Extremism on this important issue is out of step with God,<\/a>” I feel that frequently when people refer to animal rights, they almost exclusively use the terms “extremists,” or “whackos,” or “nuts,” almost as if genuine animal advocacy does not exist.\u00a0The other misconception is that all animal advocates are “putting animals before humans.” I view it as including animals in human consideration!<\/p>\nVegetarianism is a personal choice. Most of us are not qualified to authoritatively go around preaching against eating meat on any level. However, it’s important for those who literally recoil at the concept of the term animal rights to take an honest look at such practices as factory farming, canned and sport hunting, animal testing, horrendous animal shelter conditions, dogfighting, puppy mills and catteries, and the underbelly of such sports as horse racing, dog racing, circus animal performances, and rodeos. You refer to some of these practices on your website, but frankly, the protective laws to date are vastly insufficient, and while there are exceptions, they are, much more often than not, poorly enforced. This is probably so because so much of the economy is built on these horrors, thus the worship of the almighty dollar.<\/p>\n
The Bible may be replete with references to eating meat and “having dominion over creation” (possibly the most abused and distorted phrase in human history), but frankly, I view our failure to see animals as co-living creatures with whom we share the planet as a tragically vexing void in human development.<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
La Vista’s website is dedicated to teaching the Bible. What some man thinks about an issue does not establish what God wants mankind to do. So, no, you won’t find quotes from people substituting as evidence of what God has said.<\/p>\n
Many vegetarian and animal rights activists attempt to make their claims sound legitimate by saying that their particular beliefs are what God or Jesus taught. I and other writers on this website simply point out those claims that are false, and we cite God’s word so that others reading can go to their Bibles and see how these people are twisting God’s teachings to justify themselves.<\/p>\n
For example, animal rights activists may state that we need to treat animals with respect. There is a trick in the statement that depends on how the speaker defines respect.\u00a0God teaches man to be kind to animals: “A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel<\/em>” (Proverbs 12:10). To an animal rights activist, any death of an animal for any purpose translates, in their mind to cruelty. Yet, from the Scriptures, the use of animals as a food source is not considered cruelty. “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). You might choose not to eat meat, and that is perfectly fine, but it doesn’t change what God has taught on the matter.<\/p>\nAs an example, you\u00a0assume<\/em> that training animals to perform is cruelty. Yet, such is not the case in the Scriptures. Animals have long served mankind, such as pulling plows or transportation. Thus, we conclude that your definition of cruelty is not biblical.<\/p>\nIn the same way, Christians do not oppose laws that define the proper treatment of animals. Quite the opposite, we support them and their enforcement by those responsible for enforcing the laws. The existence of laws does not eliminate crime. It only defines crimes so that criminals may be punished. Making a law saying you must stop at a stop sign does not mean people will always stop. The fact that some people run the stop sign does not mean the laws must be changed or made harsher. Laws don’t prevent violations.<\/p>\n
I’m glad to see that you admit that the Bible does talk about eating meat in an approved way. Yet, I wasn’t surprised to see you could not accept that simple fact and had to add a “but” because you don’t want the truth applied.<\/p>\n
The simple fact is that the world left on its own is crueler to animals than the world with compassionate people watching over it.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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” philosophy would seem to be…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[242],"class_list":["post-23221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-animal-rights"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31069,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-100-with-you-on-what-you-say-about-animal-rights\/","url_meta":{"origin":23221,"position":0},"title":"I’m 100% with you on what you say about animal rights","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've read what you've said about\u00a0animal rights\u00a0not being biblically correct, and I'm 100% with you on that. Sometimes it's very hard to hear people go on and on about animal rights. Animals are not people. Jesus mentioned in Matthew how we are worth more than the sparrows. Thank you\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":35807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sustainable-agriculture-opposed\/","url_meta":{"origin":23221,"position":1},"title":"Sustainable Agriculture Opposed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: \"Amid uproar, college euthanizes farm ox,\"\u00a0Omaha World-Herald, 12 November 2012. \"Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49855,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-article-on-animal-rights-is-pitiable\/","url_meta":{"origin":23221,"position":2},"title":"The article on animal rights is pitiable","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: [This note was left unedited since it offers critique of this website.] I'm shaking my head in pity because I feel such sorrow for the author of this\u00a0sadly poorly unjust literature. Cognitive rehab is available. I just want to let the author know Killing wildlife as a means of\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":16024,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-against-eating-meat-i-oppose-the-cruel-treatment-of-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":23221,"position":3},"title":"I’m not against eating meat, I oppose the cruel treatment of animals","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":27535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-appreciate-that-the-article-on-jesus-eating-meat-was-justified-with-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":23221,"position":4},"title":"I appreciate that the article on Jesus eating meat was justified with Scripture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My daughter is a vegetarian and an animal rights activist. Although I knew that Jesus ate meat, I needed the reminder. I appreciate very much your article on \"Was Jesus a Vegetarian?\" I appreciate how you used the scripture passages to verify each point you made. Thank you for\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":9473,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-god-say-about-respect-for-life-and-his-creation\/","url_meta":{"origin":23221,"position":5},"title":"What does God say about respect for life and His creation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read your article, \"Did Jesus Eat Meat?\", and I have a question that I know I could find an answer to, but an educated perspective will be even better, in addition to my own research. What does God and the Bible say about respect for life and\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\/23221","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=23221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}