‘Christspiracy’: What Kind Believers Have Been Waiting For

Most people of faith have heard certain passages from religious texts being used to justify the exploitation and abuse of animals. Many of us have been left deeply troubled and struggling to understand how belief systems built on love, kindness, and compassion could exclude all but one species from their core tenants.

That’s where gospel songwriter and musician Kameron Waters found himself. He had grown up in the Bible Belt in a family of gospel singers and a minister. But as he became aware of the systemic cruelty of the meat industry, he wondered how he could support such violence, knowing that God gave His animals the capacity to experience love, joy, hope, fear, and pain. Waters wanted answers to these questions:

“Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal? How would Jesus kill an animal?”

As he searched for answers, Waters attended a Q&A with Kip Andersen, one of the producers of Cowspiracy, Seaspiracy, and What the Health, and asked him those very questions. Andersen didn’t have the answers—but he also couldn’t let the questions go. In what they describe as “a divine chance encounter,” Waters’ questions had stirred something in the veteran filmmaker. So they embarked on a six-year, four-continent spiritual journey to find the truth.

From Nazareth to the Vatican and from New Delhi to Kathmandu, the pair questioned world-renowned theologians, Christian farmers, Indigenous shamans, archeologists, and religious leaders and asked them to explain why cruelty to animals is accepted around the world, even though compassion is supposedly the uniting core principle of all world religions.

The historical texts and facts that they found—some hiding in plain sight and some deeply buried—are explosive. The new documentary Christspiracy reveals truths that many lifelong Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists have never heard. For those of us who have felt isolated and confused by seemingly conflicting values, the film offers hope: clear and compelling evidence that great religious leaders absolutely rejected harming and killing animals. This revelation has massive implications for how we conduct our moral lives.

Getting the information wasn’t easy. The filmmakers’ vehicles were chased, their homes were ransacked, and doors were slammed in their faces. Netflix wanted to censor the film. Waters and Andersen refused, and Christspiracy became the first movie ever to have its rights bought back from the world’s largest streaming platform.

Waters was forced out of his congregation after church leaders told him to stop asking questions. And his experience rings familiar to many of us. We’ve been ridiculed for our concern for animals, reprimanded for questioning what we were taught, and mocked for our discomfort at religious gatherings in which animals’ flesh is served. But we stand firm in our belief that violence toward animals is wrong.

Christspiracy is what every compassionate person of faith who has struggled or prayed for answers has been waiting for. And it’s full of eye-opening revelations for anyone who wants to learn about “the biggest cover-up in 2,000 years.”

Thanks to the support of believers around the world, the film will be released globally in more than 600 theaters on March 20 with an encore screening on March 24. PETA supporters can use this link to purchase tickets to U.S. screenings at a 10% discount. The filmmakers are donating another 10% back to PETA and PETA LAMBS, our faith outreach division, to continue our vital work to end animal suffering. Andersen sat down with the host of The PETA Podcast for a special episode, which aired on February 28. Tune in now to learn more about Christspiracy.

Book your tickets today, and share information about this film with everyone who would benefit from seeing it. You can also order a free Creation Care Toolkit full of resources to help you practice your faith while creating the positive change that animals need.