Is the HUMAN BODY meant to consume animals or plant life?!
Is the HUMAN BODY meant to consume animals or plant life?
I would like to hear what other vegans have to say on the subject.
I will say - I realise that not everyone believes in the bible. It does come up alot. i have studied Genesis and the bible and when God made Adam and Eve he put them in a Garden. He had Adam name the animals, not eat them... He told them to eat from the trees and plants. Many bible scholars will confirm that man kind was not to eat animals at all until after Noah's flood which was almost 2000 years after Adam and Eve were created....and then God said it would be permitted. So, if you go by what the bible says - mankind was originally intended to live on a fruit/veggie/grain diet.
Answers:
Some interesting verses from the bible. Mind you these are all from after the flood in which god decrede humans could for the time feast upon flesh to survive.
Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do. Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake. On Zion, God's holy hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil.
- Isaiah 11:6-9
Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them!
- Matthew 5:7
A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs.
- Proverbs 12:10
"Alas, what wickedness to swallow flesh into our own flesh, to fatten our greedy bodies by cramming in other bodies, to have one living creature fed by the death of another! In the midst of such wealth as earth, the best of mothers, provides, nothing forsooth satisfies you but to behave like the Cyclopes, inflicting sorry wounds with cruel teeth! You cannot appease the hungry cravings of your wicked, gluttonous stomachs except by destroying some other life."
- Pythagoras
Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them whenever they require it. .. If you have men who will exclude any of God′s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
- Saint Francis of Assisi
However Budism emphasizes the acceptance of suffering around us as a means to teach but we are meant to balance that suffering by not causing in. In other words we accept sufferage but do not contribute to it.
From a scientific stand point the eyes in front of the head theory has been proven to be false. Sharks for example have eyes on the side of their head as do snakes. Our teeth are not desigened with true canine teeth and are shorter and more cone shaped for tearing foliage not meat. Preditors have canine teeth designed to incapacitate their prey and not to tear it. Our stomach lining is chemically designed to break down plant material and not fully designed for meat which is one of the main reasons for colon cancer. The length of the digestive tract also resembles an herbivour becaue it is much longer resulting in a lower metabolism. So biologically we are not meant to eat meat.