Much is said about the topic of meat eating and how traditionally it is written. This article could be applied to any religion if we leave our addictions and habits behind.
This post is possibly going to upset a few people. But it must be said. Why would I stay quiet on something that burns in my heart? Why have Bible & other religious verses been selectively interpreted over the years? Why have we chosen to follow some while forgetting what makes us uncomfortable, because it is easier? Ignoring entire tracts, entire books, entire gospels because they don't resonate with us...
We choose to believe we are under 'grace' for most things, yet how can we say on one hand, we do not need the herbs of Creation, or that we can eat flesh, but will not kill humans because 'God' told us not to, yet we blindly inject our newborns with 'medicines' that contain the DNA of aborted babies?
Why are we choosing one over the other? Why don't we go around freely killing other humans as we do animals? Possibly because we confuse the meaning of dominion and domination? Because of addictions, gluttony and lusts we feel do not exist because they are somehow ordained? Because the church or other religious leaders said so?
"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them, as one dieth, so dieth the other; Yes, they all have one breath; a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast for all is vanity." Ecclesiastes 3:19
Let's look at the meaning of the word domination or even dominion. Depending on your resource, it can be interpreted as cruel and controlling yet theologically it is interpreted as akin to an angel's role; performing a mission from God, kindliness, an attendant or guardian, virtuous or a messenger from God. Yet life is hell on earth for most animals today, with 150 billion animals slaughtered in horrific circumstances every year globally.
We were warned at the beginning to not taint the word. In Deuteronomy 4:2 the warning was clear, "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you." And in Revelation 22:18-19, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book." How very convenient. Who really wrote that? And what were the original, actual words? If any?
"What these correctors did was to cut out of the Gospels WITH MINUTE CARE certain teachings of our Lord which they did not propose to follow, namely, those AGAINST THE EATING OF FLESH AND THE TAKING OF STRONG DRINK." - Foreword to The Gospel Of The Holy Twelve Reverend Gideon Ousley. (One of the original translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most ancient authentic Judeo/Christian Bible). I would add much more to this list, like the deliberate vilification of women; especially Mary of Magdala but that is another topic altogether.
But we seem not to care. Each new re-interpretation of the Bible, alterations pamper our egos, make us feel good about choices. Read KJV of each verse here, and then read the newer versions. Pieces are left out, added or altered just enough to ever-so-slightly; whatever we want to believe. So we go on wondering why we are such a sick race; believing it has nothing to do with how we eat or what we choose to believe.
The Gospel of the Nazarenes (or Holy Twelve), argued to be the original teachings of Jesus, has this to say, "He who kills his brother and the flesh of slain beasts in his body will become his tomb." I am not sure how much clearer it can be. And, "Woe to the crafty who hurt and destroy the creatures of God! Yea, woe to the hunters for they will be hunted and with what mercy they shew unto their innocent prey the same will they receive at the hands of unworthy men!"
Major stumbling blocks for many Christians include the belief that Christ ate meat and the many references to meat in the New Testament. But close study of the original Greek manuscripts shows that the vast majority of the words are very different:
MEAT - original words TROPHE & BROME - and others that simply mean food or eating in the broadest sense. For example, in the Gospel (Luke 8:55) we read that Jesus raised a woman from the dead and 'commanded to give her meat.' The original Greek word translated as "meat" is phago, which means only "to eat".
So, what He actually said was, "Let her eat." The original Greek word for meat is kreas ("flesh"), and it is never used in connection with Christ. In Luke 24:41-43 the disciples offered him fish and a honeycomb and he took it (singular, we can only guess which one). Nowhere in the New Testament is there any direct reference to Jesus eating meat." (Ref Jesus Was a Vegetarian).
In Ezekiel 47:12 we are taught, "And the fruit thereof shall be for meat (food) and the leaf thereof for medicine." Meat aside, today's Christians in general believe the leaf - or herbal medicine - is witchcraft and should be avoided?
There is so much more to this and can be found in this tract.
I remember so many sermons based on the book of Isaiah, yet somehow never came across these verses until recently. Why? How can we pick and choose so easily? Yet Christians are admonished regularly for doing just that...
"I am full of the burnt offerrings of rams and the fat of fed beasts and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye spread forth your hands I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear for your hands are full of blood." Isaiah 1:11
But the most damning?
"He that kills an ox is like him who kills a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, like him who breaks a dogs neck; he who presents a kid offering, like him who offers swines blood...yea they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations." Isaiah 66:3
Interestingly, newer versions of the Bible have changed these verses ever so slightly, to bring about totally different meanings. For example, between King James and the NIV, the word oblation (signifying offering) has been changed to grain or even goat - just enough for the questioning mind to be told that plant foods are also a sin. So many people believe the consumption of goat is fine. Biblical even!
And to the issue of 'Grace'. What a convenient word for the Christian. We are instructed to, "Go, sin no more." How many believe we can just keep sinning and then be forgiven without repenting and turning away from that sin? How many sins can it encompass? No wonder this world is so confused today. One of the most blatantly obvious alterations of a Bible verse is in the New Testament. The word flesh was changed from food so it could be interpreted in any way the reader wished.
"Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." 1 Corinthians 8:13
Another Bible story so tainted it has changed careers and belief systems of billions of people was the story of the fishes and loaves. The original text mentioned fish weed. As in fresh water equivalent of sea weed. Yet even today, Christians proudly bear the ichthus symbol. And as for lamb in the Passover meal, more can be found here.
This is not about the New Testament simply absolving us of sin. If we really read the New Testament, we will see even moreso that Jesus was not about eating meat. And what dairy He may have taken is nothing to do with the mass farms and wholesale slaughter and suffering of cattle today. This is not just Muslims or Jews. This is Christians and even Hindus. This is not just one animal. It is all animals.
It is total domination.
For me, I can only continue to cry that animal cruelty in churches needs to stop. It is one of the reasons I no longer take part in regular church services, as I felt I was being a hypocrite in keeping quiet.
I can only urge you to watch this documentary and then ask yourself if Jesus would be taking part, as most of us are, every single day, simply with what we eat and how we spend our money, or turn a blind eye. I know the answer. I wont be a hypocrite. I wont support slaughter in the temple.