FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Here are some brief answers to questions people often have when considering animal welfare as an issue of faith.
Didn't Jesus eat meat?
Didn’t God tell Peter to “kill and eat” and doesn’t that tell us that we are intended to eat animals?
Didn’t God tell Peter to “kill and eat” and doesn’t that tell us that we are intended to eat animals?
This
is a false dichotomy. We do not have to
choose between caring for people and caring for animals any more than we have to choose between caring for the poor and caring for the sick. We are called to care for both. In fact, very often when we care for
animals we are caring for people at the same time. For example, one of the ways we care for
animals is to help people and their pets, with rides to the vet for those
with trouble getting around, or help with food and supplies for those facing
economic challenges. This helps keeps
the pets in safe, loving homes and honors the bond between the human and
animal, recognizing the importance of pets in lives of families. Another example is when we work to end
factory farming. The animals raised for
food fare better; fewer antibiotics are necessary in raising animals for food,
reducing public health risks; the animals are raised in cleaner conditions,
making the food supply safer; and there is less air and water pollution. All of these things benefit humans. Another example is working to foster care and
compassion in humans through connecting with animals. Prisons systems have found working with
animals can help prisoners reconnect with their better selves, children with
trouble reading can feel safe with animals and improve their school work, and
those who would otherwise fight their dogs and become involved in the crime
associated with animal fighting can learn to train their dogs for agility and
find a friend and companion.
These are only a few examples. If caring for animals with compassion is part and
parcel of who we are created by God to be, then answering that call can only benefit humans.
To care compassionately for those at our mercy is to nurture our best
selves and enable us to do the good work God has prepared for us to do – with
humans and animals.
I believe they do. The traditional view has been that humans alone were created with immortal souls as part of our creation in God's image, and thus only humans go to heaven. Viewing our creation in the image of God as a
vocational element of being human (that is, as tasking us with representing
God) rather than something inherent in the way we are made, frees us to look at
the question a different way. While there is little we can say conclusively about the after life, there are many places in Scripture to give those of us who take great joy in animals in this life reason to hope that they will be with us in the next.
For example, both Hosea and Isaiah are very clear that animals will be with us in the New Creation (Hos.
2:18; Is.
11:6-9). Revelation speaks of animal-like creatures being with God in heaven and of all the creatures of the earth praising God and the Lamb (Rev. 4-5), as well as horses being with God (Rev. 6:1-8), and
Paul tells us that the whole creation groans in anticipation of salvation
(Rom. 8:19-22). Scripture also tells us that God cares for, is in relationship with, and covenants with the animals.
John Wesley, in his sermon, the
General Deliverance (see Resources page), argued forcefully that animals will indeed be in
heaven. Andrew Linzey (see Resources page) argues that a
God of mercy will not allow animals to exist only to know the misery so many of
them suffer on earth.
However one answers this question,
our obligations to treat animals with mercy and compassion in this life remain
undiminished. Those obligations stem
from animals’ ability to suffer in real and meaningful ways here and now. Charged with representing God to those
creatures, we must, as Humphrey Primatt expressed it (see Resources page), treat them with mercy, as we hope for mercy. (We must also remember, that if we answer the question yes, we are answering not just for our beloved family pets, but also for all the other animals suffering in laboratories, factory farms, entertainment venues, and a thousand other places for our convenience.)
In both the garden described in Genesis 1
and in the new creation described by Isaiah 11 and Hosea 2, humans and animals live
together in harmony. That means humans
are not killing - or eating - animals. This, then, is God's original and ultimate intention.
