If Jesus or Buddha were to have dinner at my house…, by Gogh

If Jesus or Buddha were to have dinner at my house…, by Gogh …I cannot imagine serving them anything but vegan dishes, especially since I am more aware now. Serving them meaty dishes, but with a kind and positive intention, which can only be born out of ignorance, is another story. But how can anyone serve them meat when it is now widely known that meat compromises our health, contributes massively to environmental problems, and causes horrendous animal sufferings? And if we don’t serve them meat, why do we serve meat to our loved ones, and to ourselves? The whole purpose of eating is to nourish the body, not to poison it for the sake of satisfying the taste buds. At a higher level, food is also an important channel that we can connect to our spiritual needs, or to attain harmony between the body, mind and spirit. I recognize that it is a debatable issue as to what these saints ate during their lifetime on Earth. Some argue that Jesus was a vegetarian; while others say he ate fish. Did Buddha drink goat’s milk or eat meat when they were offered to him? I am not at all interested in the answers to these questions, nor should anyone, for the simple fact that the situation over 2000 years ago is an entirely different situation from what we are facing now. We have to open our eyes to the current situation and act accordingly. Animal farming, a nightmarish farming system, was not practiced until the past few decades. The sufferings of animals during the past are totally incomparable to the tortures and horrors that these animals suffer now! Meat has never contained such shocking amount of pesticides, antibiotics and toxins! Our consumption of meat due to rising affluence and influx of fast foods has escalated sharply for the past decades; but sadly, so has our health problems. The drastic influence of meat production on our environment is unimaginable. Half of Earth’s total land mass is being used as a pasture for livestock! Imagine the deforestation that goes with it! Not to mention the massive pollution due to the excrement and released methane gas from these livestock. By feeding our grains to the livestock, just to satisfy the rich minority in the world, it is not difficult to understand why people are dying of starvation in the third world countries. We certainly need to learn to share our Earth’s limited resources with all other beings. Since I am on the topic of veganism and religion, I would like to take the opportunity to touch on the inclusion of dairy products with most Buddhist vegetarians. The health aspects of cow’s milk may be debatable; but from the wide literature, I strongly believe in its harmfulness to the human body. Putting health aside, the moral aspects of cow’s milk are clear! Many Buddhist hold that milk is acceptable, since it does not involve killing of the animal. But from what the cows suffered from present day mad “milking-system”, I think they are better off dead. If we were to put any human through the same horrendous treatment, I believe most would have committed suicide. Just imagine this: being forced to be pregnant again and again; being forced to be separated from your child again and again; being forced to produce milk up to 20 times of your natural capacity until you develop udder diseases; constantly being injected with antibiotics; being fed rubbish food and water; being imprisoned in a small space most of the time; and being slaughtered when you are no longer productive. Is that how we should treat these animals, like moneymaking machines, when in fact they are as capable of love and feelings as we are? Please open your eyes to what is happening now, and help us stop the madness of this whole animal-system. I wish to share this quote with you all, one that I particularly liked: "To be a vegetarian is to disagree---to disagree with the course of things today. Starvation, world hunger, cruelty, waste, wars---we must make a statement against these things. Vegetarianism is my statement. And I think it's a strong one." --Isaac Bashevis Singer Article contributed by Gogh Top Back to VSS Column.