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Extracts from
’The Bible, Jesus, and Veganism’
by
Gary Yourofsky

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THE GARDEN OF VEGAN

Adam and Eve, the first vegans on this planet, resided in the Garden of Eden, the world's first vegan paradise. They were living testaments to Genesis 1:29, God's first dietary law: "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."

Isaiah 11:7, God's last dietary law, states, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the cow will feed with the bear, the lion will eat straw like the ox, and a little child will lead them. And neither will harm nor destroy on My Holy Mountain." The beginning and the end are vegan because veganism is the only way to live without bloodshed and cruelty.

Many other scriptures profess God's love for animals. "God tests them [humans] so that they may see they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals. The same fate awaits them both. As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place. All come from dust and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth." Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

”In that day I will make a covenant for them. With the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land so that all may lay down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion." Hosea 2:18-19

DOMINION, THOU SHALT NOT KILL, AND THE LOST GOSPEL

The dominion directive and THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment hold the dubious distinction of being the most important, yet most misunderstood mandates. Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17 unambiguously state, "You shall not murder." So, contrary to religious dogma, not killing animals, extending mercy, and being compassionate honour the THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment. When meat-eaters support, disobey or ignore this all-encompassing commandment, they are guilty of committing the ultimate sin.

Displaying the utmost arrogance, meat-eaters also assume dominion gives them the right to enslave and torture animals with impunity. Dominion's true calling, however, is for humans to protect and care for God's most innocent creatures. The dominion humans have over animals is the same dominion parents have over their children.

The Gospel of the Nazirenes states, "It has been written, 'Thou shalt not kill', but I say to you, if any hate and desire to slay, they have broken the Law. If they cause hurt or torment to any creature, they are guilty. But if they kill to put an end to suffering which cannot be healed, they are not guilty, if they do it quickly and with much mercy." 47:3

Church Fathers Papias, Hegesippus, Iranaeas, Clement, Origen, Basil, Epiphanius, Eusebius and St. Jerome wrote about The Gospel of the Nazirenes, which verifies its ancient existence. Penned sometime in the first century, it is now unjustly part of the Apocrypha, scriptures viewed as inauthentic by the Church.

The Gospel of the Nazirenes is only labeled as apocryphal because it forbids the killing of animals for sacrifice or sustenance. Shamefully, most Christians are more concerned about murdering innocent creatures, meaningless customs and the death of Jesus, instead of giving compassion to those who need it the most. Jesus always tried to reduce or eliminate the pain and suffering of others.

Today's bible is the Roman—not Judeo-Christian—version of biblical events. From the years 325-403, Emperor Constantine's Council of Nicea re-wrote and re-edited most of the compassionate teachings of Jesus and other prophets to promote an agenda of hatred, from heterosexism and misogyny to slavery and speciesism.

Acts 15:20 states, "...abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood." Acts 15:29 adds, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things."

The aformentioned Acts verses are reiterated in chapter 7, verse 10 of The Gospel of the Nazirenes: "Keep yourselves from blood and things strangled and from dead bodies of birds and beasts, and from all deeds of cruelty, and from all that is gotten from wrong. Do you think that the blood of beasts and birds will wash away sin? I tell you, No! Speak the the truth, be just, and merciful to one another and to all creatures, and walk humbly with your Creator."

MERCY OR CRUELTY

If cruelty is evil, and God is all-compassionate and all-merciful, then why do people believe God is an animal-killing, bloodthirsty, murderous devil? If slicing animals into pieces is permissible by God, then what horrible things could the Devil possibly do to animals? In other words, if you believe God condones the killing of animals, then the God you glorify is no better than the Devil you condemn.

Cruelty to animals is sacrilegious and desecrates the Good Lord's name. In The Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus agrees, "This commandment have I given you, that you love one another and all the creatures of the earth. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. Love is of the Lord, and the Lord is love. Whoso loves not, knows not the Lord....you are my disciples if you show mercy and love to all creatures, especially those that are weak and oppressed and suffer wrong. For the whole earth is filled with dark places of cruelty, with pain and sorrow, by the selfishness and ignorance of man." 76:5-6

