[476] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
Re: vegetarianism and the bible
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (stacy@MIT.EDU)
Tue Apr 4 18:22:34 1995
From: stacy@MIT.EDU
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Tue, 04 Apr 1995 02:06:57 EDT."
<9504040606.AA10477@milanese.MIT.EDU>
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 1995 18:22:26 EDT
I generally prefer to be an observer on this list, but the posting about Christianity and
vegetarianism caught my attention, since as a vegetarian who is also a Christian, this is something
I have put some thought and research into.
I don't have my bible handy, so any references are off the top of my head, and not guaranteed to be
accurate. In the old testament, Daniel and three of his friends are captured by the King of
Babylon (?). They and others are supposed to become advisors to the king, or something like that,
and are therefore supposed to be healthy and strong, so they are put on a diet of meat and wine.
Daniel objects to this, and asks that he and his friends be put on a diet of grains instead. (And
water, I think) The supervisor agrees to this for a trial period, fearing that he will get in
trouble if Daniel and his friends are found to be wasting away, but at the end of the trial period
they turn out to be stronger and more robust than all the others, so they are allowed to keep their
preferred diet of grains.
This is just one story, and you can draw conclusions from it as you will. There are passages in
the bible that support the idea of vegetarianism, as well as passages that support eating meat. I
am also fully aware of the lengthy past that the Bible has, and that there are weaknesses in it.
Rather than base my life on a single phrase, as it were, I try to consider the whole, and the
overall intent behind it. As for vegetarianism, I feel that it is pleasing unto God to have
respect for his creations and not destroy them unnecessarily, especially when it is not beneficial
to our health. Therefore vegetarianism is an acceptable option, but certainly not a required one.
Well, I don't know if these ramblings make any sense. I was just trying to share the point of view
of one Christian, albeit one who has some fairly unique points of view.
-stacy
