May 12, 2002
May I begin by saying that I do not intend to insult or attack vegetarians or those who campaign for the humane treatment of animals. My intent is to raise the awareness of the use of bovine by-products.
Some years ago, a chicken product was introduced that boasted pure breast meat, while accusing its competitors of using unidentified parts. “What parts?” one of the characters inquired, to which the other replied: “Parts is parts.” The response seemed to imply that which parts was not important. What parts are used and what is not used?
In my lifetime, I have met several people who, for a variety of reasons, were vegetarian. Indeed, a new word has entered the English language to describe a sector of these people: “vegans.”
I had a friend who was a Buddhist. His creed was that he would eat products where the animal was “involved, but not committed.” In other words, he would eat items like milk and butter where a cow was used, but not steak where the cow was killed. His commitment came from the Buddhist idea of pantheology in which all is one. Everything from stones to humans share a single one-ness. And to kill – anything – was a crime against that one-ness.
I have known others who didn’t eat meat because they were simply grossed out by the idea.
You have no doubt seen PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advertisements that oppose the harvesting of mink or beaver for fur coats.
The most common argument that I have encountered in favor of vegetarianism revolves around the idea of animal rights. These people, for instance, may only buy milk, butter, or eggs from “free range” farms. These people oppose the conditions under which commercial beef, pork, and poultry are raised. These practices, they claim, deny the animals of their basic right to the “pursuit of happiness.”
I once asked one of these people how then is it okay for a wolf to kill a chicken, but not a human. The answer was that the wolf’s actions were natural. I was left to presume that a human killing a chicken was not natural.
So, how far does all this go? These vegans who refuse to eat meat (and in some cases abstain from dairy as well) also refuse to purchase leather goods. Indeed, if their cause is just and they are truly committed to it, then this would be the right thing to do.
I recently ran across an interesting article in DISCOVER magazine. The article discussed Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or Mad-Cow disease) and Hoof-in-mouth disease. The article was examining the extent to which our entire economy could be affected by an uncontrolled outbreak of either of these diseases.
While I knew that beef by-products went beyond the burger and leather arena, I was surprised at the extent to which bovine by-products are used in our economy. I felt it was my (albeit cynical) duty to give you a few of these items. If you are a vegan, opposed to the captive, corporate production of beef, then you should read this list and then abstain from using or supporting the use of any of these items.
If after reading this list, you cannot completely abstain from all of the items, then you should reconsider the foundation of your position. To better help with the decision, I will provide the Biblical view of humanity’s role versus livestock as well as whether vegetarianism is a Biblical principle.
The following items are either wholly derived from bovine by-products or utilize bovine by-products as an integral element of their production.
And on and on…
According to the authors of the
British inquiry, “it has been said, and not altogether facetiously, that the
only industry in which some part of the cow is not used is concrete
production.” But if the concrete
is loaded onto a truck with rubber tires and driven down a paved road, or if the
production company’s annual report is printed on glossy paper, or if the
company office uses plywood in its construction, then cow parts are involved.[i]
The point is, those who claim to be vegetarians to avoid supporting an industry that mass-produces beef are ill advised if they think that simply avoiding beef and leather goods keeps them innocent. In all likelihood, the man-made (fake) leather shoes they were have some form of bovine by-product in them. Even if they have a surgery, the sutures may contain bovine by-products. Their houses, cars, and even the roads they drive on likely contain some bovine by-product.
Enough of this; what does the Bible say?
When the world was created, I believe that all creatures were herbivorous. This comes from Genesis:
(Gen 1:29 KJV)
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is
upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a
tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
(Gen 1:30 KJV)
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to
every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given
every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Contrast this with:
(Gen 9:1 KJV)
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth.
(Gen 9:2 KJV)
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the
earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and
upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
(Gen 9:3 KJV) Every
moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I
given you all things.
In Genesis chapter 1, man and animals were given vegetation as “meat” to eat. If we did not have Genesis chapter 9, one might argue that chapter 1 was simply allegorical, however, chapter 9 is very clear in its contrast to chapter 1.
And since animals now were given an instinctive fear of humans, it further lends credibility that pre-flood animals did not fear being eaten either by other animals or by humans.
So is vegetarianism Biblical? Not by my Bible. There are only limited times where vegetarianism is practiced. Otherwise, meat is a basic staple. Jesus ate meat (Matthew 25,35), he told others to eat meat (dividing the loaves and fishes, healing the young girl: Luke 8:55).
Is a Christian sinning by being a vegetarian? My answer would be “no.” But your reasoning should not be presumably based on scripture. Scripture does not support vegetarianism, nor does it condemn it.
Now, this does not relieve humans of their obligation to care for animals in a humane way. In Genesis, man was given “dominion” over the earth.
(Gen 1:26 KJV)
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
The idea of dominion (including the etymology of the word) conveys the sense of responsibility. A king, for instance, while being sovereign over his subjects, is duly obligated to ensure their safety, economic stability, justice, and so forth.
As Christians, we should be sensitive to the humane treatment of animals, but animals were given as objects (or subjects) over which we have dominion – things to use, but careful not to abuse.
I personally think that science has done a great job of utilizing so much of the cow that virtually nothing is wasted. We look back at the slaughter of the buffalo as a waste because an entire animal would be killed only for the pelt. The remaining carcass would be left to rot. Let’s not be too quick to criticize science for the efficient use of livestock.
Some interesting resources if you want to know more about what kinds of products involve bovine by-products:
A list compiled in Britain about the impact of BSE (Mad-Cow disease) on consumer and industrial products:
http://www.bse.org.uk/report/volume7/chaptea9.htm
The DISCOVER magazine article discussing bovine diseases and the extents to which those bovine by-products are used.
http://www.discover.com/search/index.html