Five Christian Reasons for Vegetarianism

Five Christian Reasons for Vegetarianism

Mercy and Compassion

Are animals able to receive our compassion and mercy, or are they simply a creation of God that we are to use as a tool for our own purpose? It is this I wish to address and begin an investigation into whether humans are justified in eating meat.

Everyone has an idea of what these two related concepts are. We know that God shows them to us, and that we are to show them to our fellow man. What exactly is it that makes something able to receive mercy? Let us search for a more refined way of discovering to what or whom we can show mercy and compassion.

Mercy and compassion can only be shown to living creatures. Inanimate objects, such as a house for example, simply cannot receive mercy for is it not alive. In attempting to show mercy or compassion towards an inanimate object such as a house, one is showing respect to the owner of the house, and those who dwell within. By putting out a fire at a person’s house we are attempting to assist the owner and those influenced by the house; the owner’s family. It is not the house, but the family that receives the good will.

Another requirement of mercy and compassion is that the receiver must also be able to feel, or at least be conscious, though perhaps not self conscious. They must be able to experience the mercy imposed upon them, even if they are not aware that their experience is one due to mercy. If it will not experience the mercy, it cannot receive it in any meaningful way. As such, plants are not capable of receiving mercy. As far as we know, plants have no consciousness; they are alive but grow and exist through entirely different means. Our desire to save the environment (the plant life at least), follows the same line of reasoning as that of inanimate objects such as a house. We show respect for the owner (God), and the people influenced by it (humankind) (and I would add animal life).

But what of animal life? Animals, like all that exists, is a creation of God and is due respect for that reason alone. But unlike inanimate objects and plants, animals have the capacity to feel; they are conscious though perhaps not self-conscious. Mercy is something that can only be shown toward a living, conscious entity. The same is true of compassion. Mercy and compassion are not only for a higher level being, but for any being that is able to receive them; one that is living and conscious. Animals meet this requirement as much as humans do and are thus able to receive our mercy and compassion if only we will show it.

Humans, alone in all of God’s earthly creations are able to understand good and evil and are thus able to do good and evil acts. Such good acts I refer to as Godly acts, as these are acts that can be deemed to be in line with what God would have us do. Such evil acts I refer to as Ungodly acts as these run contrary to God’s will. While determining what constitutes Godly acts and Ungodly acts is not always black and white, it is our duty as Christians to live as Godly as we are able, to live as much as God would have us as is humanly possible.

God is love. Love demands mercy and compassion. Without mercy, love would not be love. Without love, mercy would not exist. They are different constructs but united in such a way that the removal of one destroys both. If we are to be as Godly as possible, as I believe is one of our purposes with our life, than that would require us to be as loving and merciful as possible. As animals are able to receive our mercy, we should show it to them as much as is humanly possible.

Compassion Based on the I-Thou Relationship

As many are aware, Martin Buber was a Jewish theologian who within his book Ich and Du, he wrote a wonderful piece on what he called the I-Thou relationship, and the I-It relationship. The follow is based on these relationships, however I am not nearly read well enough to explain them as well as Buber did. Thus what I write about is inspired by Buber, but may differ from his theological writings.

For those of you who are unaware of the I-Thou and I-It relationships, I will attempt to define them in a manner that will allow for ease of use. The I-Thou relationship is one where by you view another as equal to yourself, as Buber put it, “I-Thou establishes the world of relation”. It is through the I-Thou relationship that we can have a relation with another, see them as a person worthy of existence due solely to the fact that they are a unique creature of God. In the I-Thou, you see the other as they themselves would. The other has value inherent in their existence, in their being a creature of God. Acts of compassion, love, mercy, etc can only occur in an I-Thou relationship. This is the type of relationship you may have with a close loved one, and certainly the type that God has with each person.

The I-It relationship is one where you view the other as having a purpose which may be of value to you. The Other becomes an It, rather than a Thou, which you are connected to. As selfish as this may seem, it need not be. Seeing a person as a doctor, or taxi driver, or mother etc. are all examples of I-It relationships. It is a requirement of our limited capacity that we cannot view everyone through an I-Thou relationship, but again, this is not a bad thing. Both I-Thou and I-It relationships must exist for us to live on and with the earth.