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS

Jesus belonged to the vegan sect of the Essenes known as the Nazirenes. With the compassionate ways of both branches documented by dozens of historians and theologians, it's impossible to believe that Jesus consumed a violent diet of dismembered limbs and cut-up corpses. In THE PACIFISM, COMMUNALISM AND VEGETARIANISM OF PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY, researcher Charles Vaclavic also establishes an undeniable link between the Nazirenes, the Essenes and the Pythagoreans. [Until the 19th century, vegans and vegetarians were called Pythagoreans.] This religious lineage negates any claim of a flesh-eating Jesus because all three groups refused to violate the THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment by including animals in their circles of compassion. In The Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus states, "Wherefore those who want to be my disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths for the Lord is just and bountiful who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and the seeds of the earth alone" 38:1-6

In the book FAMOUS VEGETARIANS AND THEIR FAVORITE RECIPES, historian Rynn Berry documents the veganism of Jesus, while theologians Dr. Hugh Schonfield and University of Paris Professor Ernest Renan verify His compassionate ways in THE PASSOVER PLOT and LIFE OF JESUS, respectively. Schonfield writes, "The old Nazirenes, like the Samaritans, were opposed to the Judean traditions, holding that the southerners had falsified the Law of Moses. They were vegetarians, and rejected animal sacrifices, but practiced circumcision and observed the Jewish Sabbath and festivals."

Indirect references of a vegan Jesus appear in Dr. Thomas Walker's WHAT JESUS READ, Professor Robert Eisler's THE MESSIAH JESUS and Eusebius' ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Eusebius affirms that James, the brother of Jesus, was vegan from birth and directed the early spiritual community in Jerusalem after the Crucifixion. "Control of the Church passed to the apostles, together with the Lord's brother James, whom everyone from the Lord's time until our own has called the Righteous, for there were many Jameses, but this one was holy from his birth; he drank no wine or intoxicating liquor and ate no animal food; no razor came near his head; he did not smear himself with oil, and took no [public] baths. He alone was permitted to enter the Holy Place, for his garments were not of wool, but of linen. He used to enter the Sanctuary alone...because of his unsurpassable righteousness he was called the Righteous...Bulwark of the People."

Since James harmed no animal in his daily sustenance, isn't it logical to assume that Mary raised Jesus and James on the same diet, not one as a meat-eater and the other as a vegan? The Gospel of the Nazirenes also proclaims that John the Baptist "... shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall neither eat flesh meats, nor drink strong drink ..." Doesn't logic tell us, again, that Jesus would have followed the same "great" diet of his close friend John?

THE BODY IS A TEMPLE

If fruits and vegetables do not cause disease, and animal products are responsible for all of our main diseases, why do people believe the Lord ordained pestilent food? Are we supposed to believe the Lord said, "I give you cows and pigs and chickens. Hang them upside down, cut their throats, dismember their bodies, cook their muscles and consume their flesh. Even if it clogs your arteries or gives you cancer or diabetes, be fruitful and multiply." As you can see, rationalizing the consumption of animal products is preposterous. God admonishes us to treat the body like a temple by ingesting healthy, cruelty-free foods. Read the HUMAN HERBIVORES section of ALL ABOUT VEGANISM to discover how the human body is 100 percent herbivorous.

Daniel 1:8,11-16 clearly shows how well the human body responds to healthy, cruelty-free food: "Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel then said to the guard ... please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead."

JESUS AND FISH

In Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17 Jesus says to Peter and Andrew, "Come and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men." These verses, along with The Council of Nicea's account of Jesus feeding fish to the multitudes, lead people to believe that Jesus was a fish-eating fisherman.

Jesus, however, never engaged in occupations that were harmful to animals. He was a rabbi, a teacher, an orator, a healer, a miracle worker and a savior. And He gave His life for all of creation!

As for feeding the multitudes, The Gospel of the Nazirenes states, "And it came to pass as Jesus had been teaching the multitudes, and they were hungry and faint from the heat of the day, then there passed...a woman on a camel laden with melons and other fruits. And He took five melons and divided them among the people, and they ate, and their thirst was quenched...none of them went home hungry or thirsty; and many that had fevers were healed." 48:1-4

The MIRACLE is the point of the story. Whether fruit or fish, Jesus multiplied tiny rations to feed thousands. If He used fish, He certainly didn't grab a net and a hook and dash feverishly to the Euphrates to kill them. He made them appear, thus bypassing the suffering and death fishermen are responsible for. Talk about cruelty-free eating!

