Christian Vegan – Not an Oxymoron! « The Joyful Vegan: Stories of Transformation

Christian Vegan – Not an Oxymoron!

February 13, 2008 by joyfulvegan

I was raised in a carnivorous family. When I was a senior in high school we moved to a farm that had cows, chickens, pigs, horses, and rabbits. I stopped eating chicken when the family slaughtered 100 “old” egg laying hens in one day. It was really disgusting.

Lacking knowledge and support, eventually I did return to eating chicken.

I read John Robbins, May All Be Fed in 1993. I became a vegetarian for several years then went vegan in 1995. I moved to a new city in 1996 and began attending a church. I did not know any other vegans in the church. I was ridiculed about not eating what the Lord had provided. Eventually, I did return to eating animals again.

In May of 2007, I began another attempt at losing weight. This one was a bible study at my church. It was based around the food pyramid and food group exchanges. It wasn’t working (the yo-yo effect 5 pounds on - 5 pounds off). So in July I discovered food combinations - eat protein with starch and vegetables with starch - but don’t mix proteins and vegetables. Also, don’t mix fruit with any foods. The author recommended eating only fish (no milk, cheese, eggs, chicken, beef, pork, ect.) So that is how I lost 30 pounds. In January, my church began 3 day water fast followed with 18 day Daniel fast (vegetables only). That is when my sister recommended I watch “Earthlings”. Normally I can not watch cruel things. But I prayed for strength to be able to bear up. I wanted to be able to influence my husband to become a vegan. He is so tender hearted and loves animals. I can not get him to kill things like spiders and roaches. If I find one in the house, he catches it and releases it outside. I was able to watch the movie twice, once alone and once with him. What a tragedy in epic proportions! I know God did not intend the world to be so cruel. As a Christian, we have the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 10:6

” Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Every time an image from the movie comes into my head I cry out to God with that prayer. The great news is that my husband agreed to become a vegan! Although I was a little upset with him when he took both our leather coats and donated them to the clothes closet for the needy without consulting with me. Ouch! Oh well.

I’ve listened to the pod casts; they are so inspiring and empowering. Thank you! I now believe I have the knowledge to enable me to stick to my convictions.

I thought about my journey and the revelation that God has given me in regards to being a Christian Vegan. I did want to share this information to equip fellow Christians with biblical support for vegans.

Some Christians will refer to God’s covenant with Noah after the flood in order to justify eating animals. According to Genesis 9:3 God said,

“Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

We only have to recall that this was after the fall. The world was not in God’s perfect will. You have to go back to the beginning of Genesis to find God’s perfect will (when God had his way). God created a garden in Eden for Adam and Eve. In Genesis 1:29, God said,

“I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it – I give every green plant for food.”

In God’s perfect will, all mankind were to be vegan. Not only that, but in the next verse, Genesis 1:30 , God makes it clear that all animals were vegan.

“And to all 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”.

Some people will argue that killing animals is godly because of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. But, Jesus made it clear in Hebrews 10: 7-8

Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God. First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made).

In Matthew 10, Jesus told us to pray that God’s kingdom will come. We know what God’s kingdom will be like. We know there will be no more death. In Revelation 21:4

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

In Romans 8:19-22, it is clear that creation is crying out for a future glory.

“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope hat the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

I hope the above biblical references will empower fellow Christians to stand strong in their convictions to stop the suffering in this world and possibly influence other Christians to become Vegan!

~ Deb

Posted in connecting with animals, diet for a new america, excuses for eating meat, health benefits, inspiring others, john robbins, religion and animals, return to meat-eating after being vegetarian, small farms, vegan, vegetarian then vegan, violence | Tagged bible, christian, church, Earthlings, faith, Genesis, john robbins, leather, prayers, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss | 7 Comments

7 Responses to “Christian Vegan – Not an Oxymoron!”

on February 13, 2008 at 11:20 pm1 Vicki

thank you for this post, I’m going to spend a lot more time looking around your blog, as well as linking to it..

I stopped eating veal probably 30 years ago after watching a show about the treatment of the calves, and gave up meat altogether a year and a half ago..

I do still eat fish and eggs, so have a way to go to be vegan, but there is no way I would ever be able to eat meat again.
on March 1, 2008 at 8:33 pm2 Tierra

This was a beautiful story. I cannot understand how many “christians” think god and Jesus was about pain, suffering and murder. Yes I call it murder for gods said ‘thou shalt no kill” but seem they like to use “you shalt not murder” to justify that its meant for humans and not animals. Those were changed by man not by god . Jesus came back to fulfill the law and ettempted to bring our earth back to the kingdom of heaven but it failed.

I fight against hunting and what annoys me the most is when they say Jesus was a ‘hunter’ lol. or the “christian bow hunting”. It makes me sick how they use gods name for pain, suffering and death when he was an all merciful. there is nothing “merciful” about hunting or flesh eating.

Thank you again
on March 7, 2008 at 8:05 pm3 Kids Are Smart

[...] eating chicken when the family slaughtered 100 ‘old’ egg laying hens in one day.” says Deb at the Joyful Vegan, a collection of vegan [...]
on April 18, 2008 at 4:34 am4 Mary

Thank you so much for that. Several times I have had fellow Christians, many of them very stubborn, argue with me that I have made the wrong choice to be vegetarian because they believed that God did not will it. . . and this is before I turned vegan! I never knew quite what to say to them . . . now I do.
Peace,
Mary
on June 3, 2008 at 12:20 am5 Paula

I am a vegan and a christian. I gave up meat over a year ago.
I feel good about my health and the environment.
on June 21, 2008 at 9:26 am6 karen_finland

Thanks for this post. It is a constant battle for me. I am 35, very seriously considering to get baptism from our local Lutheran parish BUT all the Christians I have met until now (that’s a 35 year time… are so human-centered in their way of thinking that I am drawn back to Eastern religions. Seriously. Well, more to think… I guess.
on June 26, 2008 at 5:55 am7 Dawn

Ohmyword. Thank you so very much for your post! I’m a Christian and a lacto-ovo vegetarian trying to be a vegan. I fully believe that we are not supposed to be eating animals! I have taken Gen 1:29 and put it up on my blogs/myspace/facebook for a vegetarian scripture backing up my meat-free lifestyle. I have been feeling a tugging on my heart strings to just leave behind the lacto (I drink only soy milk, eat only cheese and ice cream) and the ovo (I have stopped buying eggs altogether but have not quit eating morningstar vegetarian products), however, I have had the feeling that I should just leave it all behind and become vegan. When I first started my vegetarian lifestyle, I started off vegan-on accident-but felt WONDERFUL, not missing meat at all. I love my tofu and I love learning how to eat new veggies.

I feel that Earthlings was right on target and very correct in everything it said. I wasn’t able to make it all the way through the entire movie, however, I had seen lots of others like it. I already knew about all the animal cruelty. I had to stop watching after they put the living dog into the trash compactor. I *had* to turn it off and deal with my own emotions and hate for the people who did that to that poor helpless dog. I pray on a daily basis for compassion for those who don’t show compassion. I pray that I don’t become hateful, and then I realized I just cannot watch anymore videos of that of that nature.

In reading your post, I have decided to become a Vegan. I will not clean out my fridge, I will eat everything that I have already, esp since I cannot afford to just go out and replace everything in my fridge. Next grocery trip, I’ll only buy vegan stuff, and I know what a commitment this is, since I know that I will have to be cooking everything I will be eating.

Once again, thank you for your post! It was just what I needed in order to become a vegan!