss them goodbye. Until the storm: a huge spring storm that lasted most of the night, with roaring thunder and lightning bolts hurtling down with deafening cracks. In the morning, when I went out to feed the cows, I found them beneath a split and blackened tree, all dead. Six little calves huddled together a few feet away. As I led the orphans back to the barn, something inside me changed. The years of accepting sad reality were over. If these little guys had survived an act of God as powerful as that storm, they sure weren't going to be killed by an act of man, not if I could help it! That's how the cow sanctuary began. (Helga Tacreiter, The Cow Sanctuary, 2016)1 This study examines the growing phenomenon to protect the bovine in the United States of America and will question