Vegetarianism.

I was doing a little bit of research on what eating meat and not eating meat means to my faith. I was getting a little fed up with vegetarians, and I see partictularly christian vegetarians, forcing their beliefs on people, putting down those who eat meat and thinking they are better than them.

I see that in the beginning, God intended all of creation to be vegetarian.“I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be food for you. And to the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food. And it was so.” Genesis 1:29-30.

But after the great flood, God gave sinful and flawed men permission to eat meat. “The fear and dread of you will fall upon all of the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, now I give you everything.” Genesis 9:1-3.

Some meat eating people may argue that Jesus ate meat, but some may argue that is because back in those times, they weren’t mass raised, over-fed or polluted and exploited in any way.

I think a reason people become vegetarian is because they disagree with the way animals are slaughtered for our hunger in the world today. But at the same time, some people are not bothered by it or know where their meat is coming from, so they eat it anyway. Of course, God loves his creation and hates to see such expoliation, but God has given us free will and permission to eat meat and it is not a sin to do so. I eat meat because I enjoy it. My friend eats meat because he did it his whole life and never thought to not eat it. It is your lifestyle decision.

To conclude, it is a matter of personal choice and I think neither choice is right or wrong as long as you give thanks to the food, plant or meat, God puts on your table. Whatever your beliefs are, "the kingdom of God is not a matter eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 17:17). I will love you and accept you for whatever you eat, but I am just sick of vegetarians thinking that their way of life is the only way, the right way. I leave you with a verse from Romans 14:2-3:

“One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The mans who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him."