Why aren't all Christians vegetarian?

I think in a natural hunter gatherer society, eating meat is much more realistic. I can't stand the idea of couped up chickens all stressed out giving me cholesterol and bad vibes when I eat them, and I wouldn't eat veal if you paid me ten million dollars. I live in an area where the deer run overpopulated every year, and hunters help keep the population in check. The meat from those deer goes to good use feeding families in need, as well as stocking the freezers of quite a few area residents, including my own family. I'm not a Christian either, but I do believe that in order to maintain species population, a certain amount of sacrifices are necessary, otherwise they will overun areas and destroy plant life.

I love your topics! I can't give you a good answer to that one. As a wannabe veggie I know that I have eaten meat my whole life and it's hard for me not to especially when I get very busy. I do make an effort to eat as little as possible and I will never be able to give up fish. I love it, but I will research and make sure I am eating responsibly. (No chilean sea bass for example) Personally I don't have the superiority complex a lot of people seem to have. I don't see myself as "better" than animals, biologically we are animals. We are different that is true. Animals eat other animals. We have the reasoning skills and capacity to generate our own food through farming and other processes. I would think that a person who really feels animals are beneath them would want to be veggie even more just to show how truly above them they are. In my house we have two die hard omnivores. Even they make an effort a few times a week to have a totally vegan meal so trust me it's not that hard!

Well this is an interesting question. I actually do know the answer to this. In the early days all men were vegetarians. After the flood (you know the whole Noah's ark thing) God gave us the animals to eat. Genesis 9:3 - Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green vegetables and plants, I give you everything. So you see it is biblical to eat animals.

God gave man stewardship of the earth and all the living things therein. By definition, this also includes plants. However, God also made us to be omnivores (check our dental makeup if you don't believe me.) The problem isn't should we eat meat or shouldn't we (this is a personal preference only), but shouldn't we be taking better care of the earth in general than we currently are? If we pollute what we put in our bodies (and plants are just as polluted as animals these days), are we not polluting ourselves? Now, on a more scientific level, it is actually harder for the human body to digest plants than animal meat. Plant cell walls are more rigid than animal cell walls. In the long run, you have to eat more plants or have them cooked just right (without killing the necessary proteins by overcooking) in order to get the same amount of nutrients. That's why most native peoples will eat a combination of the two.

When God said to look after the animals on earth I believe He meant to keep them healthy and clean for our benefit (when it came time to consume them) and to be able to nourish our bodies instead of hurt us (with diseases, chemicals, hormones, etc.) In the Bible the Lord tells us the clean and unclean animals that He will allow us to consume. You can find this in Leviticus 11:1-47! It tells us right here that He expects us to eat animals and He even goes so far as to let us know which ones will be healthy for us to eat and which are not! I hope this helps answer your question!!

it also says in there that they are for us to eat

Jesus was vegetarian. Budda was vegetarian. The fundamental believe of every religion prohibit the eating of meat. Setting religion on site, eating meat is harmful according to the principles of physiology and health. Anthropologists say that the structures of the bodies of carnivorous and Herbivorous animals differ greatly from each other. Man's body is that of a herbivorous animal.Meat-eating is harmful to man and may cause harm.

God did not make us totally vegetarian. Humans are omnivores, meaning we can take both meat and greens. True, the Bible says that when God created Adam and Eve, he instructed them to take anything grown from seed as food and the trend continued until the great flood. However, after the great flood, God told Noah that he and his descendants could take meat with the exception that the meat be properly bled. So, taking meat or not is a matter of individual choice and nothing with do with the Bible anymore.

Why isn't anyone with a conscience a vegetarian? I think most of it has to do with people having the perception of 'what difference is one person going to make???'. I was a vegetarian for a few years as a teenager, and I'm back to it now. There's enough useless suffering in the world that I can't help. At least I can control what I buy and what I put in my mouth.

Cool one. Everyone must think about this question deeply. I can explain it in this way. We want to kill the animals because we love eating. But we also dont want the curse of the god so we justify it saying that, its alright to kill animals to eat. Bingo.

That is a very interesting question, as most of your discussion topics are, Michelle. I guess you will get a lot of "Christ was a Fisherman" answers, but I will be really interested in reading them. As a vegetarian myself, I can't imagine anyone professing to be kind, loving etc, but still causing unnecessary pain, and suffering to another living creature for no earthly reason apart from greed - but let's just see what happens!

I am all for looking after animals, but the problem should be dealt for what it is, without bringing in religion or vegetarianism. We are meant to eat meat, and we are also meant to respect animals and stop the senseless poaching, especially in Africa. If just 1% of the money spent on wars was spent on animals, many wouldn't risk estinction, but humans are just band and don't care. Doom and gloom

Yes I understand what you mean. A lot of my frineds are christian vegans or vegetarians but we are sure a minority. Do you know this website? http://www.all-creatures.org/

You've asked a very good question. I've always wondered the same thing myself. What's interesting is how the Bible has been so misinterpreted, and twisted around, as there are people who will try and justify certain actions by changing the wording of the Bible to suit their desires. Like meat eating. And so many other things. This has been going on for hundreds of years, and not just with the Bible, but most revealed scriptures from all countries. Like the quality of compassion..why does it just pertain to humans? Or the quality of respect, and tolerance and acceptance? And the biggy..the quality of humility? We've all redefined these qualities, to suit our own desires and to justify our actions, and we've somehow become expert at "word jugglery", so we can indulge in our desires and yet somehow make it sound like it's ok by changing or twisting the message. Certainly to me it's very simple, caring and protection of animals means just that...thou shalt not kill means just that...not "thou shalt not kill...what we feel we don't want to or want to depending on what we like to eat..." or whatever.

I respects all creeds and personal options but i think that from an "animal" point of view, it's natural for humans, as an omnivore animal, to eat both vegetables and other animals. As about how to relate that with the bible? that is up to each one of you and your beliefs.