Christian Vegetarianism--commandment thou shall not kill??

Question

hi,

I am coming back to Christ after being "in the dark" for awhile;)

One of the habits "while away" I have picked up (mainly through personal/buddhist/beliefs) is not to eat animals. I feel it is wrong-period.

I have had pressure from Christians "God says eat meat" etc etc and I feel like I have to eat meat because God says so. But i must say i feel sick every time.

Doesn't Gods' commandment "thou shall not kill" appy to animals? It is a commandment after all-do not kill !!!!!

yes there is the argument Christians do not kill the actual animal-that is not what I want addressed here. (respectivly)

So can Christian vegetarians supply some support for me; or others some conventional wisdom?

Thanks !!!

Answer 1

No, killing plants so that you can eat them is not part of the the "do not murder" command. Neither is properly killing an animal for food.

However, there is also no command that you must eat animals everyday. I know many within the Jewish community who are vegetarian 6 days out of the week and only eat meat on the Sabbath. Eating meat was a somewhat rare thing in Biblical times, you did it at times of animal sacrifice and special celebration and that was it. (Sabbath is a celebration which is why the rabbis say that you should eat meat on Sabbath).

So don't let them put you on a guilt trip because you don't eat meat.

Answer 2

i am not a christian vegetarian, however, i am vegetarian and for some time WAS a Jehovahs Witness. Although not entirely the same religion there are some similarities. i agree with you when you brought the commandment "thou shall not kill" to light and I believe this should also apply to animals. I remember reading a paragraph in the bible about treating animals with respect, which includes, of course, no cruelty. This made me think. When people buy meat products from supermarkets, butchers, etc. they have no idea where they have come from, and what processes they have gone through prior to ending up on that shelf. These creatures could have been badly mistreated (which many are), then, at the time of purchase, anyone following the bible's teachings would be indirectly supporting animal abuse by keeping the industry alive.
There are so many loop holes. I think that if you truely believe in the bible's word, then you will know that god excepts everybody for who they are, and that everybody is different and a genuinly unique creation and we all have a place here on earth.

Answer 3

I was raised in a Christian household although I am not religous. I happen to be a Vegan who believes in nonviolence. If people are taught to treat all living things with compassion at a young age by not killing something that feels pain and suffering then they will learn how to treat other human beings with dignity. You don't need religion to answer that. However, I have Christian friends that are always saying that God put animals on the earth for us to eat and so on. If you read it, you may look at the text as the animals being there for us to take care of. Furthermore, it is believed that Adam and Eve were vegetarians and that they did not consume dead animals until they left the Garden of Eden, so basically you can look at your lifestyle as the one that God originally intended. I know that PETA has a bad rap, but if you go to peta.com, they have a section that deals with different religous arguments and I found it very helpfull. You should check out the website. Last, you should never depend on other people's views to make your own. Everything, even your Bible is up to different interpretation and personal conviction trumps something written by people living under different circumstances a very long time ago. Good Luck.

Answer 4

The key is your freedom on this issue. If you have no real desire to eat meat, and you are able to maintain your proper proteins with non meat foods, then why even worry. The "Thou shall not kill" thing is a little more complex than just a broad swatch across the animal kingdom. At now point in the Bible are animals ever endowed with the same covenents as humans. Furthermore they were commanded by God to be used as sacrifice for the atonement of sins and God instructed his followers and representatives to kill other peoples and tribes who were oppressing his chosen people. Soldiers and judges who behaved as soldiers are found a plenty in the hall of faith in the past and present. To kill an animal for fun or out of some malice is different than to kill an animal to sustain your existence.

Answer 5

I am a life-long vegetarian Christian. I haven't ever seen a text saying that we are supposed to eat meat...in fact, the original diet given to man was vegetarian.

After the flood, when there was no vegetation, God gave permission for people to eat meat. But, look at what happened to the lifespan almost immediately - they went from living 900-some years to only 300-some.

There is direct guidance in Leviticus 11 as to what kinds of animals are permissable to eat. The ones we are told to stay away from are the scavengers - pigs, shellfish, catfish, etc. - and ones that science is now clearly proving are not safe for our health anyway. So far as clean meats go, there is no place in the Bible that ever says NOT to eat meat, though it does clearly say that the fat and the blood should be removed from it.

Personally, I choose vegetarianism for two reasons: 1) I can't stand the thought of making my stomach a "graveyard for animals", as my grandfather used to say, and 2) anything that I can do to keep my body and mind in optimum condition to serve God is what I want to do. Plant-based diets are being proven time and time again to be the diet of choice for longevity and improved quality of life, increasing the life expectancy 6-10 years.

So, keep it up! Save an animal's life and your own!!! :)

Answer 6

I am not a Christian myself so forgive me if what I say is mis-informed.
I've never heard anything along the lines of God says it meat and it seems that you don't seem to like meat either. I do know that with what you said about the commandment thou sall not kill could also be backed up by the fact that eating meat is in fact promoting killing which is against the religion.
Also God created Adam and Eve to protect the Earth and all God's creations so in that respect, would it not be a bad thing to feast on what we were placed here to protect?

Answer 7

Hi! I'm not a vegetarian. But I do have an answer! :-P When God created Adam and Eve He gave them the plants as food. But after the Flood, he said they could eat meat. Murdering people is not the same as killing animals--humans are made in God's image, animals are not. But, just because you can eat meat does NOT meant that you have to switch from being a vegetarian. Don't make yourself sick!!!!

Answer 8

well, first of all, i don't think thou shalt not kill applies to the animal kingdom...
But God advices us not to eat meat for health purposes..
in leveticus, you'll find the list in which God seperates the clean animals and unclean animals.. (which really is because unclean meat is unfit for consumption)....
but really, in the beginning, God didn't give meat for man to eat.. they have a vegetarian diet.. the meat diet actually comes after the Flood.. when all the plants were destroyed... and in addition to that eating meat cut short the life span of men...(you can red that up in genesis)..
plus.. even in Jewish times, they were not to eat the blood of the animals.. the blood must be drained out and cooked in such a way that no or very little blood is in it.. which makes the meat tasteless..
the reason is, many diesese passes through animals especially in the blood..
but really.. in those days, the diet consists mainly of pulse.. which is plant matter.. (see Daniel in how he refused to take part in the kings food)...

Answer 9

Go ahead and be vegetarian, there's nothing wrong with that. Just know that even God said that we were gonna be hunting animals down after the flood (which is why they're mostly afraid of us). Food is food, and God said we can use animals as food, though I'm sure that before sin, he didn't want it that way.

Answer 10

Exactly how are atheists dogmatic? Do you even know what the word means? Atheist have no dogma: "system of principles or tenets, as of a church," "a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof," "A teaching or set of teachings laid down by a religious group, usually as part of the essential beliefs of the group." Atheists would ignore theists if there weren't some who try to force everyone else to live by their rules. Religion has been the cause of misery, torture, death, etc. for its entire history. There is nothing good that comes from religion which does not exist without religion, but there is much that is bad about religion -- that dogma thing -- that would not exist without religion.