Animals and Religion: In The End.

My journey is now at an end. I have been researching the relationship between Animals and Religion since October and I have discovered some truly amazing things. So, for my last post, I present to you my own views on the subject:

In The End:

No matter hard we try, we simply cannot ignore the fact that animals exist.

We have dog shows and horse races and we watch clips of animals doing funny and comical things over and over again. We are amazed when we hear unbelievable stories about animals and we are horrified when we hear cases of animal cruelty.

Those of us who have pets are comforted by the loyalty and love we are shown from our furry friends; sometimes, it feels as if our pets care for us more than our family and friends do.

With all this in mind, we may conclude that no religion on the face of the earth can afford to ignore these, our fellow creatures.

And as can be seen from my posts, no religion actually does ignore animals.

Every religion studied contains a scriptural quotation, an  anecdote and a saying from authoritative figures about how human beings should treat animals with the utmost respect.

In Hinduism, this is manifested by having deities portrayed as animals. In Buddhism, there is the inescapable belief that all beings are our own flesh and blood. In Christianity, believers yearn for the Kingdom of God to arrive, so that all creatures may live in peace. And in Islam, animals are regarded as fellow Muslims; who submit to God entirely.

However, for animal rights activists, this is only one side of the coin and is simply not enough. Hindus and Buddhists assert that animals can only achieve liberation once they become human. Christians traditionally saw humans as having dominion over all other species and the Islamic method of slaughtering animals is seen as barbaric and completely outdated.

It is not just individuals outside these traditions who are critical. There is evidence that the religious themselves are changing, particularly with regards to vegetarianism in Christianity and Islam. For these Christians and Muslims, there is the belief that God is not just the God of humanity, but the God of all Creation. All creatures thus have the divine right to lead a happy, healthy life. As is to be expected, there is much opposition from the "Orthodox" quarter.

Inevitably, these issues and debates will continue to take place, not only in the discussion forum or blog or website, but also in the house, street, market-place, Temple, Mosque, Church and on the farm.

In short, they will continue anywhere and everywhere, simply because of the fact that humans are not alone, and religiously, were never meant to be alone.

Islamic Vegetarianism: "And the flesh of fowls, any that they may desire."

The verse quoted above is taken from the Qur'an, Surah 56:21 referring to the eating of meat for the righteous in heaven. Such a verse, as well as the fuss over Halal meat, and the sacrificing of animals on the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha, may make it seem  near enough impossible for a person  to be Muslim and vegetarian at the same time.

But they do exist. Richard C. Foltz, author of Animals in Islamic Tradition and Muslim Cultures argues that Islamic Vegetarianism is on the rise, especially through the use of the internet.

But what Islamic reasons can a Muslim give for being vegetarian?

Health

Muslim vegetarians argue that their choice of diet  is much healthier than a non-vegetarian diet.

The website IslamVeg, which also contains links to a free vegetarian starter kit; has a section on why vegetarianism leads to better state of health, not only for humans, but for the environment too.

Such reasons could be deemed "Islamic" as in Islam, Muslims are commanded to look after what God has created, including the human body but also the greater natural world. (See my previous post on Animals in Islam.)

IslamVeg also utilises  fatwas from prominent Islamic scholars sanctioning the permissibility of a vegetarian diet, who refer to Islamic sayings such as, "meat can be just as addictive as wine."

Halal or Haram?

Islamic vegetarianism is further promoted, with the argument concerning the current state of factory farming. Muslim vegetarians point out that Halal meat is not just about whether the animal was slaughtered the right way, but also whether the animal was raised the right way and had a decent standard of living.

The horrors of factory farming; feeding animals to animals, battery cages and the mutilation of beaks and claws are seen as being contrary to the Islamic spirit. Animals slaughtered under these conditions can never be considered as Halal, but as totally Haram; or forbidden, vegetarians argue.

