Viva! 8 York Court Wilder Street Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000 Fax: 0117 924 4646 email: media@viva.org.uk	11 September 2000     ‘Eat a Burger - Save Your Soul’ Campaign Under Fire   Hookers for Jesus once used sex to attract new disciples, now it’s burgers that are the evangelical loss leaders. This summer, On The Move barbecue ministries are organising a series of four-day meat-ins across Britain to which ordinary people off the street are invited in the hope of converting them. The aim is to serve 400,000 burgers. The final ‘kill a cow for Jesus’ barbies will take place in venues throughout London from the 13th to 16th of September and tambourine-rattling supporters from the animal charity Viva! will be there to protest.   At noon on Wednesday September 13th on Islington Green, Viva!’s ‘Reverend Bartholomew Butcher’ will ‘kill’ a pantomime pig in the name of God. At 1 pm on the same day, a repeat performance will take place at Argyll Square, Kings Cross. Protests will also take place in Covent Garden, Camden, Ealing and Orpington.   “Distributing free hamburgers is the most unchristian idea imaginable”, says Viva! spokesperson, Rebecca Smith. “While supposedly preaching a message of love and compassion, On the Move is supporting cruelty on a mass scale, helping to destroy the world’s environment and playing a part in the starvation of the world’s poorest people. When the meek finally inherit the earth, there won’t be many left - and there won’t be much Earth, either.”   The public will be handed leaflets which explain the cruelty of meat production and the role that livestock play in causing global starvation. One depicts an impoverished child with the words “He’s dying for your burger ...”. Another shows Jesus holding a burger alongside the words “In the name of the father, the son and Ronald McDonald”.   “The wealth of the meat industry gives it a stranglehold on land and vanishing resources. In the developing world, an area of land the size of Britain, France, Italy and New Zealand is used to grow fodder for the west’s animals. It is often the same countries whose children die from starvation. These supposedly religious jamborees will contribute to this abuse of the world’s poorest people”, concludes Ms Smith. ______________________________________________   Further information: Rebecca Smith or Tony Wardle on 0117 944 1000. Mobile: 07944 636620. Protests against the burger giveaways on Wednesday September 13th will take place at: Islington Green (noon); Argyll Square, Kings Cross (1 pm); Christ the Saviour Church, Ealing Broadway (noon). On Saturday September 16th there will be a protest on the green by Station Road, Orpington at noon. For details of protests in Camden and Covent Garden please contact PETA on 0208 870 3966.