The first is a Godly one, and the second is a requirement for earthly existence. Neither is bad or purposeless. Like all that is evil in existence, it is only when one warps something that was good that evil begins to exist. The I-It relationship begins to become evil (or contrary to God’s will) when it looses its capacity to develop into an I-Thou relationship.

While most of our I-It relationships will never have the opportunity to become I-Thou relationships while we are on Earth, this is not sinful in any way. I-It relationships are quite alright as I-It relationships if the possibility for an I-Thou exists. It is only when we remove the possibility of an I-Thou relationship, when we remove our ability to have a relation with the other that this becomes contrary to the will of God. This occurs often in the heat of the moment when many crimes are committed, such as rape or murder. In both cases, the criminal has turned the other into an It so much so that they are able to kill or rape. One cannot rape a Thou, for in doing so one rapes oneself. One can move from I-Thou to I-It, and back to I-Thou (as would be exemplified by a rapist who later realized their crime and sought forgiveness), but it is in those moments where we remove the possibility for a Thou that the Other may have, that we sin. By objectifying the other and removing the possibility for an I-Thou relationship, I believe are we sinning against God’s wishes. In objectifying them we remove the inherent value of their existence, and value them only in as much as they can provide to our desires. What better example of pride does one need.

But this is exactly what occurs when people choose to eat animal meat, wear animal fur, or exhibit animals for their own pleasure. We are taking a creature of God which is able to receive our mercy, the very same mercy which we should attempt to exhibit as much as fate will allow us, and turning them into objects, Its, for our own pleasure. It is only by removing the possibility of having an I-Thou relation with them that this is possible. While Buber did not think this was possible with animals (his I-Thou was of course much deeper and involved a great deal more than I am giving it currently), I would disagree in as far as compassion and mercy are concerned. Our pets are examples of animals that we have developed I-Thou relationships with. These are by no means equal relationships, but few are. None of us would think of eating our family pet, and this is because we view them as having some inherent value. We do not love our family pets for the possible services they may provide us. We enjoy them, and love them, for them. And just like people, it is not possible to have an I-Thou relationship with every animal of God, it is only contrary to God’s desires when we remove the possibility of having an I-Thou relationship with them. We cannot eat something and still have the possibility of forming a I-Thou relationship with it. And in removing this possibility we remove our ability to act lovingly, with mercy and compassion, acting as I believe God would have us act as much as our conditions would allow.

Meat Consumption as an Example of Gluttony

Gluttony is commonly understood to be eating to excess. While this is a useful dictionary definition, religious study would seem to add another depth to understanding gluttony. Rather than solely eating to excess, gluttony is seen as choosing ones lust for food over the will of God. This can occur a number of ways, such as choosing not to share food with someone less fortunate because we ourselves feel a slight stomach pang. Whenever our desire for the physical pleasure of food causes us to act opposite to how God would have us act, we are committing gluttony.

This being said, it is not too far of a leap to vegetarianism if one accepts that animals can accept our mercy, and that we are to be as merciful as possible. If animals are indeed capable of receiving our mercy, yet we willingly choose to eat them for no reason other than to delight the senses (in our day and age we simply do not need to eat meat to be healthy; quite the opposite is true actually), we are committing gluttony. One need not eat to excess. All one needs do is place their own desires above the needs of another; to value flavour over mercy, and we then commit gluttony.

It is only by following mercy and compassion as God would undoubtedly have us that we can hope to cut short the power that gluttony has over us. As Paul wrote, we should eat for God; if God would have us be as merciful as possible, as loving as possible, then we must seriously examine why it is we choose to eat meat. Is God being glorified by your hamburger, or is it simply your palate that receives from it? Abstaining from eating meat in a desire to live as mercifully as possible because God would have us be merciful will give us a greater understanding of God’s infinite love, mercy, and compassion. In choosing mercy we choose God.

Health

The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and as such, most Christians believe we have a duty to take care of it. In doing so, we respect ourselves (for it will lead to a longer and more enjoyable life all other things being equal), others (our being healthy removes an amount of undue fear from our loved ones and also us to better serve them), and God (for our bodies are His). As with all Godly acts, it benefits everyone.

