I often find that while I am doing the normal every day things, my mind begins to wonder and think about this vegan journey that I have taken. It keeps taking me back to my faith. I am a Christian. I believe in God and Jesus and I believe that Jesus gave his life and then rose again that we may have eternal salvation. And I also believe in the bible. I believe in ALL OF IT, not just the warm and fuzzy parts, but also the parts that make me uncomfortable because God is pointing out that I have some work to do. And it is here that I see the similarities. Meat eaters-when they are faced with the truth about what the meat and dairy industry truly is, they are faced with a decision. It makes them uncomfortable to see something for what it really is and how cruel it can be. They will skirt around the truth, avoid it or mock it. Much like a person who is not a Christian, but has been exposed to God’s word. They hear the truths, but it makes them uncomfortable because it possibly points out that what they are doing is wrong. In both cases, the people, after hearing what I call good news (in both cases) usually get mad because how dare anyone tell them that their lifestyle or way of eating is wrong and hurtful. But in both cases, the good news, is just that. It is such good news! If only the people would see that what the bible says, isn’t a bunch of rules to make people’s lives miserable, but it is instructions and advice for people in order to protect them from themselves! Believe me, I tried my own way for a while, it didn’t pan out so well. Thankfully, I found my way back to God and thankfully, he is a loving God and took me back. God loves us and only wants good things for us, that is why he gives us instructions on the way to live. For the meat eater, it is the same. If only they could see that being vegan isn’t a miserable lifestyle full of “you can’t eat this or that” but instead a freeing way of living. Freedom from hurting animals, the environment and OURSELVES! But in both cases, it goes back to the same thing-people do not like to hear that what they are doing is wrong, or hurtful to others, especially since they probably like living in their sin and their meat and dairy. But I pray, I pray that people will find Jesus and I pray that people will find veganism. And for the record, God NEVER intended his earth or his animals to be treated the way that humans treat them. Proverbs 12:10 says, “The righteous care for the needs for their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”
I like Billy Graham and I think he is one of the coolest and best preachers of all time. I came across this article one time on his website pertaining to animals…
“Yes, God made everything that lives on the earth — including the animals. In the beginning, the Bible says, “God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals….’ And it was so” (Genesis 1:24).
And yes, the Bible commands us to take care of the animals under our care. One of the signs of a righteous man, the Bible says, is that he takes care of his animals (see Proverbs 12:10). Even the animal of an enemy was to be treated kindly: “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him” (Exodus 23:4). One reason God commanded His people to rest one day out of seven was so their animals would be refreshed (see Exodus 23:12).
In fact, the Bible says we must never treat any part of God’s creation with contempt. When we do, we are indirectly treating our Creator with contempt. Instead, God calls us to be stewards or trustees of His creation, and the Bible reminds us that we are responsible to Him for the way we treat it. We’ve often forgotten this — but it’s still true, and when we ignore it we not only hurt God’s creation but we also hurt ourselves.”
And before someone blasts me and says that they ate meat in the bible, I will say this, yes, yes they did. But they also ate a lot of grains and veggies and fruits. Not every one was wealthy enough to have livestock to eat. And they also were not factory farming their animals and abusing them as people do now. These animals lived on the wide open land and grazed. They were not locked up and forced to stand in their own poop. When the people did kill and eat their animal, they were very thankful because they knew this animal was providing them nourishment. They were not eating out of gluttony, they were eating out of survival. And the biggest difference, these people did not have access to grocery stores like we do now or UPS to ship them the latest vegan salad dressing. These people were eating to survive the best way they could with what they had. We, being in the modern era, do not need to eat meat to survive, we have lots of other options. And we, in the modern era, also treat our animals waaaaayyyy different than the people of bible times did. So, yeah, those are my currents thoughts…..
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