Biblical Vegetarianism
April 8th, 2009by Vasu Murti das
According to the Bible, God intended the entire human race to follow a vegetarian diet (Genesis 1:29). Paradise is vegetarian. Rashi (Rabbi Solomon von Isaac, 1030-1105), the famous Jewish Bible commentator, taught that "God did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature and to eat its flesh. Only every green herb shall they all eat together." Ibn Ezra and other Jewish biblical commentators agree.
According to the Talmud, "Adam and many generations that followed him were strict flesh-abstainers; flesh foods were rejected as repulsive for human consumption." Although man was made in God's image and given dominion over all creation (Genesis 1:26-28), these verses do not justify humans killing animals and devouring them, because God immediately proclaims He created the plants for human consumption. (Genesis 1:29)
In a letter to Pope John Paul II, challenging him on the issue of animal experimentation, Dr. Michael Fox of the Humane Society argued that the word "dominion" is derived from the original Hebrew word rahe which refers to compassionate stewardship, instead of power and control. Parents have dominion over their children; they do not have a license to kill, torment or abuse them. The Talmud (Shabbat 119; Sanhedrin 7) interprets "dominion" to mean animals may be used for labor.
Man was made in God's image (Genesis 1:26) and told to be vegetarian (Genesis 1:29). "And God saw all that He had made and saw that it was very good." (Genesis 1:31) Complete and perfect harmony. Everything in the beginning was the way God wanted it. Vegetarianism was part of God's initial plan for the world.
Doing Enough for Animals
December 21st, 2008by Vasu Murti das
This slogan is part of the "Enough" campaign, with its aim of reducing meat consumption. The campaign highlights the waste of resources involved in feeding grain to animals.
of the world's grain is fed to animals for meat."
Vegetarianism for a trial period is advocated to "help the hungry, improve the environment," and "stop untold animal suffering." Vegetarianism is also recommended on health grounds. This campaign actually has the support of organized religion.
Paul: the Deceptive Disciple
November 27th, 2008by Vasu Murti das
Christian theologian Dr. Upton Clary Ewing writes:
"With all due respect for the integrity of Paul, he was not one of the Twelve Apostles... Paul never knew Jesus in life. He never walked and prayed with Him as He went from place to place, teaching the word of God."
In one of the finest books on early Christianity, "Those Incredible Christians," Dr. Hugh Schonfield reports:
"For the Apostolic Church much that Paul taught was grievous error not at all in accord with the mind and message of the Messiah. The original Apostles could urge that the truth was known by them. But Paul had never companied with Jesus or heard what he said..."
Interview with Abolitionist-Online in Australia
September 26th, 2008- In your book "They Shall Not Hurt Or Destroy” you say a few years ago Norm Phelps came to the conclusion, such as I myself have, that the animal rights movement will never succeed until we 'convert' the churches, mosques and synagogues to our cause. Is this also your point of view?
Yes. I would like to see organized religion take up the struggle for animal rights. Religion has been wrong before. It has often been said that on issues such as women's rights and human slavery, religion has impeded social and moral progress. It was a Spanish Catholic priest, Bartolome de las Casas, who first proposed enslaving black Africans in place of the Native Americans who were dying off in great numbers.
The church of the past never considered human slavery to be a moral evil. The Protestant churches of Virginia, South Carolina, and other southern states here in the U.S. actually passed resolutions in favor of the human slave traffic.
Refuting 'Not Even Close'
September 17th, 2008During 1986–1988, when I had access to USENET, a nationwide computer network linking corporations, military bases, think tanks, universities, etc., I paid close attention to the abortion debate. The subject of animal rights always came up, albeit indirectly.
The mentality of the pro-choicers was that the fetus wasn't human, but rather some kind of lower life form—and that lower life forms couldn't possibly have rights.
Book Review: Holy Cow
September 2nd, 2008by Vasumurti das
Purchase Online
(Lantern Books, U$ 17.00)
In his book, Holy Cow, author Steven Rosen (Satyaraja dasa) does an expert job of explaining the philosophy and history of the sankirtana movement to nondevotees. He begins by quoting Srila Prabhupada as saying, "Real philosophy is nothing more than this: 'friendliness to all living entities.'"
Here you can listen to an interview sith Satyaraja Prabhu by Toronto's animal liberation radio show, Animal Voices. The article with readers' comments is published here.
The Height of Hypocrisy
June 14th, 2008Jyoti Marie writes:
Where I work I am particularly disturbed about all this boasting of people becoming "yoga teachers" and still eating animals.
What do you think about the idea of co-writing an article on what I am calling "Faux-ga Teachers"... the blasphemy of all these American-westerners supposedly studying yoga and becoming adorned with the title of "yoga teacher" whilst still consuming animal flesh galore.
The only person I know of who will address this hypocrisy in public is Dr Gabriel Cousens who goes so far as to say—not only is it an insult to the original Sutras to eat meat and study or teach yoga --- if you eat animals, better NOT to take yoga, because you are putting the death energy further into the :"nadis".
In such an article I would also add the example of meeting a "Green Path Yoga Teacher" who: ate animal flesh, smoked pot, attended group sex parties, and never even heard of eco-scientist Rachel Carson. And he was a very successful yoga teacher with a DVD etc. etc. !!
Points of Similarity
April 7th, 2008Krishna Consciousness and Christianity
"The Hare Krishna religion is a bona fide religion with roots in India that go back thousands of years."
—New York Supreme Court
Justice John S. Leahy,
People v. Murphy
1. Anglican Priest Reverend Norman Moorhouse:
"The rosary is chiefly associated with Roman Catholics, but many members of the Church of England also use it. And there are many Russian orthodox Christians who chant the name of Jesus several hundred or thousand times every day...
"In the Book of Psalms there are biddings to praise the name of the Lord and to sing...I remember that during the Second World War, I was in Greece for Easter, and it was a wonderful thing to hear all the people chanting and singing 'Christos anesethe'—Christ is risen."
India's Contributions to Humanity
March 25th, 2008
A letter writer to my local newspaper claims that because “intellectually enlightened Western European Christians came to America 400 years ago,” America does not “resemble Laos, India, Ethiopia or Iran,” but instead possesses “the cities and the institutions that are the envy of the world.” This statement appears to be based more on prejudice than on fact.
There have been numerous civilizations throughout history; many were learned in the arts, sciences, humanities and metaphysics. Athens, for example, was a democracy devoted to human excellence in mind and body, to philosophy, and to the cultivation of the art of living. While Christianity kept the West in the Dark Ages for over a millennium, the civilizations in Asia were flourishing.
Interfaith Preaching
March 7th, 2008Why are devotees suddenly afraid to preach to people of other faiths? My own observations have shown a reluctance on the part of Vaishnavas in the West to engage in interfaith preaching.
Back in the late '90s, my friend Anantarupa dasa, an Irish Catholic devotee, once pointed out that we (Vaishnavas) really have no quarrel with Christianity. Srila Prabhupada merely said the Christians should properly follow the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (i.e.,extend their precepts of nonviolence to animals) and chant the names of God or Christ. Muslims, too, can follow a vegetarian diet and chant the names of Allah.
Perhaps by chanting the holy names found in their own respective traditions and refraining from violence against animals, then at the time of death, instead of being punished in hell by the Yamadutas and taking birth in lower species, they'll take birth as Vaishnavas, and have the opportunity to progress further in spiritual life.
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