There is overwhelming evidence that a proper vegetarian diet is significantly healthier than most people’s current carnivorous one. I encourage everyone to look into this if you care to not take my word for it. You will find a great deal of evidence proving such a case. Due to our modern society, the need for meat to fulfill a protein intake has been removed. We no longer require meat to be healthy. A few facts that may surprise you;

HEALTH REALITIES AND ANIMAL-BASED DIETS (http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/jhealth1.html)
1. Epidemiological studies indicate that populations of countries where meat consumption is high (such as the United States, Canada, Israel, and Australia) have much higher mortality rates from heart disease, several types of cancer, and strokes, compared to countries where meat consumption is low.
2. In its 1997 position paper on vegetarianism, the American Dietetic Association stated: "Scientific data suggest positive relationships between a vegetarian diet and reduced risk for several chronic degenerative diseases and conditions, including obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and several types of cancer."
3. In several recent scientific studies published in the most prestigious medical journals (including the Journal of the American Medical Association), Dean Ornish, M. D. showed that severe heart problems normally treated by drugs and surgery can be reversed through a very low-fat vegetarian diet, exercise, and stress reduction. Some experts believe that up to 95% of heart attacks could be prevented by such lifestyle changes.
4. An article in the peer-reviewed journal "Preventive Medicine" (24, 646-655 (1995)) revealed that annual medical costs in the U. S. associated with diseases resulting from animal-centered diets are comparable to those associated with cigarette smoking.
5. According to a U. S. Surgeon General's Report, 68% of all diseases in the United States are diet-related.
“The evidence is irrefutable that eating meat leads to cardiovascular disease, various cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other illnesses-a $123 billion cost directly attributable to meat-eating, and this is a conservative figure, as it doesn't even include costs attributable to lost productivity and premature death. It also doesn't include costs attributable to the 60 to 70 percent of food poisonings (including 6,000 deaths) that are linked to meat intake or the ill effects on human health of consuming animals who have been pumped full of hormones and antibiotics” (http://www.taxmeat.com/health.html)
“One 21-year-long study that compared meat-eaters and vegetarians showed that the greater the meat consumption, the greater the death rate from all causes combined. On the average, they [vegetarians] outlive other people by about six years now." (http://www.taxmeat.com/health.html)
As eating meat is not as healthy as eating vegetarian, if one accepts that we as Christians are under an obligation to take as good of care of the body as we are able to, than this seems a very convincing reason to eat vegetarian. It is of course impossible to live a perfectly healthy life; time and money constraints place limits on how healthy we can actually become. For example, it would be healthier for me to work out 3 hours a day, visit a doctor weekly, see a dietician weekly, have a personal trainer, sleep 8 hours a day, relax for many hours a day with family and friends, and even try some yoga. I simply do not the time nor the funding to do so. Doing some of these removes the possibility of doing others. But such is not the case with becoming vegetarian. Becoming vegetarian will not affect one’s ability to do another good. If anything, it will better your appreciation and openness of doing good and acting out of love.

Stewardship – The Environment

Most Christian denominations accept the claim that we are called to be stewards of God’s earth. Stewards hold power and are able to rule as they choose, but ownership belongs to another; in this case God. It is important to note that this earth does not belong to humankind, but to God. While we exist upon it, we are called to treat it with respect as it is a creation of God. As humans we all too often assume that the earth is our own personal property to do as we wish. It is not.

Perhaps the easiest place to see where this occurs is regarding humankind’s treatment of the environment. We are to take care of this earth not only for ourselves, but also for others and for God. Once more, in doing this we are benefiting every party involved; ourselves, others, and God. If we are thus called to protect the planet from abuse, it is important to understand just what we are doing to it.

Some facts that may surprise you;

* Fifty-five square feet of rain forest may be razed to produce just one quarter-pound burger. They don’t burn all those trees down for fun, they do it so that they can have land for cattle.

* The meat industry is directly responsible for 85 percent of all soil erosion in the U.S

* Producing just one hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles. Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the U.S., more than one-third is used to raise animals for food.

* For every 1 gallon of water that it takes to feed a vegetarian, a meat eater requires 143 gallons.

* Animals raised for food produce 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population, roughly 68,000 pounds per second, all without the benefit of waste treatment systems. This contaminates our water, and sickens thousands of people who live near farm factories.

* The Union of Concerned Scientists have recognized that raising animals for food has a worse effect on the planet than just about anything else we can do.

