Passing of J. R. Hyland (author - God's Covenant with Animals)

**Mattitude** · 10-24-2007, 08:27 PM

http://www.lanternbooks.com/blog/entry.php?id=592

The Lantern Books Blog: Lantern Mourns the Passing of J. R. Hyland
by Martin RoweOctober 22, 2007 11:21am
J. R. Hyland
The death of J. R. (Regina) Hyland from breast cancer is shocking, not only because it was so sudden or that she was still relatively young (only 64), but because she seemed so vital. I first came across her work when I was in graduate school, working on a master's thesis on Christianity and animals. Her book The Slaughter of Terrified Beasts was a passionate, ironic, and scrupulously biblical examination of the moral growth of the Israelites, and a call for moving beyond the paradigm of animal sacrifice that governs religious sanctioning of vivisection, hunting, and eating meat.

Later on, at the cusp of starting Lantern Books in 1999, Carol Adams and Regina suggested I publish The Slaughter, and I readily concurred—with two conditions: first, that we add some of the other essays she had written on the topic for her periodical, Humane Religion, and, second, that we change the somewhat visceral title. The result in 2000 was a book double the size and now called, meekly if accurately, God's Covenant with Animals. This book has continued as a mainstay in PETA's catalogue as a wonderfully straightforward introduction to Christianity and animal rights, and long may it continue to do so.

The rest of this blog, I hand over to Karen Davis, also a Lantern author, and founder of United Poultry Concerns, to whom those wishing to remember Regina can make a donation on her behalf.

. . . I found her book, God's Covenant with Animals: A Biblical Basis for the Humane Treatment of All Creatures, published by Lantern Books in 2000, to be an extremely compelling and invaluable argument concerning the place of animals in the Bible and I quoted from it on page 88 of my book The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale, also published by Lantern Books.

I am honored and profoundly grateful to Regina for requesting that donations to her memory be made to United Poultry Concerns, and I am deeply honored and pleased to know that United Poultry Concerns was one of Regina's favorite organizations.

We corresponded a few times and Regina became a strong supporting member of UPC almost as soon as we started in October of 1990. On November 4, 1993, I purchased the original version of God's Covenant with Animals entitled The Slaughter of Terrified Beasts: A Biblical Basis for the Humane Treatment of Animals. That title and book and its follow-up continue to inform and strengthen my outlook and the work of United Poultry Concerns. Thank goodness that Regina wrote as she did and that she died peacefully, but what a loss her death is for all who knew and loved and needed her.

From UPC email
United Poultry Concerns
October 24, 2007

Regina Hyland, Author of "God's Covenant with Animals," has Passed Away
She asked that donations in her memory be sent to United Poultry Concerns

By Karen Davis, President of United Poultry Concerns

Regina Hyland, who wrote under the name of J.R. Hyland, died from breast cancer last week. She was sixty-four years old. Regina was an ordained evangelical minister who worked in prison ministry and with migrant farmworkers as well as actively supporting issues of female equality and animal rights. Regina became and remained a strong supporting member of United Poultry Concerns almost as soon as we started in October of 1990.

Regina's book, God's Covenant with Animals: A Biblical Basis for the Humane Treatment of All Creatures, published by Lantern Books, is a compelling and invaluable argument concerning the place of animals in the Bible. I drew upon this concise and informative book in writing my own book, The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale, also published by Lantern Books, where I quote directly from God's Covenant with Animals in my chapter on animal sacrifice, "Scapegoats and Surrogates."

On November 4, 1993 I received a gift copy of the original version of God's Covenant with Animals entitled The Slaughter of Terrified Beasts: A Biblical Basis for the Humane Treatment of Animals, published in 1988. That title and book and its follow-up continue to inform and strengthen my outlook and the work of United Poultry Concerns.

I am honored and grateful to Regina Hyland for requesting that donations in her memory be sent directly to United Poultry Concerns, and I am deeply honored and pleased to know that United Poultry Concerns was one of her favorite organizations.

To learn more about Regina Hyland and about purchasing God's Covenant with Animals, please visit http://www.lanternbooks.com/blog/entry.php?id=592.

To donate by credit card in Regina Hyland's memory to United Poultry Concerns, please go to our website at www.upc-online.org. Or you may send your check or money order to United Poultry Concerns, PO Box 150, Machipongo, VA 23405. Thank you for remembering and honoring Regina Hyland by providing a caring gift in her name to United Poultry Concerns. We are grateful for your continuing support.