Religion
Posted by Glen Ellyn Serv... on Jul 30, 2008 · Member since Aug 2007 · 315 posts
What is the closest religion where a vegan diet is the "rule"?
The World's Largest Collection of Vegetarian Recipes
What is the closest religion where a vegan diet is the "rule"?
I am not familiar with any of these religions. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind their vegetarianism?
Seventh day adventists "encourage you to be vegetarian" but do not require it. They do however stongly discourage the eating of pork (pig) believing that it is a dirty and sinful animal so all seventh day adventists, if they are not vegetarian, they do not eat pig. I think the religion is encouraging vegetarianism becouse God lived a pure lifestyle. I work with alot of seventh day adventists and they are all vegetarians, Ive never asked them if they eat fish, though-I just assumed they don't.
There's a huge hospital in Orlando that is 7th Day Adventist and they say it's a vegetarian haven in their cafeteria with all kinds of vegetarian options. I think being vegetarian is optional for them. They do however enjoy the some of the greatest longevity in America, living over a decade longer than the rest of us. Don't quote me on that, but I saw on a National Geographic study of longevity a feature on them.
Many Uniteraian Universalists, like myself are vegetarians. I love going to our potlucks because there's always plenty for me to eat. :)
http://www25.uua.org/ufeta/
some posts on this thread had mentioned hinduism as well as hare krishna ("hare krsna") - which i consider to be a form of hinduism.
i'll offer my experience with both, hare krsna first. You can attend hare krsna services without specifically being a "hare krsna devotee". I have attended many services - but not a "devotee" for personal reasons. From my observations - of my personal interactions w/the same - Hare Krsna does espouse vegetarianism as a general tenet of their belief system - but it's not something they push or mandate. The people that I have interacted with, respected that fact that everyone has to make their own choices in their own time. That being said, i'm not sure how it works if someone choose to be an actual "devotee" of the faith.
More on Hare Krsna, while they do extoll vegetarianism as a desired virtue - the same homage is not extended towards that of following a vegan diet. They do consume dairy/egg products. Futher, in Hare Krsna cookbooks I have seen, all of the recipes provided are vegetarian - not all are vegan.
Hinduism varies widely - depending on the follower. Hinduism is so incredibly broad - you'll find many many people that will identify themselves as "hindu" but approach life in many different ways. In Hinduism - vegetarianism is certainly encouraged. However, it would not be accurate to say that all people identifying themselves as Hindu are necessarily vegetarian. There are many people who practice some form of the Hindu faith while not at the same time observing a vegetarian diet.
In all likelihood - one would probably be very hard pressed to find a Hindu that consumes beef. It's also unlikely for a Hindu to consume pork. However, it's very common to find Hindu's who eat poultry, lamb, fish, etc.
I believe "veganism" to be a relatively new concept - as is maybe the "slaughterhouse", method of killing ("new" as it relates to the history of humans - that is) - so for many in India, there is probably not a correlation between "cruelty" and "dairy/eggs" - thus the lack of distinction provided between vegetarianism and veganism.
The reasoning for a Hindu to follow a vegetarian diet can be varied. One reason is simply - not to partake of the suffering of living creatures - i.e. the killing of animals. Another reason is, as someone stated on a previous post - given the concept of reincarnation - it's not unfathomable to perceive being born again as the creature being consumed - rather then the consumer. Also, it's believed that what we put into our bodies affects our spiritual level of consciousness. It's believed that meat is a very "heavy" food and thus, by abstaining from meat products - we can help to elevate our consciousness to a higher level.
Many Uniteraian Universalists, like myself are vegetarians. I love going to our potlucks because there's always plenty for me to eat. :)
Plus, every religious practice mentioned in this thread would be welcome at a UU church. :)>>>
Tweety, I'm a UU too! Very much so: my mom was a DRE, I met my husband in YRUU, and he's a credentialed religious educator who works at a UU church and is in divinity school at Meadville Lombard. I'm teaching Coming of Age in about 2 hours!
My husband's work environment at a UU church is MUCH more veg-friendly than mine in a medical setting. And when I get an invitation to an RE teacher training or registration form for a conference, they not only ask about dietary restrictions, they actually intend to try to accommodate them. My husband has often been called or emailed asking specifics about what he can eat. When I was a youth (90s), about half those at district youth events were vegetarians, and we often had an all-vegan diet those weekends, because it was the easiest way for them to plan the food.
There's a Hare Krishna temple here in Dallas that has a restaurant, and they definitely serve a lot of milk, but they carefully label which things on their buffet are vegan. They have vegan desserts only on Saturday nights, but the people there who know us well as customers will sometimes make us a vegan dessert on a weekday without us even asking! At least this group of HKs seems to understand veganism and be supportive, even if they don't follow it.
Having been a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church in the past I thought I would share some of what they teach regarding the eating of meat and the proper diet for man. As you will see according to the Bible the original diet for man was a vegan diet. The main reasons for discarding meat and even milk and eggs is to clear the mind, improve the health of the body and to show our respect and love for all of God's creatures. Unfortunately they do not practise what they preach and in most cases only a very small minority of them follow a vegan lifestyle.
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:29
The following are quotes from SDA literature written over one hundred years ago. Although I am no longer a member of this church I still believe and practise what is written in these early books.
"Vegetables, fruits, and grains should compose our diet. Not an ounce of flesh meat should enter our stomachs. The eating of flesh is unnatural. We are to return to God's original purpose in the creation of man."
"The moral evils of a flesh diet are not less marked than are the physical ills. Flesh food is injurious to health, and whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and the soul. Think of the cruelty to animals that meat eating involves, and its effect on those who inflict and those who behold it. How it destroys the tenderness with which we should regard these creatures of God!"
"It is impossible for those who make free use of flesh meats to have an unclouded brain and an active intellect."
"Cancers, tumors, and all inflammatory diseases are largely caused by meat eating."
I've received the Tao. You have to at least be vegetarian to do so. There are some Taoist groups that are vegan, but not the one I went through. I don't know much more. My co-worker is Taoist and invited me. He asked ahead of time and you don't have to believe in the supernatural to receive the Tao, so I was good to go. But, later, he was talking to someone else who thought I'd have to have some sort of religion/faith to practice the Tao. I haven't been back. I had to repeat things in Chinese so I made approximate gutteral sounds and didn't really know what was going on.
I think Jainism.
I was actually born in a Seventh Day Adventist hospital. My mom loved going there because of the vegetarian "meats" they served there to all patients back in those days. There was no fish. I stayed there twice as a kid and again in my early teens, and it was still vegetarian, but I've heard that sometime since then they made the vegetarian food optional for patients. Not sure if it's true or not. I credit that hospital for making my parents more understanding when I went veg and more willing to eat my food.
My religion, Dirac Deltaism, has a vegan diet as one of the tenants. It also forbids buying bottled water. Any of you are welcome to join it! You just have to worship the Dirac Delta as the foundation behind reality.
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