5Q4 > An Adventist politician

At 36, Marianne Thieme is a member of the Dutch National Parliament and leader of the first animal rights party in history to be represented in a national parliament. She’s also a Seventhday Adventist. Julius Nam asked her some questions.

1 Have you always been interested in the welfare of animals? > My parents raised me to be animal friendly, with respect for nature. I was born in a part of Holland where factory farming is big and, as a child, I was wondering where all the animals I had seen in my children’s books were gone. When I saw a documentary on Dutch TV about the lives of our cows, I decided not to eat animals anymore.  

2 What factors contributed to the formation of the Party for the Animals? > We are on the threshold of an unstoppable march toward giving animals a voice and a place in our legal system. This march is the result of a like-mindedness, which transcends status, political preference and religious belief, and allows everyone to contribute to the ending of the moral blind spot that has dominated our society for decades. We allow animals to suffer for our pleasure or because caring more costs us too much money. The next generation will look back in shame at how their ancestors treated animals with such a lack of respect, just as we now look back at the role the Netherlands played in the slave trade.

3 What’s there to do in a remote country area?
(How do you keep yourself entertained? Is it
lonely? What are the challenges?) > People often say to me, “I’d like to speak up for the animals but what do you do for people, health care, the economy and housing?” I can assure you that standing up for animals does not mean we are blind to other issues. Compassion plays a dominant role; money is less important. We are striving for a better living environment in which the future of the next generations is secure. We want to work toward a society where not only animals get a better life but also farmers, townsfolk and countrymen. We strive toward achieving human(e) standards, not just in agriculture but in health care, education and care for the elderly. The Party for the Animals wants to do something about the fact that we are the only living species that destroys its own living environment, not just out of greed but also from a lack of creativity. There are enough creative solutions to our problems.

4 How have religious individuals and organisations responded to your cause? >People from all backgrounds, including Christians, are supporting the party. We are the fastest-growing political party in the Netherlands. However, we are a secular party, so there’s no special religious approach in our message.

5 Has your Seventh-day Adventist background—with the emphasis on vegetarianism, wholistic living and care for creation—impacted on your founding and leadership of the Party for the Animals? > In fact, I was an animal activist and founder of the Party for the Animals first. After that—in 2006—I became a Seventh-day Adventist, because it’s a church with compassion and care for our planet.

*Adapted with permission from an interview that first appeared on the Spectrum blog: spectrummagazine.org.