It seems that this argument holds much more sway over Muslims than any other, as the following quote from a member of an Islamic discussion forum, SunniForum, shows:

"I have nightmares about being faced by a field of chickens with their beaks clipped off on the day of judgement, testifying that I couldn't spend $1 more on truly free range eggs, but instead forced them to live their entire lives in cages where they could not even lift their wings, and had their beaks chopped off because they were driven insane by their surroundings...."

And as this video discusses:



Opposition

Islamic vegetarianism has benefited from much more presence in the public sphere,  such as the pro-Vegetarian demonstration by the Jordanian "Lettuce Lady"; but, the opportunity for meat-eating Muslims to have their say is also available, leading to the existence of a strong debate between the two groups.  

There are numerous blogs, online fatwas and discussion board messages dedicated to the debate.

The meat-eating Muslim majority oppose vegetarianism because:

• There is an Islamic injunction, stating that you cannot make something prohibited which God has allowed.
• It is clear from the Qur'an that humans are allowed to eat meat.
• The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ate meat himself.

Muslim vegetarians cannot say that they think killing animals for food is cruel, meat-eaters respond by stating that God has permitted meat-eating and God can never be described as cruel. He is for Muslims, "The Merciful, The Compassionate."

Other reasons are given here:

Conclusion
The internet, as always is a key tool used for propagating unorthodox religious messages and whilst meat-eating Muslims may dismiss the claims of Muslims vegetarians as a load of 'hippy nonsense',  it is clear that most Muslim vegetarians, just like their Christian counterparts seek to find justifications for their vegetarianism within their religion, not outside of it.

Christian Vegetarianism: "The Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat."

The Biblical verse quoted in the title is taken from Numbers 11:18 and is just one of many which indicates the absolute dichotomy between traditional Christian thinking and the idea that Christians can be vegetarians.

For one thing, there are many "animal" motifs throughout Christian Theology, such as the belief in Jesus Christ as the sacrificial "Lamb of God" and the use of the fish symbol.

Therefore, the question is "Can a Christian be vegetarian for Christian reasons? And if so, what exactly are these reasons?

Blessed are the Merciful

One reason given by Christian vegetarians concerns the central Christian belief of God as Love. All creation belongs to God; thus it is worthy of being cared for not eaten.

By being vegetarian, Christians are embodying the attribute of mercy and are fulfilling Jesus' words, "Blessed are the Merciful."

The website JesusVeg gives an example of this approach on its FAQ page, where it replies to one users' query stating that Christians should be vegetarians even if Jesus Christ wasn't.

This line of thought also involves Christian vegetarians to interpret Biblical narratives and events in non-traditional ways, which support their cause; such as this video on the Cleansing of the Temple.



And the idea that the natural state of humanity in the Garden of Eden was to practice Vegetarianism, as is indicated by some Biblical passages:

Jesus Christ: The Vegetarian

Despite some vegetarians believing that Jesus himself wasn't vegetarian, there are many that believe he was. This argument rests on the premise that passages in the Bible which portray Jesus eating fish, have actually been misunderstood and misinterpreted.

JesusVeg argues that the fish-eating verses were added in later by Greek scribes, because the Greek word for fish is an acrostic for Jesus Christ.

Other interpretations state that the Greek words for "fish" and "meat" are so general, that they can actually mean "dish" or "food," meaning that Christ never ate meat, but was a vegetarian:

Opposition

Despite the increase in Christians who are vegetarians, there is much opposition amongst non-vegetarian Christians. The latter argue that the former are guilty of making Jesus in the image of humanity, rather than humanity being made in the image of Jesus, as this blogger claims.

It seems that this argument is quite popular and also generates a lot of controversy and heated discussion, both on this site and on Christian Forums, where a thread on the subject lasted for 4 pages and ended up being closed by a moderator.

Conclusion

Thus, it is clear that many Christians preach a vegetarian lifestyle through using the internet and whilst this doubtlessly challenged traditional Christian thought regarding meat-eating, there is still much debate, controversy and opposition. This is not likely to change and perhaps the same situation exists for Islamic Vegetarianism.