Christian vegetarianism 1/5 by Pater John Dear, SJ

[3finker]

Mohammed; He who is kind to animals, is kind to himself.

[NixonisLord]

 "The life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being" is a morally imbecile statement. Only someone whose "poor" lifestyle, like Gandhi's, which actually cost more than that of many actually poor people, could have the isolation from real life to allow him to make such stupid statements.

[NixonisLord]

And I should take dietary advice from a mythical zombie-why? How on earth can anyone preach this with a straight (please excuse the expression) face?

[NixonisLord]

Is it just me or does this guy come across as not exactly a fan of the ladies?

[NixonisLord]

And millions of years of higher primate evolution? If we're not "designed to eat meat", why don't the Inuit starve to death, living as they do on an over 90% meat and fish diet?

[AdoublesLdouble]

Jesus was a meat eater, and if meat is good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me

[xxFairestxx]

@AdoublesLdouble In the bible, it does not say even once that Christ consumed meat. Never, not once. It says He called for sacrifice of the lamb. That's it. Never did he EAT it, and also..even if he did, it was not of the way we do it now. It is satanic the way they die. I'm a vegetarian body builder and mixed martial arts fighter. You can do it, it's easy.

[NixonisLord]

We didn't know about which plants had the right nutrients until relatively recently; we didn't even have all of the plants we need available to everyone on Earth until the past 200 years. When babies come out, they have to grow brains quickly; their mothers have to give them large amounts of both proteins and fat through their milk. A vegetarian diet cannot provide these, certainly not a vegan diet. Without meat, our ancestral mothers couldn't have fed their babies well.

[NixonisLord]

Then why all the rules about how to kill and eat animals in the first part of the bible? Why doesn't Jesus say "Don't eat aniimals" and actually eats some meat after he gets back from the dead. Vegetarianism isn't what we've evolved for. Our gut/GI tract is too short; our jaws have the shape more typical of meat eaters than vegetarians. We can't get all of the amino acids we need without meat; the fact that we've only discoved this in the past 50 years proves that we need at some meat.

[patincomox]

@NixonisLord you would do well to read The China Study to find out about meat eating & human health. Our gut/GI tract is incredibly long, UNLIKE meat eating animals. find yourself a comparison chart for different kinds of eaters & discover that humans are NOT biologically suited to eating meat. It is of interest to note that every nutrient necessary for human health is found in greens. There is NOTHING in meat that is necessary or cannot be found in plant foods.

[NixonisLord]

@patincomox it's still not long enough and at the top of it (our mouths) our teeth are clearly designed for an omnivorous diet. We are as well suited to eating meat as we are to eating apples and mangoes and cereals; otherwise, peoples like the Inuit of the Arctic would have died out thousands of years ago.

[xxFairestxx]

@NixonisLord Wrong, sorry. Research the digestic tract of carnivores/omnivores. Our digestive tract is that of a herbavore, strictly. Our mouths are proven to not be omnivoris. Can we eat meat? Yeah sure. Doesnt mean we are meant to. Look at the teeth of omnivores. We don't have them lol...you've been lied to by the profit hungry dairy and meat industry.

[xxFairestxx]

@xxFairestxx Omnivorous* pardon me.

[XCritonX]

It sounds far more like Jainism than Christianity.

The Bible clearly says the God gave us animals to eat. If you don't believe me then why did he make them so tasty?

I remember that Christ give Peter a vision where he showed him a hand full of tasty animals and said that Peter should not reject them. Sounds like an endorsement of Paleo diets to me.

Every long term vegetarian I have ever met seemed "deficient" to me. I think the lack of healthy animal fats in their brain makes them "special".

[oooSierra]

@XCritonX -- 'deficient'? Jack Lalanne was a vegetarian for decades, and died at the age of 96! He was also a body builder. Many vegetarians, who eat the proper and healthy way (there is a learning curve to it), live long lives. The slimmer the body, the less hard the heart has to work. There are many benefits to a vegetarian diet.

[NixonisLord]

@oooSierra there are benefits to a diet that's low in extra fats and cholesterol; a plant-based diet can provide this. Unfortunately, we didn't know this until fairly recently and for most of the planet, plants don't grow all year. Certainly greens and yellow and red vegetables have to be either moved from other places or preserved. We evolved away from a plants alone diet to an omnivorous one millions of years ago. This allowed us to settle in places virtually everywhere.

[oooSierra]

@NixonisLord -- I agree with all you said here. Not really sure why you replied as you did to me, but thanks for the comment.

[MalthusianDream]

LOL

[lilbuns777]

I dont believe in a lot of things that are preached, or practiced by the catholic church, but i am a christan, who believes mercy shouldnt be just handed out to only men. My family has been eating veggitarian for a long time, and we will soon be fully transitioned into veganism. Ive done my reasearch, if not for religious beliefs, for heath, for mercy, but because we are amazing beings, we have the ability to do so many things, why are we still eating flesh?

[Citadellion]

If I would choose my eating habits out of logic I would definately be a vegetarian. Most of my friends are vegetarian so I tried almost all vegetarian food that exists, but it simply is not enough. My stomach screams for meat, and there is this natural feeling, and in a way honesty, about eating it. It's hard for us creatures that have a consciousness but still have all the instincts and urges of an animal.

[CPFAnimals]

@Citadellion well, it takes time to get used to a new kin of food. let it take time. pray to Jesus and he will guide you!

[Citadellion]

@CPFAnimals Yes. I actually tried becoming a vegetarian on many occasions, but my craving for meat made me fail everytime. I eat more vegetables now and even substitute some meals with it, and I am satisfied with it for the moment. Hehe, I am not a believer either I am afraid, but thanks for your advice :) Best regards!

[govindas999]

@Citadellion One day,in another reincarnation,you will have to be the victim,meaning you will have to face the horror of slaughterhouses,as many times you ate animals! causelessmercy dt com for more philosophy....you wont be able to scream for help as God's justice is being fulfilled..

[Citadellion]

@govindas999 If there really is reincarnation I wonder what would make you move up or down on the "ladder" of Karma. If the universe, or some god did not want us to kill other creatures and eat them, then why were we created as we are on this planet? Is it right to kill and eat another creature for yourself to survive? Since we do'nt know what we are supposed to do on this planet, everything we would do for karma would just be like a lottery. I'd rather skip meat out of kindness than of fear.