Toward a Vegetarian Christendom

By Aren Roukema

"WHAT WOULD Jesus Eat?" That's a question some Christians are increasingly asking themselves.

One of them is Nathan Braun. With the much touted health benefits and ethical obligations of vegetarianism drawing millions to the carrot coloured Veggie banner, Braun decided it was time to coordinate a Christian response to the herbivore craze.

Now a twenty-four year old Masters student attending Trinity Western University, Braun founded the Christian Vegetarian Association in 1999 to bring Christianity to vegetarians and vegetarianism to Christians.

Initial reactions, says Braun, were very positive. The CVA started with a board of 100 academics and activists, and now has 1,000 subscribing members scattered over a wide international playing field.

Braun's sights, however, are set far higher than the current accomplishments of the CVA. "If the Lord wills," says Braun, "we want a vegetarian Christendom by 2150 - 2200."

This goal may be difficult considering the meat-eating contentment of most contemporary Christians, but Christian vegetarians like Nathan Braun think it's high time for a change. "The most concise argument for vegetarianism is one simple question: 'Why eat meat?'"

According to Braun, there is no good answer to this question, while there are many strong reasons not to eat meat.

First, a plant-based diet can better care for the human body as a temple of the Lord.

Second, factory farming methods used by meat producers harm the earth in many ways, violating the tenets of environmental stewardship.

Third, feeding plant crops to humans instead of wasting them on meat-producing animals would help alleviate world hunger.

Fourth, Christians should respect animal rights, which are violated by factory farming.

Braun cites support for vegetarianism from many great figures of the past, from Socrates to Gandhi, but the flagship role model, for himself and for his organization, is Jesus Christ. Braun readily admits that there is documented evidence -- in scripture -- of Christ eating meat, but insists that if Jesus walked on the earth today, he would likely be a vegetarian.

The dietary situation is different for us than it was in Jesus' day, says Braun. In terms of food, we have returned to an edenic state, in which most people have access to non-meat diets -- while in Jesus' day, famine and less sophisticated farming methods often resulted in a shortage of plant-based foods. Moreover, says Braun, Jesus would not support modern factory farming.

With the CVA's 'What Would Jesus Eat?' campaign, Braun hopes to show that though meat eating itself is not necessarily a sin, vegetarianism better expresses the love and peace of Christ.

"It's not that meat eating is so bad," Braun says, "It's that vegetarianism is so good . . . The only reason we're extreme one way is because society is particularly extreme the other way. If we were better stewards in the first place, we wouldn't need this movement."

Reaction from the Christian community has been good, he says. "This is the first time Christians have heard this message in . . . a language they can understand. Naturally, they are responsive to it."

For most, the incitement to vegetarianism does not produce drastic dietary change, but the CVA is willing to tug the ship of Christendom slowly into the veggie harbour.

Though most of the CVA's efforts thus far have been focused on making Christians aware of the benefits of vegetarianism, the larger purpose of Braun's organization is to attract vegetarians to Christianity by approaching them on their level.

Bringing the gospel to the largely secular vegetarian demographic, which Braun describes as "quasi-religious" in its dedication, may prove to be a difficult task; but at 22, having founded an international organization and co-authored a book entitled Good News For All Creation: Vegetarianism as Christian Stewardship, no one can fault Nathan Braun for lack of effort.