Animal Rights and the Bible<\/a> and it was enlightening.\u00a0 I am a Vegan and animal rights activist.\u00a0 I am not against people eating meat, I wish they wouldn’t, but that is their choice.\u00a0 What I and all activists are opposed to here is the cruel and inhumane treatment of “God’s Creatures”.\u00a0 Where does it say that this is OK in the Bible?\u00a0 Those were different times when people lived more in harmony with the animals and the land. Today the land is raped and the animals exploited to satisfy man’s ever-increasing greed and hunger. Where’s the harmony?\u00a0 Look what man has done with his “dominion”.\u00a0 His ego and lack of compassion have led him to a place where he is destroying the planet and eventually himself.\u00a0 We have strayed far off the path and if we don’t have compassion for animals, then how can we have compassion for anything else?\u00a0 Are there people out there doing the right thing? Of course. Animal Activists are like evangelists, passionate, and uncompromising.\u00a0 They are spreading a message, a compassionate one.\u00a0 There is no room on the fence for indecision for them. Just like any Christian, you must hold strong to your beliefs, even in the face of adversity.\u00a0 Personally, I think Christ would understand.\u00a0 According to the Bible, it is not immoral to eat meat.\u00a0 OK, but what about inhumane cruelty?\u00a0 It exists, sadly everywhere.<\/p>\n\tAnswer:<\/h2>\n
Your words sound nice, though your stance is extreme; but the fact has always been that to animal rights activists there is no way to kill an animal for food that is not considered cruel and exploitive. Thus your goal of forcing people to be vegetarians is met while simultaneously claiming that you aren’t against others eating meat. The stance is hypocritical.<\/p>\n
Each argument you made is based on emotion and a standard that is your own. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts<\/em>” (Proverbs 21:2). People rarely see the errors in their own opinions and stances but that is because each person is biased. You claim that Jesus would accept your stance, but you offer no evidence that Jesus ever supported your stance. Your opinion is worthless in determining what is morally right or wrong.<\/p>\nYou have it correct. According to God Almighty, who owns all animals and all humankind (Psalms 50:10; Exodus 18:4), stated that man may eat animal flesh. “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs<\/em>” (Genesis 9:3). Therefore it is right and proper for men to kill animals for food. And such you find specifically allowed. “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 15:23). And in the New Testament, Peter was shown a sheet filled with animals and he was told, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat<\/em>” (Acts 10:13). Even Jesus used stories about the butchering of animals as a part of the illustration, “And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry<\/em>” (Luke 15:23).<\/p>\nNo, you are not an evangelist. The word “evangelist” means a bringer of good news. You spread doom and gloom based on imagined terrors and are focused on this world, never seeing the world to come. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:17).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I have read your article on\u00a0Animal Rights and the Bible and it was enlightening.\u00a0 I am a Vegan and animal rights activist.\u00a0 I am not against people eating meat, I wish they wouldn’t, but that is their choice.\u00a0 What I and all activists are opposed to here is the cruel and inhumane treatment of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[242,239],"class_list":["post-16024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-animal-rights","tag-vegetarianism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-you-quote-noted-animal-rights-activists\/","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":0},"title":"Why don’t you quote noted animal rights activists?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Upon reading some of the content on your website (admittedly, not the majority, as it's quite voluminous), I focused primarily on the animal rights\u00a0content and the\u00a0Roman Catholic Church\u00a0Demonination\u00a0section. I am curious because, upon doing a search, I couldn't find any listings for Dr. Albert Schweitzer. His \"Reverence for Life\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21790,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-big-companies-mistreat-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":1},"title":"Don’t big companies mistreat animals?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your article about\u00a0the Bible and animal rights, and I see that it is right on. Anyone with biblical knowledge knows it is. My problem is not with the use of animals for food or leather, etc, but with the unbiblical practices of big agriculture, which unduly confines,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28707,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-teach-about-eating-meat-when-there-are-more-important-issues-in-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":2},"title":"Why do you teach about eating meat when there are more important issues in the world?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, The word violence means \"extreme force\". Psalm 145:8-10 Jehovah is kind and merciful slow to get angry, full of love. He is good to everyone and his compassion is intertwined with everything he does. All living things shall thank you Lord and your people will bless you. Psalm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10563,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jesus-a-vegetarian\/","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":3},"title":"Was Jesus a Vegetarian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Genesis 9:1-7 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Back in 1999, the Omaha World-Herald had a hilarious article on a then new advertising campaign by PETA. [Bill Broadway, \u201cJesus Used in Latest PETA Ads,\u201d Omaha World-Herald, 17 March 1999] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They claimed that Jesus was a vegetarian. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Their \u201cevidence\u201d? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A belief\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/peta-exists-because-people-kill-animals-sinfully\/","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":4},"title":"PETA exists because people kill animals sinfully","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your story was filled with half-truths. PETA exists, not because people eat animals, but because people kill animals sinfully. Do you think God wanted our meat packaging companies to use a .45 to shoot a cow in the head before hanging them upside down, slicing their necks and letting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-care-about-the-bible-but-dont-you-see-the-cruelty-in-killing-animals-for-food\/","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":5},"title":"I don’t care about the Bible, but don’t you see the cruelty in killing animals for food?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am not concerned as to what the Bible says or not about animals, it contradicts itself. However, I am looking at human behavior and their attitude toward meat.\u00a0 We don't really care where it comes from, as long as it is cheap.\u00a0 We don't see the torture, abuse,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}