The Bible, Vegetarianism, and a Healthy Lifestyle

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Wait a minute, you're saying that Abel was herding sheep strictly for wool, and maybe, dare we say it, companionship?

His sacrifice was dead sheep and Cain's was crops. Both of these are food. If the sheep were not being kept for meat in any way, wouldn't abel's sacrifice be wool?

Doesn't jibe. I think Abel had a taste for mutton, and so did the rest of his family.

Also, it should be remembered Christ ate, I believe, mutton at the last supper. So if Christ ate meat, I think it's cool with his Dad.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

My thoughts evolve as the discussion comes along, but I feel I need to clarify since many of you still make the case that eating meat is okay, and then add some biblical instance that doesn't support what you are saying.

My points somewhat summarized, though I've updated to further clarify my position. Please feel free to challenge my thinking, I welcome critique and will reclarify my position.

1.) God saw how people equated or elevated animals above humans, and was upset with this. When he wiped out Humanity in the flood, and allowed us to eat meat after it, it was to dispel such notions that Humans and animals were equals, which was a big middle-finger to other ancient-world religions of the time. Remember... the first book of the bible is a middle-finger to all the other ancient religions of the ancient world.

2.) My next major point was that you eat meat knowing that you've taken a life. This is more a jewish principle then a Christian one. Christianity removed from its Jewish origins presents a lot of problems. Christians have done this often, citing that we can have Jesus without his Jewish origins. Wiping out large populations of buffalo in North America for fun is one such example. You are taking a life without the reason that God allowed you, which is nourishment. And you are only respecting the aspect of the bible that says that God made us in his image, without asking why...(refer back to number 1). We are the "Chosen" species, but we won't survive if we have regard for the animal populations and ecosystems that sustains us. The bible's reverence for, and the way in which it prioritizes life, comes through powerfully in this.

3.) I then related it to us today, and how we should be knowledgeable of how we get our meat, and that it's not just another food-item at the grocery store. Something lost their life so that you could enjoy that piece of steak, so please be considerate of that. One who isn't is an ingrate, and a nation of ingrates is an ungrateful nation that will destroy themselves with their selfishness and their ungratefulness. Having this understanding,I believe, will lead to more healthy eating habits, and lifestyles. You'll eat veggies more, and eat meat respectfully (preferably free-range, hormone free).

I seriously don't think the biblical account has God wiping out humanity with the flood because they had elevated animals to the status of humans. Rather, it was because people had become wicked. If you can prove me wrong, please, provide a biblical source.
You brought up the side point of Americans wiping out the buffalo for fun. This is factually incorrect. The buffalo was hunted almost out of existence because of two reasons -
1) Buffalo hides were back then expensive, and so every Tom, Dick, and Harry went out to collect enough from animals they had shot dead to become rich.
2) The second point leads back into the first. The US army recognized that their enemies, the Plains Indians, hunted the Buffalo in order to survive. And so, over hunting by whites was encouraged to starve out the Indians.
As for us avoiding cruelty when animals are killed for our dietary needs - you are exactly right. Yes, we should be much more humane to the animals that we live on. But the simple fact remains - we live off of animals essentially no different than how other carnivorous or omnivorous animals, except we tend to be more high tech about it.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

That could have been the case..., I don't deny it, but it doesn't say that. They worked in the ancient world, and the sabbath was put in place as a stop-gap in the week to stop people from doing something that "produced" something. Herding sheep for the benefits of wool and producing fruits for nourishment qualifies as that.

The bible's introduction of Kashrut is another case for them being vegetarian. It only restricts what kinds of meat you eat but has no issue with what the earth produces. Other jewish laws restrict you from eating meat and drinking milk at the same time because meat represents death, and milk represents life.

It also notes that after God wiped out humanity in the flood, he specifically instructed Noah that they were allowed to eat meat so I'm guessing that they weren't allowed to before that (although making animals into gods, equating them to humans, killing large populations of animals with no respect for life, and cannibalism were probably part of what lead to the flood anyways.)

A religion obsessed with the little things and a religion that has a good accuracy rate of verbally depicting(through text) exactly what it means has credibility in my eyes. That is the reason I take the side that we were meant to be vegetarians in the beginning - which many have accurately noted was lifted after the flood.