|
|
|
Christians Now, I don't mean to anger Christians by saying this since I am one myself, but why are so many of us fake about our churches teachings? No, no, I'm not talking about all of the picayune viewpoints that our churches tell us to follow or even going to church every weekend; I could care less about them. I'm talking about one of the main teaching in the bible: respecting Gods creations. Chances are, you, your priest, and just about everyone around you ate one of Gods creations today which goes by the common name of meat. I know it doesn't sound wrong, but do you think Jesus would want us to eat his creations? Of course, nearly everyone is going to say, "Well, look at the bible, God says it's fine to eat animals." This is true, taking the scripture verbatim, there are plenty of justifications that can be found for eating God's creations. Jesus himself ate fish (Luke 24:42-43) and lamb (Luke 22:8-15). He even fed a crowd full of people with fish (Matthew 14:17-21). However, in presenting these examples, there is also a plethora of contradictions to these verses. One of the most relevant examples of this is found in the perfect, sinless world, or Garden of Eden, where God says: "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 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." And it was so." (Gen. 1:29-30). Taking the word of the Lord plainly, this perfect, sinless world was vegetarian. These types of contradictions mentioned above occur quite often in the Bible especially when we take the passages literally. In addition, the meanings of some verses are often skewed when they are translated since they aren't adjusted to the current culture. This can lead to misinterpretations. In following the trend of contradictions, it is possible to find some Biblical passages which unmistakably condone some forms of slavery, burning witches and anti-Semitism, and killing innocent people in war. Christians don't follow these passages; common sense tells us that the Jesus we know would never endorse these activities. Christians look to the overall teachings of the merciful and compassionate man in the Bible, Jesus, not specific passages, to decide God would want us to do. Now, back to the question posed above, looking at the compassionate man you know from the Bible, Jesus, and not specific passages, do you think our God of love would want you to kill his own creations, which, like you, feel pain? I most certainly would hope not. In fact, if you seriously believe that your 'loving' God would enjoy you killing his own creations, then I think it's time you found a new, more compassionate God. A 'loving' and 'compassionate' God who supports the slaughter of his own creations? Come on now, let's get serious. That is very hard to believe considering God is compassionate, not ruthless. Still, regardless of all the teachings of compassion the bible teaches us, some people believe that killing God's creations is what Jesus would do. In all reality, you could give me all the biblical quotes in the world, and I would still find it very hard to believe God would enjoy us killing his own sentient creations. The Jesus I know from the bible, who teaches mercy, compassion, and love for all of God's creations, would never inflict pain on his own creations, especially if it wasn't necessary. Use the overall teachings of the bible and common sense about God, not specific passages from the Bible to justify your actions. Do what the compassionate God you love would want you to do, not what is most convenient for yourself. The compassionate God I love wouldn't want us to inflict pain, suffering, and death on his own creations. I guess my God is completely different from yours.
|
|
LiveWire
is an online multimedia magazine sponsored by the Communications |