That last point seems to strike to the heart of the current issue. It essentially states that there is no such thing as a meat eating environmentalist. Not only is it wasteful in the means of resources that could be better spent elsewhere (feeding the millions who are starving), but it is also harmful to our planet. 55 square feet of rainforest for a single burger! How many of us have supported killing off thousand of acres of rainforest, not to mention the animal species that have forever been wiped off the planet as a result.

If we truly believe that God would have us be stewards of His planet, then we must seriously consider the effects that eating meat has on our ability to do so. Eating meat is wasteful, polluting, and is the main reason behind why the rain forests are being cut down at such a tremendous rate. I can think of not one single way that eating meat helps the environment. I can however, think of many ways it harms it. This is not a grey area, one that we can put it aside as if it is inconsequential to our living as God would have us. If God would have us be stewards and take care of His planet, out of our love for Him and for ourselves and for others, than we cannot continue on in our meat eating ways. The option of becoming vegetarian addresses some of these concerns (though by no means all of them) and as such, should be seriously considered.

Our Fellow Man

One final reason that exists (there are indeed many others but I am attempting to limit the length of this paper) for people to choose to eat vegetarian comes indirectly from Matthew 22:36-40; 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The second commandment given by Jesus is to love our fellow man as we love ourselves. While Stalin may have been accurate with his statement “One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic”, it may still hit you with some strength to find that

“It is estimated that about 90 million people will die of starvation in the world this year. Every 1.5 seconds a child starves to death. Close to two billion people are undernourished. Most grain grown in Canada and the U.S. is used to feed livestock rather than people (The U.S. figure is around 75 per cent). The number of people who could be fed with the grain and soybeans now fed to livestock in the U.S. alone is 1.3 billion. Meat is a very inefficient source of protein in terms of land use. On average it takes 21.4 pounds of plant protein to produce one pound of beef protein. An acre of legumes (lentils, peas, beans) produces 15 times the amount of protein an acre devoted to meat production does. Land in Third World countries that could grow crops to feed the hungry is often used instead to raise cattle to produce meat for export. Central America alone exports some 200 million pounds of meat to the U.S. annually.”

Millions are starving. They are starving so that we can have that extra burger. They are starving because we feed food to our animals rather than to them, and because their food is fed to animals to sell to us. There is no escaping this if one chooses to support the meat industry and purchase their product. With this in mind, I ask once more, how does your hamburger glorify God? I ask that you look deep for this is not an ignorable question, but one that centers on how you will respond to the challenge of acting as a Christian, as a speaker and actor for God.


The Result

“Love all God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything you will perceive the divine mystery in things. And once you have perceived it, you will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly more and more every day. And you will come to love the whole work with an abiding, universal love.” - Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov

Dostoyevsky seems to capture it quite well. The more we love, the more we are moved by love. The more we love, the more we can experience God. Not simply experiencing Him as if we had witnessed a miracle, which is quite powerful, but rather the type of experience that requires an understanding of the experience to deepen it further. If we are able to experience the love and mercy of God in every meal we eat, in every action that we do to assist another creature, we are being brought closer to God. We are removing some of the haze that is blocking our perception of him; our self imposed haze. Every Godly action that we do, brings us to a closer understanding of God, and in understanding God more fully, we can experience Him that much more.

This works in every Godly action, and for every Godly reason that we chose to do so. I have listed 5 reasons for becoming vegetarian, each of which I have experienced to bring me closer to God in both the actions, and my desires. When you walk with God, you walk in the light. When you walk in the light, though you may stumble, you will feel the heat of the light warming you in times of trouble, and see the destination you are heading towards, if only in the distance.

Showing mercy and compassion towards animals, showing them a form of our love, is perhaps the best example that we have of the relationships people have with God and that He has with us. There is nothing that the animals can give us, there is no way they can rightfully earn our love, just as humans cannot earn the love of God. God loves us simply because He is love. And we, in attempting to be as God is, should love as much as possible because “because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born from God and gains the knowledge of God” (1 John 4: 7). In loving animals, which are limited in their ability to comprehend their reception of compassion, we are attempting to act as God does towards us. And just as animals do not always act in ways that are exactly rewarding to us (they may in fact be quite harmful or irritating), so too mankind is able to ignore and harm God (though not physically) through our sinful nature. But God loves us anyways. And so should we love the animals around us who are able to receive our love, even if they are unable to return it in the same way as they receive it.