Why Love One Animal and Eat The Other?
While in Denver, Colorado, in mid-October, I saw a billboard that said, “Why love one and eat the other?” You can see the sign at Mercy for Animals. It shows a picture of a dog and a pig. It is an ingenious marketing ploy. But as usual, it is yet another example of how animal rights protest industry advocates miss the point.
I surmise that animal rights activists want to argue that a dog is morally equivalent to a pig. If it is wrong to eat a dog, then it should be wrong to eat a pig. In one sense they are correct. A pig is of no lesser moral value than a dog. Both are created by God and both have been given to humanity to manage, protect, and use in the service of Christ.
In light of that fact, the only reason why Americans don’t put dogs on the menu is because of a cultural bias. All cultures have foods that are unique to them (those that are prized and loved) and foods that they think are disgusting (taboo). For example, certain tribes will relish various insects that Americans would gag at the mere thought of eating. It's not that Americans are more civilized or moral, it is just that our culture has not valued certain insects. The same can be said for dog. We don't eat dog because our culture values dogs as pets rather than as food. It is a completely arbitrary decision. I like chocolate, you like vanilla.
This is why I contend that the point Christians should take away from the animal rights billboard is to understand that eating a dog is morally equivalent to eating a pig. God says we are free to eat both. If you condemn eating dogs, then perhaps the reason for your opinion stems from a cultural bigotry that you haven’t repented of. [I am amazed at why people have not criticized animal rights groups for exploiting cultural bigotry in their sign but I digress]. I understand that Koreans eat dogs. I say, so what? What is wrong with eating dogs? But more importantly, God says, so what. Of course, I am not referring to eating a dog that is owned by someone else. That would be theft. But there is no moral problem (as far as God is concerned) to raise a dog and then eat him any more than there is for a farmer to raise a pig, or a chicken and eat that. If you think there is a problem with that, then you should take up your problem with Jesus who had declared all foods clean (Mk 7:19; Rom 14). Remember, what we eat is determined by culture. Christ wants us to avoid cultural bigotry when it comes to diet.
So I guess I must thank the animal rights activists for helping to expose the dietary bigotry in our culture. I just come to a conclusion diametrically opposed to theirs. Where they want to condemn eating animals, I think we should reduce our bias and be more accepting of the foods in other cultures.
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Because one tastes better... :-)
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What is it really that should be contended with the billboard ad ? Well IMVHO the ad itself. The question is totally moot; an absurd if you know your Bible well enough. Is rhetorical and confuses the issues.
Because is not about Love.
Animals as pets or as anything else can be use for all of man benefits , including and not limited as the author well state it: " Both are created by God and both have been given to humanity to manage, protect, and use in the service of Christ. "
Where the billboard is wrong is in the Love issue. God does not commands to Love anything else but Him, our neighbors as self, and ourselves, in that order.
Love God, love your neighbor and the love of self as of the Love of neighbor, but neighbor being place above self as a the best way to avoid being Self-absorbed, self-abused, and self-aggrandize. Which can all be resumed as Selfishness.
Everything else, (pets and all animals included) are for our Benefit, Enjoyment, and yes even Management and protection/preservation if need arise, but NOT for Loving.
I have enjoyed many pets, but never Loved them. I like to see and watch animals in their habitat but I don't Love them.
To Love animals/pets is not a command from God or men. Neither is a virtue indicative of a better character.
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Sure, it's true many here in the US would feel pity for bulls who suffer the agony of the repeated lancing meant to fatique and slowly bleed him out - For the kill. Yet, the same ones who sympathize the bull's fate - Would cheer on a calf roper at the American rodeo. Many think clubbing seals is barbaric... Yet think electocuting mink is "industry"... Same goes for eating pigs or eating dogs ... That's why a consistent loud "NO!" to all of it is urgently necessary. There are no "fine lines" or matters of "taste" when it comes to cruelty. It's ALL WRONG!
But speaking of other cultures... eating horses or still-alive sea life. What about the dog meat ? It is said that beating these dogs before killing them improves flavor. According to the "rules" that say we should not judge the foods others choose - How then could we ever criticize the bludgeoning of Spot? Or what about other traditions that literally slice off pieces of the animal - through a week long festival which "honors" life? Oh yes... And there is the eating of chicks while they make their first peck at the shell in life's effort to come into being. They aren't to be frowned upon either. As long as they are "only" animals treated thusly... It is all within the sanctioning of The divine...
Perhaps we who don't approve are all heretics? But as for me, I'll take my chances and say... All these practices - All this vile killing - Goes against any "gOd" I care to know.
Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity.... George B Shaw
The thinking [person] must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another.
— Albert Schweitzer
Not all traditions are worthy of admiration and respect. Tradition should never be an excuse for cruelty, and surely harmful practices should not be condoned just because they are cultural practices. ---Michele Pickover
As an agnostic it annoys the hell out of me to see anybody scribble an ethically dubious book , try to profit from it, and to presume to speak for God.
Why is it that people living the vegan way seem to be rewarded with better health and more energy than those eating the standard American diet , often outliving them by 7 to 16 years? Just something to ponder.
According to the Christian bible , God created a peaceful world for animals and people in Eden. People ate wholesome fruits, nuts, vegetables, roots, and seeds. Check Genesis 1:29-30. While you're at it, check Isaiah 11:6-9. This prophecy heralds a return to a nonviolent Eden-like world where the lion, cow, wolf , lamb, and humans live together in peace.
See the books of Keith Akers, Charles P. Vaclavik, Richard Alan Young, and other scholars. The Dead Sea Scrolls offer evidence that Jesus wouldn't support the modern day abomination of animal agriculture but would likely support the only peaceful (and sustainable) option of veganic farming. In your recent writings you seem to be twisting the bible to rationalize eating meat --just as some individuals deliberately misinterpreted Genesis 9 to rationalize slavery. Yes, Genesis 9 appears to have granted a temporary loophole for eating meat but simply because the Flood had destroyed all vegetation.
No logical person needs a holy book from any culture to know what every young child knows: murder is unnecessary violence . Murder is wrong and can never be justified, no matter how eloquently mere words are manipulated.
Because we're not stuck on an ark and there's no great flood, we don't have to eat animals. Can you really imagine Jesus or Buddha or any lover of peace saying, “Slit that pig's throat. Just do it quickly and try not to make a mess. Enjoy the flavor of the pig.” Nope. But I can imagine Jesus inviting us all to sit down to a peaceful vegan feast full of the vibrant colors and flavors of the original garden. Amen.
Another question to ask yourself is what would God or Jesus think of Animal Rights supporters. Those who work tirelessly against ridicule, strenuous opposition and social pressure to conform in order to stand up for the weak, the oppressed, the exploited and abused? Those who choose mercy and compassion over their own personal sense of entitlement or desire for a particular food ? Or how about those who oppose killing and using animals for "sport" and entertainment ?
Do you really think God or Jesus would condemn this behavior as Un-Christian?
Stephen - you claim it's God's intention for people to consume animals . Then why are humans designed to survive without animal products? We are not obligate carnivores. We have a choice.
I do not condemn the eating of animals by people who are in life-or- death situations (e.g. those who may live in remote areas of the world or may be in a rare situation in which eating animals is necessary for his/her survival.) But we live in America. We shop at the grocery store. We have options and abundance. If we do not NEED to consume animal products to survive, then we are doing so for pleasure.
Do you really believe that a merciful and compassionate God would approve of such behavior? Do you really believe that he would side with the apathy, cruelty, greed and gluttony at the heart of the current American Diet? Would he approve of how upwards of 90% of animals are "raised" for food today, confined to sunless hells called "factory farms" where they are genetically manipulated, fed unnatural diets , mutilated, brutalized, confined to cages, denied fresh air, sunlight and socialization? Do you really feel you are living in accordance with God's intention when you purchase and consume such misery?
Whether or not you believe you have the God-given "right" to use and consume animals does not mean you should. Open your eyes. Look at what we are doing. Ask yourself if this is really in accordance with the cornerstones of Christianity which SHOULD be mercy, compassion and justice for those who are oppressed. Not greed, gluttony and a self-righteous sense of entitlement.
And they say atheists are immoral? That's the problem with religion , it gives you permission to kill. Why couldn't an all powerful God have made us able to get energy from the sun the way plants do? That way no animal would have to be hunted and killed for food . The answer is because there is no God, no dictator of right and wrong who is okay with killing sometimes. We know better than that, the problem is you've been brainwashed into thinking otherwise.
I agree with the first part of your post, however, people ARE able to get energy without hunting and killing for food . It's called a vegan diet , and even the conservative American Dietetic Association confirms that a vegan diet is appropriate for humans at all life stages. We don't NEED to kill, we choose to: for pleasure, entertainment , profit, habit and convenience. Taking a life for such frivolous reasons is immoral. Plain and simple.
"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."
...search for the submission "Why Christians Cannot Support Animal Rights" at:
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/why-christians-cannot-support-animal-rights