The Right To Life: Don’t Stop Halfway

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.
Genesis 1:29   (King James. See also the RSV... or look in any bible.)

The concept behind this page is simple: If you support the right to life, it only makes sense that you should consider the lives of all creatures to be at least somewhat valuable. It makes no sense whatsoever to vigorously support the rights of unborn fetuses and then to go eat a slab of dead cattle flesh.

The evidence is very convincing that a vegetarian diet is not only nutritious but quite likely more healthy than an omnivorous diet. This means that the only reasons to eat meat are the pleasure of the taste and the convenience of a compact protein source. (Weighed against the poor health effects of eating too much meat, these considerations aren’t that good either.)

Is it right to kill thousands of living, feeling creatures for the sake of pleasure and convenience?

Are you aware that we kill billions and billions of animals each year for our pleasure and convenience? How can you participate in the killing of so many animals and say that you are “pro-life?”

If it is your belief that you have a mandate from God to kill animals, please show me where in the Bible God demands that you kill his creatures. Doesn’t it make more sense to believe that the lives of all of God’s creatures are sacred and that they should be spared whenever possible? Sure, there are places in the Bible where God talks about sacraficing lambs and such, but nowhere does he tell you to kill His creatures.

In ancient times, people could not always get adequate nutrition without supplementing their diets with animal flesh. But if you are capable of getting on the internet, then you live in a society that provides a huge range of non-animal foods that can provide you with a healthy, tasty, nutritious diet.

I implore you: if you have any respect for the sanctity of life, please stop killing so many creatures. Even if it only means reducing the amount of meat you have in your normal diet, you will be helping to spare the lives of thousands of animals. Or you can just consider not eating pork.... Not only is the Bible fairly opposed to the consumption of pork, but (despite the derogatory connotations of their names) pigs are some of the smartest creatures on our planet. Is it really right to kill more than a billion of them each year?

If you would like to know more about how to remove dead animal flesh from your diet, check out “Going Vegetarian” by the Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom and/or “Vegetarian's Guide to Nutrition” on HomeArts (a commercial, non-vegetarian site).

If you still have doubts about why to be a vegetarian, follow this link for more complete information.

 




 


Copyright © 1998-2000 by Ed Pastore. All rights reserved. Excerpts from this document may be quoted with proper reference to the URL, the author, and the modification date listed below.

modified May 25, 2000