Would Jesus barbecue a factory farmed chicken or baby back
ribs, or instead, would He anoint veggie-ka-bobs with a bit of olive oil?
A few years ago, as president of the Vegetarian Society of
El Paso, I was asked to do a radio debate with a local M.D. who had
written a book called "God's Diet." The bizarre message of her book was
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it."
According to her, God had made animals, fruits and
vegetables but not bread, cereals or pasta. The doctor's diet plan was a
modified version of the low-carb Atkins diet. By her choice of book title,
I have a feeling that she was just name-dropping to sell the book. There
were no scriptural passages cited anywhere in the book to justify her
ideas, and frankly, I was annoyed by the implication that Satan provides
us with our daily bread.
In recent years there have been a number of diet plans
published which link religion and food choices. Naturally, as a vegan, I
tend to agree with those books that promote a plant-based diet, such as
Dr. Don Colbert's "What Would Jesus Eat?," which encourages eating
non-animal "living foods" and avoiding "dead" or processed foods.
"God's Nutritionist," a moving new book edited by Robert
Cohen, is a collection of the inspired writings of Ellen G. White, founder
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Not in the same category as the 'lose
weight' or the 'cure yourself' diet plans, this book is about spiritual
veganism and how to maintain good health. Robert has added many scientific
facts which support Ellen's advice. This is a good one for your bookshelf.
More info... http://www.squareonepublishers.com/titles_godsnutritionist.html
"The Hallelujah Diet," by a preacher in North Carolina,
the Rev. George Malkmus, involves an eighty percent raw vegan diet, but
includes honey. I think including plenty of raw food is a good idea, but
why eighty percent? That seems arbitrary, and I haven't yet swallowed the
raw food concept. A mix of raw and cooked food seems the best idea to me.
As an ethical vegan, I would never eat honey or any products containing
food stolen from bees. So, this diet gets my thumbs down.
New at the bookstores is Jordan S. Rubin's "The Maker's
Diet: The 40 Day Health Experience That Will Change Your Life Forever."
Rubin also sells a line of 30 nutritional supplements through his company,
Garden of Life. Hmm, a forty day diet, that sounds real biblical. Lent
lasts for forty days. Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness. Moses
was on the mountain for forty days. The Great Flood lasted for forty days
during which Noah wrote his book "The Eggs and Seafood Diet."
Rubin advocates eating organic meat, eggs and
unpasteurized dairy products and warns against an all-raw, vegan diet. Cow
and goat milk IS to be taken raw, however, or lightly fermented for 30
hours or taken in the form of raw cheese.
Lightly fermented goat milk? Yuk.
I think I would prefer the "Forty-Day Wilderness Fast Diet."
Whatever God's dietary preferences, when it comes to His
hobbies, I somehow doubt fox hunting would be one of them.
A group of hunters in England are trying to set up their
own "church" in order to try to protect themselves from their government's
attempt to ban fox hunting. This news was reported recently in The Daily
Telegraph of the UK.
The hunters feel that if they establish themselves as a
church called the Free Church of Country Sports, they will be able to
claim that anti-fox hunting legislation is a violation of their religious
freedom. They claim that not only fox hunting, but also shooting and
fishing are part of their religion.
The stained-glass windows on this church are exceedingly
transparent; perhaps they should just openly call themselves The Church of
the Immaculate Deception.
One of the founders of this group is Rod Brammer who runs
a shooting school at Shillingford, Devon. Mr. Brammer was quoted by the
Telegraph as saying, "We baptize our children by blooding them with the
blood of that which we kill. Is this any more strange than dressing them
in white and totally submerging them in water?" Yes, Mr. Brammer, that's a
bit more strange. But that's only my opinion as a spiritual vegan.
To learn more about what the religions of the world have
to say about veganism and animal rights, please visit...
The International Vegetarian Union's page
http://ivu.org/religion/
Also listen to ACT radio, Animal Concerns of Texas,
tonight, Sunday, June 13 at 7:30 Mountain time. ACT can be heard with Real
Radio by going to
http://ktep.org/program_detail.ssd?id=103
El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 : National Public Radio for the Southwest
Our guest on today's ACT is Dr. Stephen Kaufman, co-chair
of the Christian Vegetarian Association...
www.christianveg.com
Go on to The Absurdity
of Dissection
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