In Genesis 1 God gives Adam and Eve all the plants (except for one) for food (Gen. 1:29-30). Humans are
not given meat to eat until after the flood in Genesis 9:3. Some have theorized that this was a
concession to human sin; others that this was in recognition that food was
scarce and humans would need to eat animals to survive. Regardless of the reason, in Genesis 9, although God allows the eating of meat, he places restrictions on that activity. Humans are not permitted to eat animal’s
blood (that is, its life), which was to be poured out on the ground and
returned to God (Gen. 9:4). Thus, we are to
recognize in eating meat that we are taking a life loved by and belonging to
God, and we are to do it with reverence. Moreover, this permission comes at a cost that all creation pays. Whereas, previously, humans and animals had lived in mutual companionship, now the "fear and dread" of humans is with the animals (Gen. 9:2). Our relationship with the animals is broken - even as God continues His relationship with the animals by covenanting with them, as well with humans, not to destroy the earth with flood again (Gen. 9:8-17).
Today, with animals raised in
warehouses and treated as nothing more than economic units, and slaughterhouses
killing hundreds of animals of animals every second in high-speed operations,
the restrictions God placed on the eating of meat, and the recognition that our meat comes at the cost of a life loved by God, are forgotten. God has
never given us permission to kill and eat the way we do today.
Maybe. There are those who argue he didn't. Scripture says only once that Jesus ate meat -
a piece of fish after the resurrection (Luke 24:42-43). Others
argue that because of the culture in which he lived, the rich homes he was
invited to, and the celebration of the Passover, we must assume he ate meat. Either way, he did not eat meat the way we eat
it. He didn't eat it three times a day
seven days a week (many of us do, or nearly do); he didn't eat meat from
factory farms and high-speed slaughter houses; he did not eat meat from animals
who were treated as widgets - those systems did not exist when he walked the
earth.
We are fortunate to live in a time and place where we have a variety of food options that have not always been available historically (and in some places still are not). In addition, plant-based foods are healthier and in many cases less expensive than meat. We also live in a time and place where nearly all animals raised for food are raised in previously unimaginably deplorable conditions. We must consider the theological and ethical decisions we confront today in light of the circumstances we face today.
In Acts 10, when Peter dreams of God showing him various animals – both clean and unclean – and telling him to “kill and eat” those animals, God is sending a message to Peter that God’s kingdom encompasses both Jews and Gentiles, and the Peter should not shy away from eating with the Gentile who is about to ask for Peter’s help. This passage is not really about eating meat, it is about the breadth of God's love. Nevertheless, to the extent it suggests that it is permissible to eat animals previously considered unclean, it does nothing to lessen the requirements in Genesis 9 regarding respect for the life taken or other requirements that animals raised for food be treated well and slaughtered humanely. As noted in response to the previous question, today, when animals raised for food are treated cruelly and when we have so many other options available to us, we must consider carefully whether eating meat is appropriate.
Are you suggesting Christians shouldn’t eat meat?
No. That is a decision every person must make for themselves. There are a number of ways we impact animals in our daily lives, including the cleaning and personal products we use, the entertainment we support, and even where we get our pets. Each of these decisions, including what we eat, needs to be carefully considered in light of what Scripture has to say about animals and who we are created and called to be. What we choose to eat is one of the most important decisions we make, because it affects so many animals. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, in 2011, 9.1 billion farm animals were slaughtered in the United States alone for human consumption.[1] That was 289 animals per second, 17,313 animals per minute, 1,038,812 animals per hour, or 24,831,546 animals every day for 365 days – just in the U.S.
When I read in Isaiah and Hosea about the harmony of humans and animals in God’s new creation, when the "earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Is. 11:9), and when I remember that every day I pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven,” I know that refraining from eating meat and dairy is one way I can live as though the kingdom were present here and now. Many other Christians, I am quite sure, do much better than I in making the kingdom present in other ways, but this is one thing I can do and am happy to do. It brings me great joy to know that no creature had to suffer or die for me to eat.
[1] Humane Society of the
United States, Farm Animal Statistics, Slaughter Totals, based on USDA
statistics, http://www.humanesociety.org/news/resources/research/stats_slaughter_totals.html
(accessed January 13, 2013).
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