Christian vegetarianism 5/5 by Pater John Dear, SJ

http://www.jesusveg.com
http://www.fatherjohndear.org/articles/become_a_vegetarian.html
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Catholic-Prayers-For-Animals/166939993345454
Christian vegetarianism 5/5 by Pater John Dear, SJ
Become a Vegetarian!

By John Dear

In Fort Lauderdale last week to speak at the National Convention of Unitarian Universalists, I met my old friend Bruce Friedrich, with whom I spent eight memorable months in a tiny jail cell, along with Philip Berrigan, for our 1993 Plowshares disarmament action. A former Catholic Worker, Bruce is now one of the leaders of PETA, "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." And he gave a brilliant workshop on the importance of becoming a vegetarian, something I urge everyone to consider.

I became a vegetarian with a few other Jesuit novices shortly after I entered the Jesuits in 1982 and later wrote a pamphlet for PETA, Christianity and Vegetarianism. I based my decision solely on Francis Moore Lappe's classic work, Diet for a Small Planet, a book that I think everyone should read.

In it, Lappe, the great advocate for the hungry, makes an unassailable case that vegetarianism is the best way to eliminate world hunger and to sustain the environment.

At first glance, we wonder how that could be. But it's undisputable. A hundred million tons of grain go yearly for biofuel--a morally questionable use of foodstuffs. But more than seven times that much--some 760 million tons according to the United Nations--go into the bellies of farmed animals, this to fatten them up so that sirloin, hamburgers and pork roast grace the tables of First-World people. It boils down to this. Over 70% of U.S. grain and 80% of corn is fed to farm animals rather than people.

Conscience dictates that the grain should stay where it is grown, from South America to Africa. And it should be fed to the local malnourished poor, not to the chickens destined for our KFC buckets. The environmental think-tank, the WorldWatch institute, sums it up: "Continued growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grain to animals, creating competition for grain between affluent meat eaters and the world's poor."

Meanwhile, eating meat causes almost 40 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, and planes in the world combined. (The world's 1.3 billion cattle release tons of methane into the atmosphere, and hundreds of millions of CO2 are released by burning forests due to dry conditions as in California or due to purposeful burns to create cow pastures in Latin America.)

And global warming isn't the only environmental issue. Almost forty years ago, Lappe spelled out the environmental consequences of eating meat in stark relief. But more recently, her analysis received some high-power validation. The United Nations recently published "Livestock's Long Shadow." It concludes that eating meat is "one of the most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." And it insists that the meat industry "should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity."

Much of our potable water and much of our fossil fuel supply is wasted on rearing chickens, pigs, and other animals for humans to eat. And over 50% of forests worldwide have been cleared to raise or feed livestock for meat-eating. (A recent protest in Brazil denounced "Kentucky Fried Chicken" for clearing thousands of acres of untouched Amazon rain forest for chicken feed.)

As a Christian, I became a vegetarian because of the Gospel mandate of Matthew 25, "Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me"--because I do not want my appetites to contribute to the ongoing oppression of the world's starving masses. As a Catholic and Jesuit, I want somehow to side with the poor and hungry....

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[dansnikolayevich]

Walk the compassionate path! weehooo!

[gatekeeperoflight]

thinking about that now does sound like killing. and think about all those people with bad dieses and I bet they all ate meat too. From now on I will not eat meat because it is so true you shall not kill. And that means everything with flesh.

[godistheanswer121212]

One more thing ;) Mercy, is the undeserved free gift of life. If one refuses mercy or to be merciful toward the other, then there is only death as a consequence. Jesus never threatens, he offers life to the unrepentant sinner; and sometimes - like some Pharisees - the individual interprets the positive offer as a threat to one's life. (Ok, maybe two things) Esoterism is the work of darkness - please be cautious. God be with you.

[godistheanswer121212]

By the way a murderer is someone who kills with the motivation of hatred for one's neighbor. Peace.

[godistheanswer121212]

(3) Fifthly, We must be patient with those who hate us, we cannot force people to convert to something better, but we can be converted which would lead the example. Lastly, There is no need to worry about the destruction of God's plan, he will bring it about albeit the rejection by some. God wishes all to choose life but this entails sacrifice, which is never easy and controversial. Jesus thaught us, from the cross, that temporal life (life on earth) is inseperably linked to death.

[godistheanswer121212]

(2) Third, The Church's magisterium - well informed and educated benevolent christian faithful with intimate links to the apostles, and guided by Jewish and Greek interpreters and last but not least, the Paraclete akaThe Holy Spirit (or the third person of God) - they compiled the Bible. Fourthly, There is only one God, all other gods are actually deviant creatures we call demons i.e. Lucifer, Satan ect. We have to realize that an evil force is working against God's plan of life for all creatur

[godistheanswer121212]

(1) First, I am happy we can have this conversation (I'm new to youtube). Second, You are raising many issues here, so I will attempt to give you what I think would dispel the darkness concerning God and His "people". One big concept behind the apparent injustice in the Bible has to do with "freedom of will" - Human's ability to choose freely; good or bad, life or death - which is necessary for Love, which is the greatest possible state of life, which automtically flows from God.

[3finker]

@godistheanswer121212 Have you never though of questioning the Bible? Do you know who collated it? Did you know that theer are other books not put into the Bible canon that describe Jesus as living more of less as a compassionate vegetarian? If we fail to question then we approve of killing juvenile delinquents, adulterers, homosexuals, and those who want to change to another religion. The bible is a moral dilemma, people think there must be 2 Gods one merciful and one callous and murderous.

[3finker]

@godistheanswer121212  Did God really want Israel to kill innocent little children? and take the women as slave wives? Why not just put them to sleep rather than make people into murderers?

The reason why many wars occurred, human slavery didn't end till the 1800s, and vile battery cages vivisection labs and factory farms still exist is because they still haven't been condemned by the Church.

Most Godly people still fail to respect, man beast and bird.

As Jesus said be merciful or else?

[godistheanswer121212]

@3finker

When God chose Isreal, it was to bring about the restoration of comunion, between God and human kind, because of the disobedience of primordial Adam and Eve. He was especially devoted to Israel, the Hebrew nation, because he had made begun restoration with them, and in order to fulfil His promised of the promised land, the obliteration of the pagan Cannanites was necessary. The Cannanites were no angels either, they sacrafced their own children.