Religion and Vegetarianism
by Maxwell
G. Lee
Religion is a difficult area since it raises so many strong feelings.
IVU does not adopt any faith and is neutral in religious matters. However, religion
is an aspect of life which we cannot ignore since it has played a major part throughout
history in respect of human treatment of animals. Whether it is using animals
for food, sacrifice or as objects to be used as we wish, religious groups have
adopted a variety of approaches which have caused varying degrees of suffering
to animals. Humans have attempted to justify their approach to animals by reference
to a variety of religious works.
Whilst many vegetarians are religious, others
are opposed to religion since they consider religions to be a major cause of animal
suffering. Whatever ones views, religion is an aspect of life which none of us
can completely ignore, so IVU is addressing it here.
The approach to vegetarianism
by various religions appears to extend from that of Jains with their total respect
for life, through the Buddist approach to that of certain Christian orders which
practice vegetarianism.
Many members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church
are vegetarian, but not all follow the vegetarian path. The Anglican Church usually
sees animals as put on Earth for the use of humans and this is similar to the
approach of the Roman Catholic Church. A recent issue of INROADS the newsletter
of the International Network for Religion and Animals (address below) reported
that the founder of INRA had left the Roman Catholic Church into which she was
born. The reason for her action was the latest edition of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church. She states that the new Catechism sets in stone what, over the
generations, has been a traditional public concept that animals were created for
human use (Catechism, page 280). "Animals, like plants, and inanimate beings,
are by nature destined for the common good of past, present and future humanity."
On page 590 it continues "They may be used to serve the just satisfaction
of mans needs."
She goes on to suggest that tradition, passed on from
generation to generation, becomes like a bad habit, followed through without or
reason, without examination of the initial premise and irrespective of the cultural
norms of the time from which the tradition evolved. It ignores advances in knowledge
and technology or their effects upon the animal kingdom.
Humans now have
total control over the animal kingdom and are able to do what it will with it.
We have the knowledge and power to enable most if not all species to be completely
eliminated. Surely, this gives us special responsibilities towards animals.
The Catechism states (page 580) "by their very existence they bless and give
glory." Animals cannot speak for themselves so we need to act and speak for
them.
The Catechism urges people to proceed with kindness and gentleness
towards the animals, but the meaning is empty unless such statements are supported
with firm proposals to ensure humans act with compassion.
Practices in Spain
at religious festivals and similar events often centre on the abuse of animals
including stoning them to death, throwing them from a tower and torturing them
in the streets to the applause of the audience. Many such actions are justified
in the name of religion and it is not just in Spain that such abuses exist.
Discussing eating animals with many religious people usually results in them trying
to justify their practices by reference to God and the suggestion that He would
approve of such conduct.
For a copy of their newsletter or membership infirmation
write to:- INROADS, PO Box 77591, Washington, DC 20013-7591, USA.
Are
Christians Vegetarians?
by Keith Akers
This article was provided by Keith
Akers of the Denver, Colorado, Vegetarian Society and a former North American
Regional Secretary for IVU. He wrote it in association with Richard Shorter of
London, England.
Most Christians today probably eat meat without giving it
a second thought. But many early Christians were vegetarian, including Clement
of Alexandria, Origen, John Chrysostom, and Basil the Great. According to some
early church writings, Matthew, Peter and James (the brother of Jesus and first
leader of the Jerusalem church) were vegetarian.
The following quotations
are offered, not as proof of a vegetarian diet, but just as food for thought for
Christians thinking about the meaning of compassion, love, and Gods creation.
Does God care about animals? Does he want us to care about animals too?
Early
Christian Vegetarians
The apostle Matthew partook of seeds and nuts and vegetables
without flesh.
Clement of Alexandria (The Instructor, book 2, chapter 1).
Peter said, "I live on olives and bread to which I rarely only add vegetables."
Pseudo-Clementine Homolies 12,6; also Recognitions 7,6.
James, the brother
of the Lord ... was holy from his mothers womb; and he drank no wine nor strong
drink, nor did he eat flesh.
Hegesippus, quoted in The Church History of Eusebius,
book 2, chapter 23.
Vegetarianism: Original Ideal and Ultimate Hope
And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is
upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall
have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to everything that creeps
on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green
plant for food".
Genesis 1:29-30
Then I will make a covenant on
behalf of Israel with the wild beasts, the birds of the air, and the things that
creep on the earth, and I will break bow and sword and weapon of war and sweep
them off the earth so that all living creatures may lie down without fear.
Hosea 2:18
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall
lie down with the kid,
And the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
Their
young shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The suckling child shall play over the hole of the asp,
And the weaned child
shall put his hand on the adders den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all
my holy mountain;
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:6-9
He shall wipe away every tear
from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.
Revelations
21:4
God Cares About Animals
The Lord is good to all men, and his tender
care rests upon all his creatures.
Psalms 145:9
Look at the birds of
the air; they do not sow and reap and store in barns, yet your heavenly Father
feeds them.
Matthew 6:26
God Wants Us To Care About Animals
A righteous
man cares for his beast.
Proverbs 12:10
When you see the ass of someone
who hates you lying helpless under its load, however unwilling you may be to help
it, you must give him a hand with it.
Exodus 23:5
When you see your fellow
countrymans ass or ox lying on the road, do not ignore it; you must help him to
lift it to its feet again.
Deuteronomy 22:4
He who slaughters an ox is
like him who kills a man.
Isaiah 66:3
Animal Sacrifices Are Rejected
by God
Your countless sacrifices, what are they to me? says the Lord. I am
sated with whole-offerings of rams and the fat of buffaloes; I have no desire
for the blood of bulls, of sheep and of he-goats. Whenever you come into my presence
- who asked you for this? No more shall you trample my courts. The offer of your
gifts is useless, the reek of sacrifice is abhorrent to me.
Isaiah 1:11-12
There is blood on your hands; wash yourselves and be clean.
Isaiah 1:16
For a desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather
than burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:6
If you had known what that text means,
"I require mercy, not sacrifice", you would not have condemned the innocent.
Matthew 12:7
Sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for eating flesh.
Clement of Alexandria
Other Christian Testimony
The eating of meat was
unknown up to the big flood, but since the flood they have the strings and stinking
juices of animal meat into our mouths, just as they threw in front of the grumbling
sensual people in the desert. Jesus Christ, who appeared when the time had been
fulfilled, has again joined the end with the beginning, so that it is no longer
allowed for us to eat animal meat.
St Jerome
The steam of meat meals
darkens the spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts.
In the earthly paradise there was no wine, no one sacrificed animals, and no one
ate meat.
St Basil
All things of creation are children of the Father
and thus brothers of man ... God wants us to help animals, if they need help.
Every creature in distress has the same right to be protected.
St Francis
of Assisi
Let no one regard as light the burden of his responsibility. While
so much ill-treatment of animals goes on, while the moans of thirsty animals in
railway trucks sound unheard, while so much brutality prevails in our slaughterhouses
... we all bear guilt. Everything that lives has value as a living thing, as one
of the manifestations of the mystery that is life.
Albert Schweitzer