Christian vegans
Posted by lusinw8 on Jul 02, 2007 · Member since Jun 2007 · 12 posts
I realize that this has nothing to do with recipes but most forums here dont anyways so i would like to start a forum on christian thoughts. Please remember that all of us here like for our beliefs of vegism to be respected so keep it respectfull.
I would first like to say that i am very mad that when i typed christian vegans into my search bar the first page it brought up was a wanna be preacher who is so lost in the bible that he calls vegans witches.
It might take extra time at the beginning (and more money if you aren't doing it efficiently), but once you figure out how to do it, then it doesn't take extra time or thinking. It's just the way you live. That's not true of those other commitments, which require a constant input of time (teaching, firefighting).
It definitely takes less money to be vegan. When I was a particularly broke omni in college I became vegan by default because I couldn't afford animal products.
After I became intentionally vegan, food shopping during the first few months took more time because I did more label reading. Now it takes less time because I shop at smaller stores, like Trader Joe's, which are faster to walk through and the lines are shorter.
I don't care what lifestyle or religion you are I love you.
Like hippie or punk?
Yeah, hippie, punk, wiccan, atheist, straight, gay, Communist, Socialist, Democratic................... Even if I don't neccesarily agree with how you choose to live I still love you. From my understanding of the bible thats how we should all strive to be. Jesus didn't care if the prostitute was a prostitute. He still loved her. It's not the sinner that God dislikes it's the sin. So , if God can love everybody regardless of what they do shouldn't we try also? Isn't the point in life to become more like Jesus?
Gay and straight aren't lifestyles.
Ok yes, but, they are people I still love.
i'm a vegan catholic. and i have tons of veg*n christian friends. yes, our families (mine call themselves catholic, but only when they need it, like when arguing with me about veganism) give us crap and try to tell us that it's in the bible that we have to eat meat and it's sooo annoying! God loves everyone. and it boggles my mind why God would send to hell people who are trying to be kinder to all creatures. since when is that a bad thing?
my best friend even tells me that her dad tells her something about being veggie every single day, waving his bible in her face..and then calls her self righteous. hah
hey, vh, i'm not christian but my family is (catholic, as well) and i was trying to covert them t veganism by telling them that god only gave people permission to eat animals after the flood (don't remember where i heard that). my dad said "that's true.."
so tell them that.
i'm a vegan catholic. and i have tons of veg*n christian friends. yes, our families (mine call themselves catholic, but only when they need it, like when arguing with me about veganism) give us crap and try to tell us that it's in the bible that we have to eat meat and it's sooo annoying! God loves everyone. and it boggles my mind why God would send to hell people who are trying to be kinder to all creatures. since when is that a bad thing?
my best friend even tells me that her dad tells her something about being veggie every single day, waving his bible in her face..and then calls her self righteous. hah
if u check out the christian vegetarian association in the link i posted above they have responses to the bible lines people use to defend meat eating u should check them out but basically the way we treat and kill animals these days... raised on factory farms and killed in slaughterhouses is not the way God would want anyone to treat his precious creatures period.
hesp- thanks! i willllll
amy- ive seen that before! but my parents are like "thats from the old testament it doesn't count" WHAAA??!?! :o
bummer... i think people just don't want to hear it... they r stuck in their meat eating ways
i am a vegan christian, and i hate it when people say 'God gave people dominion over the animals....that means they're ours to eat.' ...really? really??
veganism is part of my spirituality that coincides (not clashes with) my Christianity.
hesp- thanks! i willllll
amy- ive seen that before! but my parents are like "thats from the old testament it doesn't count" WHAAA??!?! :o
Perfect! Remind them then that all of that bullshit misinterpretation about homosexuality being an abomination doesn't count either. Oops. Sorry. Old Testament.
hah! hh, PERFECT!! i will!
I can't believe some Christians actively OPPOSE veganism. There is nothing about veganism that is immoral in a Christian sense. I guess, my thing is, first of all, throw the old testament away. Put it on the shelf. It's fine as a historical text but as a moral guide it's mostly rubbish. Obviously those social norms no longer apply.
If you like the New Testament as a framework for morality and human redemption, then go for it. The fact of the matter is that the New Testament says nothing about veganism one way or another. Veganism probably didn't even exist as a concept, so Jesus couldn't very well comment on it, just as he couldn't comment on the internet or cell phones. Apply what you know about Christian ideals to veganism. Seems sound to me. The end.
veganhippie, you should totally do that! There are very few passages about homosexuality in the NT, and they are pretty weak--weaker still when you look into the translation issues from Greek to English.
well its important to remember that though the Bible was inspired by God and Divine intervention, it was still written by men.
that being said, everything is left, to the interpretation of one and one's own relationship with God.
i do not see where veganism is addressed either way; but i do see where passages and scripture could be adapted to prove one's point on either end of the spectrum. over all, i agree with KMK; it's pretty much veg-neutral.
I'm Christian and a vegan. Most people at my church are not vegetarian. But, most are respectful of my discission. I always wanted to become a vegetarian. My mom tried to convince me that it was a sin. Then, I talked to a few vegetarians in my church. She use to rag on me about vegetarinism for a few years. Now, she can only see the good in it. Though, she isn't one herself. My mom grew up in the 50s and 60s in a conservative household. It was considered normal, even natural, to eat meat and dairy. Most people didn't even think it was possible to be healthy without eating meat on a daily basis.
I think quite a bit of the anti-vegetarianism goes back to old cultural ideas about animals, not scriptural reference. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Catholioc and several Protestant churches believed that humans had no moral obligation to animals. (By a narrow margin, it was determined that women had souls but animals did not in the 13th century.) Not until the 18th and 19th centuries did religous leaders and great thinkers start to change their minds about our relationship with animals and even each other - vegetarian, abolitionist and suffurage movements.
Old ideas die very hard. Many people like to hold onto the concept that animals have no feelings or thoughts - eventhough though simple observation counters this belief. That they don't deserve respect. Personally, I cannot imagine Christ doing any living thing harm.
Yeah you're right dl. It's too bad that people are borrowing moral standards from a time when animal stock was necessary for survival. It's funny to me that people don't feel foolish for making that jump. There are so, so many moral standards from older culture that we regard as abominable. This, to me, is one of them.
Let me find this verse....hmmm........
Proverbs 15:17-
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted calf with hatred"
That's the verse I use when people do the whole "God gave us dominion over the animals so we can eat them" bit. They usually don't have much to say after that.
Let me find this verse....hmmm........
Proverbs 15:17-
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted calf with hatred"
That's the verse I use when people do the whole "God gave us dominion over the animals so we can eat them" bit. They usually don't have much to say after that.
thanks!!! this will definitely come in handy...although i must admit, i just stopped trying to justify myself to people in general;
Oh I would totally interpret that passage differently. I think it is against our point entirely. That seems to say that the fatted calf is the desired dinner (over the vegetables), but the caliber of the dinner doesn't matter as long as the dinner is eaten with love. Other interpretations of it say "than a juicy steak served with hatred." Not hatred toward the animal, but toward the other diners.
It wouldn't make sense for the analogy to be otherwise, from a literary standpoint. You wouldn't say "Better is a feast served with love than a pittance served with hatred." Of course it is! Here, the fatted calf is the desired feast. That passage portrays greens as the less hearty, less desirable meal. Like saying, "Who needs good food when you have love." When really we know vegan food is quite good.
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