The politics of Christianity and veganism
Pi Media's opinion writer Vaania Achuthan argues on the complementary nature of Christianity and veganism.
Image from Flickr.
McDonalds. Yes, you read that right. McDonalds, commonly referred to as America’s favourite fast food restaurant chain has recently announced that it is all set to launch its new range of plant based burgers – the McPlant. “Do we really need the McPlant?” you may ask. Interestingly enough, for Christians, the McPlant is the ideal burger option as it allows them to enjoy a satiating meal without violating any of Jesus’ commandments.
While mainstream veganism focuses on things that may not necessarily be of grave importance, the truth is that veganism is a sacred practice in Christianity. For people of faith, the Bible requires individuals to go vegan for many reasons; namely because Jesus placed all living beings as equal (Psalm 104) , to protect God’s best creation – the world and environment we live in (Genesis 1) and to protect the vulnerable and unlovable (Mark 2:16-17), which here refers to the animals that are lined up outside slaughter houses, awaiting for their death. I know that contrary to these claims, Jesus ate fish (Luke 24: 41) and he declared all foods clean (Mark 7) but I caution my readers of biblical interpretation errors that arise when reading the Bible. Let us address each of the above in further detail.
The Almighty, and his call for equality
When one chooses to place their lives in the hands of God, they permit the Bible to dictate the terms of their life. As such, it seems apt that they yield to the authority of the Bible – for it is their guiding light. Based on the principle of monotheism (Timothy 2:5), as there is one God, this God is not only the God of all humankind, but also the God of all creatures – living and dead. Hence, God being the ruler of all souls on this Earth, declared all living beings as equal (Psalm 24). When one actively makes the choice to consume the corpus of a dead animal, they are thus contradicting God’s wishes by placing the animal beneath them rather than equal to them. Hence, while at prima facie it may seem that veganism is not prescribed in the Bible, my analytical paradigm will attempt to show that going vegan and preventing one's compliance to a system that massacres innocent animals is within the doctrine of Christianity.
Protect God’s creation - the beloved Earth
Many Christians believe that God is the creator of the world and he has endowed upon them the responsibility to protect his sacred creation (Genesis 1:26). Further, Jesus trusted and emboldened Christians with the ability to protect and nurture his Earth. The sea, the forests and every beauty of nature is God’s gift to mankind. Yet, several Fox News articles concurred that “raising animals accounts for over 14 per cent of greenhouse gases'' and that beef production is one of the largest contributors of pollution. This is petrifying as it means that meat production and consumption can be fatal for this climate that could eventually lead to irreversible and catastrophic damage of this world. Why then, do individuals participate in the destruction of the very world that they believe Jesus created?
To love and protect like Jesus did
Finally, it is no news that Jesus loved the unlovable. (Mark 2:16-17). Jesus always protected the vulnerable - the needy, the old, the poor. In this case, the vulnerable include those animals who, as a result of the choices we make, will inevitably lose their lives to egregiously painful deaths in return for 15 minutes of human gustatory pleasure.
The American Conservative magazine published an article which emphasised the inhumane conditions of slaughterhouses. Notably, it states that animals spend their entire life in tightly packed cages, with little to no space to move or breath. When they are let out of these worse-than-prison-like situations, they are greeted with a butcher's knife, already soaking in the blood of their preceding victim. Moreover, Christian theologian Charles Camosey wrote in his book “For love of Animals” that while Catholic teaching talks about social justice and the moral treatment of animals, “Western consumerism disconnects us from the process by which pig meat gets on our plate”. World Animal Protection (WAP) published a survey in 2020 which observed that the American factory farm industry’s standards are so poor that they are rated lower than India’s. Under such ungodly circumstances, it seems unjustifiable within the realms of the Bible to consume the meat of defenceless animals.
Breaking the Myths
This is not to suggest that counter arguments do not exist. However, it is time to bust these myths that stand in the way of becoming a role model Christian.
Primarily, while Luke 24 states that Jesus ate fish, I note two things. First is that in today’s world of innumerable choices, unlike for the Lord, consuming meat is not a necessity but rather a matter of choice. Historically, one had to kill animals in order to survive but this is no longer true due to the development of better agriculture techniques. Even in the case of less economically developed countries, scholars have shown that the best way to solve food inequality and starvation is by reducing factory farming so that crops such as maize that are used to feed animals that have solely been bred for the purpose of meat can instead be used to feed humans. Many critics argue that for some Americans, eating meat is a necessity as it is economically more efficient to do so, but this is simply obsolete. Studies have proven that a vegan diet is cheaper than a meat eating diet. So for those on a budget, fret not!
Secondly, the present day cruel and inhumane animal farming industry looks nothing like the past practices of the Lord. Never did Jesus line up animals outside butcher mills and orchestrate a mass murder racket. Thus, in present times, consuming meat is inconsistent with Jesus’ practice of loving all.
Further, I acknowledge that Jesus declared all foods as clean. However upon further inspection I deduce that Jesus merely declared the permissibility of consuming all foods when it was a matter of survival. Here again we must note that in the past, we lacked extensive vegetable farming techniques and did not have the ability to produce enough crops to feed our entire population. As shown previously, if one were to simply redistribute crops to feed humans rather than animals bred for factory farms, the problem of starvation will soon be a matter of the past. Present day vegetable farming techniques can not only mass produce crops for all individuals but are also more sustainable in nature and hence are best suited if we want to live up to God’s expectations by protecting his world. Thus, as eating meat is no longer synonymous to survival, one's passivity to the meat producing industry simply cannot be justified.
Epitome of Christianity
Presently, there are several organisations that engage in the promotion of Christian Veganism. Groups like SARX- Christian Animal Welfare and Christian Vegetarians and Vegans UK have continued to grow in numbers as more Christians have concurred with their view and accorded to God’s call. Interestingly, even church leaders such as William Cowherd from the Bible Christian church and founder of the Cowherdites and Vegetarian society group, whose members abstain from eating meat, have also seen eye-to-eye with this view. Clearly, the world is spiralling towards a more optimistic outlook of Christian Veganism and the sooner one gets behind the movement, the closer they will get to coinciding with the Almighty. I understand that it can be difficult to agree with this view as it may challenge all your behaviours till date and requires you to alter your present belief system. Yet, it is consistent within Christianity that one's beliefs change with time as they grow to gain a better understanding of scripture. This is the epitome of Christianity - to be able to alter one's existing behaviour in a way that concurs with God.
So, the next time you walk into McDonalds, are you going to be an obedient disciple of Christ and order the McPlant?
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