ANIMAL SACRIFICE

Animal sacrifices displayed a primitive understanding of God's mandates, and were as insane as the human sacrifices that preceded them. Humility and sincere contrition were the only penances for sin. Killing an innocent animal only increased the original sin. It never exonerated one from it. In the Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus agrees: "No blood offering of beast or bird, or man, can take away sin, for how can the conscience be purged from sin by the shedding of innocent blood? No, it will increase the condemnation. Is it not written in the Prophets, 'Put away your blood sacrifices and your burnt offerings, and cease from the eating of flesh, for I spoke not to your fathers nor commanded them when I brought them out of Egypt concerning these things.' And what does the eternal command you, but to be just, love, have mercy and walk humbly with the Law." 33:2-8

Isaiah 1:15 states, "The multitude of your sacrifices - what are they to me," says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals. I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Atop bringing meaningless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, sabbaths and convocations - I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands of full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong, learn to do right."

Isaiah 66:3 states, "Whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man, and whoever offers a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck."

Hebrews 10:4 confirms Isaiah's Old Testament wisdom: "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."

Micah, Jeremiah, Amos, Daniel, Zechariah and other prophets also condemned sacrifices. In fact, the first recorded animal liberation happened when Jesus freed the animals from the altar when He dispersed the money-changers from the Temple!

BIBLICAL MISREPRESENTATION

Many people use the bible to justify hatred, discrimination, domination and murder. 1 Timothy 2:11-13 tells women to obey men, "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve." While other scriptures condemn homosexuals, Leviticus 25:44-45 even excuses racism, "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property." For centuries, white Christians used the bible to justify slavery in America, apartheid in South Africa and pogroms of witches, Native Americans and other non-Christians. Even Hitler, a staunch Christian, used the bible in a genocidal attempt to fulfill his mendacious prophesy of an all-white race. With such documented Christian-borne atrocities, today's Christians should not be shocked when animal rights people explain how the bible is being used by meat-eaters to perpetuate the murder of billions of animals every year!

JESUS WARNS OF EVILDOERS

Most religious leaders misguide people with cruel interpretations of Christianity and Judaism. Clergy who fail to condemn the mass murder of animals in slaughterhouses, the most evil and wicked places on this planet, are spiritual hypocrites because they promote iniquity. In The Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus agrees: "Verily I say unto you, for this end I have come into the world; that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of the flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men. In the beginning the Creator gave to all the fruits of the trees and the seeds of the earth and the herbs for food. But those who loved themselves more than the Lord or their fellows, corrupted their ways and brought diseases into their bodies and filled the earth with lust and violence." 75:6-14

Jesus also says, "Speak the truth, be just and merciful to one another and to all creatures, and walk humbly with your Creator." 7:9-10

Most importantly, Jesus warns, "The enemies of truth and righteousness shall rule in my name and set up a kingdom of this world, oppress the peoples...teaching in my name that which I have not taught and darkening much that I have taught BY THEIR TRADITIONS." 95:3

CAIN AND ABEL

Fred "Felice" Rizzo, Ph.D., contends that Cain killed Abel because Abel was a cattle-ranching animal-killer. When Abel violated the THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment, Cain responded with the first justifiable homicide. Cain knew that using force to stop abuse or murder was a permissible act of vicarious self-defense.

Rizzo further explains the etymology of Abel's name. It translates to anti-God. "Ab" is the prefix that negates, while "El" is an archaic word for God. The ancient storytellers passed down the Cain and Abel narrative and forever let it be known which brother was evil by labeling Abel as anti-God. According to Rizzo's etymological research, all words derived from Abel pertain to something evil, while words from Cain are happy or peaceful. For instance, the Jewish Holiday Chanukah is derived from Cain's name.

THE BEDROCK OF CHRISTIANITY

Today's bible is ambiguous about Jesus' diet because selling a vegan messiah to a carnivorous Roman society was no easy task. Convincing the meat-eating masses to accept Jesus' messianic status meant pushing aside His vegan lifestyle and labeling many of His peaceful teachings as unnecessary eccentricities.

Organized religion focuses too much on barbaric traditions and inane rituals, instead of peaceful living and compassionate duty. It sickens me that the most important aspect of religion is gathering together on the weekend watching someone in a suit—or a black, red, white or green robe with a green, white, red or black hat—performing hand-jive rituals of imaginary cross-signs and prayer-gestures. Imagine if churches and synagogues only demanded its followers to be good people rather than mean automatons!

