If the Bible says "Thou shall not kill", shouldn't all Christians be vegetarians?

Question

Oh, so you can kill innocent animals but, you can't kill sinning humans? Seems a bit hypocritical.

It's immoral to kill an animal, not a plant.

Answer 1

God did make animals for us, but we will have to answer for the cruelty of modern day farming techniques! Loving God, and knowing how His creatures are tortured should lead one to not participate either by choosing a vegan diet, or by only consuming natural, free range and (and I know you'll have a problem with this) humanely slaughtered.

Answer 2

First and formost, I interprit this passage to mean dont kill humans. If you are going to be so literal with your reading then you shouldnt kill plants either. Killing plants IS the same as killing animals. They are all living things. Second, if you are a vegitarian or would rather look at the scientific side of it, throughout human evolution humans have eaten plants and animals. Now, on the contrary as a society(espically americans) we eat far too much meat. But not eating any meat is more unhealthy. The bible also promotes slavery and says that women should submit to men, do any of you believe this? I, as a christian, believe that there are things in the bible that help different people, the bible has also been changed by men throughout history. Some interprit the bible differently than others and that is ok. Take from the bible what you take from it, if you interprit this lieterally then that is your choice, I on the other hand choose to be healthy. OH BTW, Jesus was a FISHERMAN!!!

Answer 3

No, they shouldn't be vegetarians.(although I suppose they could be if they wanted to)
"Thou shall not kill" literally means you shouldn't kill anything or anybody at all. But go ahead and do it any way...It will just make you a sinner. But that's OK, because we're all sinners anyway. So go for it, kill what ever or whoever you want, just be sure to truly repent before you die and it will be all right! Or maybe it means you should not kill christians/jews but its OK to kill everything and everyone else. After all they're just stupid animals/plants/heathens anyway.

Answer 4

Ok ur being ignorant. It is part of the Ten Commandments.In Exodus Chapter 20 verse 13 It says" You must not murder anyone" What's the deal with all of you? Why do you hate christians? It goes to show you which are ignorant and which are not. It is not towards animals. It means people in general. Muder of a human being. Also in Genesis Chapter 9 verse 3-4 says" Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier I gave you the green plants. And now I give you everything for food. But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it, because blood gives life." And in Genesis chapter 9 verses 5-6 says"I will demand your blood for your lives. That is I will demand the life of any animal that kills a person. And I will demand the life of anyone who takes another persons life. Whoever kills a human being will be killed by a human being. This is because God made humans in his own image."

Answer 5

It also says that God told Noah to use the animals for clothing and food........come on, people, think. I love animals, and think they should be treated humanely, but that does NOT mean they are equal to humans.

PS> Jack, to address your additional comments, how can you possibly compare people and animals? Besides, if we COULD kill sinners, ALL of us would be dead, Christians, too, because we all are sinners.

PPS> Ok, Jack.....so, if we go by your thinking, then swatting a pesky mosquito is killing? Do you realize that when you walk across your yard, or parking lot, that you are probably killing thousands of little, tiny, animals? Or, do you want to back out now, and say insects don't count, only WARM-blooded animals. TALK ABOUT HYPOCRITE!
How about all the microscopic critters you kill when you rinse out your mouth with Listerine? How about all the critters you kill when you eat that carrot? Or take antibiotics? Are you vegetarian? If so, cool for you. I just take offense that you condemn Christians on your false perception of what the Bible says, or your purposeful twisting of scripture for your twisted purpose.

Answer 6

Actually it says thou shall not murder (kill is bad translation from the Hebrew)

Would you kill a termite that was destroying your home ?
Would you kill a mosquito that was biting you ?
Would you kill a deadly bacteria that was growing in you body ?
Would you kill a rat that was bitiing your baby in its crib ?
Would you kill a mass murderer in a school that was killing the
children there ?
Would you kill in self defense or to protect the innocent ?
Would you have killed Hitler if you would have known it would
save 10 million lives ?
Would you kill a lion that was killing a complete tribe
off day by day ?
Would you kill the mold growing in your shower ?

The Bible does allow for self defense
The Bible does give man dominion of all other animals
The Bible does allow for justice to be carried out by a third party
The Bible does allow for eating of meat.

The passover lamb was eaten by Jesus in the New Testament
Fish were caught by the disciples and Jesus even cooked some fish for the disciples in the New Testament

Answer 7

It's not "Thou shall not kill" but "Thou shall not murder". Furthermore, there are many verses in the bible where "god" instructs people to EAT animals. The first instance is right after the flood. In Genesis 9:3 "god" says to Noah and his family, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you."

Before the ten commandments, Moses and the children of Israel were instructed by "god" to sacrifice a lamb or goat and eat it.

From thereafter, 1490 B.C. until 33 A.D., the Jewish people were told to keep the passover, in which they sacrificed and ate a lamb or goat.

"Jesus" fed the people fish, which is also meat. (This point is argued by some but the bible says 1 Cor. 15:39 "there is a flesh of men, a flesh of fish, a flesh of beasts, and a flesh of birds." Flesh is meat.)

Lastly, the ten commandment law (1. Thou shalt not murder; 2. Thou shalt not commit adultery ...etc) was given to the Children of Israel, the Jews. Not christians.

Answer 8

The way I understood it, this commandment was talking about the killing of humans. Whether or not the killing of animals is discussed specifically, I can't say. I do know that meat was eaten in Biblical days and God said that anything that is offered up with thanksgiving is good for food, even if it had been previously forbidden. (ex: certain foods that were not to be consumed by the Jewish race. There were strict dietary laws given to them in the Old Testament).

Answer 9

Well what about the lions tigers bears & even the fishes kills & eats animals to? Face it we all kill even vegetarians how many ants & spiders did you kill today? How many animals died so that you could have a house or an apartment? Man was given dominon over the animals & Christ himself fed 5000 fish & bread.
Oh yes let's not forget the meat eating plats as well the Pitcher Plant & the Venus Flytrap eats meat as well think about that!

Answer 10

You're creating a moral code that protects animals, yet that moral code does not exist anywhere in nature where wild animals exist.

Killing for food is as natural as sunrises and rainfall. Human beings would never have evolved into what we are today if not for consuming meat. Our brains would not have been able to evolve into present form without the proteins in meat. We wouldn't even be walking upright since our abdominal region would need to be much larger to hold the vast amounts of vegetable matter necessary to fuel our bodies. You owe your existence to meat eaters.

On the religious side, it's not "Thou shall not kill" it's "Though shall not murder." And murder applies only to humans.

Answer 11

The commandment "thou shalt not kill" refers to humans, not animals so it does not directly address your concern. Infact, animal sacrifice was commanded under Old Covenant law.

However, there are several verses that address the question of vegetarianism. Back in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were vegetarians as were all of the animals. God gave them plants for food.

But then, if you fast forward to after the flood, after Noah's family is spared in the ark, God gives animals to people as food as well.

So vegetarianism was the "ideal" first state of mankind, but animals are also permissible now.

Also, there is a passage in Romans where Paul addresses the issue of eating or not eating meat. He basically says it is up to the individual whether they want to eat meat or not, and we should not judge one another for the decision we make in this regard.