As someone who believes in God, I do not reject the bedrock of Christianity and Judaism! I only reject stupid religious customs and attempts to justify malicious acts of cruelty in the name of God. If people looked into the eyes of an animal, they would SEE God in those wondrous creations. Job 7:8 states, "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you." God is in no book. God is in no building. God is no priest or rabbi on a pulpit condemning animals to death. God is in the heart. God is compassion. I don't believe in ink and paper, or people. I believe in compassion, and I believe in God.

For more in depth information on how Veganism aligns with Christianity, click the banner image above

Meat

‘Do you think that I speak of the eating of flesh, which you ignorantly do in your temples?'
Not as your ancestors, who craved for flesh and taking of it, ate of corruption till it stank
in their nostrils, and their carcasses fell by the thousands in the wilderness by reason of
the plagues." 31:2-3

Today's farm sheds and slaughterhouses are as close to the definition of evil as it is
possible to get. Despite increasing assurances of “higher welfare standards,” countless
Red Tractor and RSPCA Assured farms have been exposed for cover ups and egregious
mistreatment of animals. Check out Animal Rising’s recent campaign and Viva’s!
documentary, Hogwood, for proof of this.

• Overcrowded and Unsanitary Conditions: Investigations reveal pigs and poultry living in filthy, cramped environments, often standing in their own waste​ and resorting to cannibalising deceased, rotting pigs out of stress and hunger.

• Physical Abuse: Farmed animals are frequently beaten, taunted, sexually abused, restrained against their will, separated from their young, and forced to witness the suffering and slaughter of other animals, before being killed in the most horrific ways possible themselves.

• Neglect: Animals are often found suffering from untreated injuries and illnesses, left to die slowly without veterinary treatment.

Whether you purchase factory farmed, free-range or organic meat, they all endure the same brutal and barbaric procedures and, of course, they all face the same tragic and terrifying end. The method of slaughter doesn’t differ between welfare labels.

And whilst the clever marketing of higher welfare may have you believe they live contented lives prior to being sent off to slaughter, the reality is their living conditions are, at best, only marginally improved.

In the UK alone, approximately 1.2 billion land animals are slaughtered annually for human consumption. This includes over 1 billion chickens, 15 million turkeys, 14 million sheep, 2.8 million cattle, and over 10 million pigs.

Here are just a handful of standard-practice horrors, across the board, within the meat industry:

Pigs

• Thumping: or PAC (pounding against concrete), is a barbaric method used to kill unviable piglets by slamming them against a hard surface, typically the ground. This method, approved by the RSPCA, subjects these young animals to extreme pain and fear and often leaves them writhing on the floor as their brain hemorrhages. Young piglets also endure several other excruciating procedures without any pain relief:

• Tail Docking: To prevent tail biting, due to their stressful environment, piglets' tails are cut off, causing acute pain due to the numerous nerve endings. This procedure, done without anesthesia, leaves piglets in severe distress, evident by their squeals and attempts to escape​.

• Teeth Clipping: The sharp ends of piglets' teeth are clipped or ground down to prevent injuries to other piglets as they grow. This, again, is done without pain relief, causing immediate and lasting pain.

Birds

• Debeaking: This process involves cutting off a portion of a chick's beak to prevent pecking and cannibalism in crowded conditions. This is typically done without pain relief, causing acute and chronic pain.

• Maceration / Gassing / Suffocation : Male chicks, deemed economically useless, are often killed by grinding them alive shortly after hatching.

• Forced Rapid Growth: Broiler chickens are selectively bred and sometimes given growth-promoting substances to grow unnaturally fast, leading to severe health issues like skeletal deformities and organ failure​.

Cows

• Dehorning and Disbudding: These painful procedures involve removing or stopping the growth of horns in calves, usually without adequate anesthesia or pain management.

• Branding: Cows are often branded with hot irons, causing severe pain and potential infections.

• Tail Docking: This involves removing part of a cow's tail, typically without pain relief, leading to chronic pain and an inability to swat away flies, increasing stress and discomfort.

The Reality of Animal Products

Easter slaughter of lambs

Hogwood was a Red Tractor approved farm, supplying supermarket giant Tesco.
Click to watch the documentary.

Shortened Lifespans

The vast majority of farmed animals are slaughtered well before they reach
even a fraction of their natural lifespan. See the following chart:

The Failures of Stunning Methods

Stunning methods, intended to render animals unconscious before slaughter, are typically just as petrifying to think about as the slaughter itself. Whilst here in the UK we tend to reassure ourselves that animals are “humanely” stunned prior to death, ask yourself: what is humane about being lowered into a gas chamber and feeling like your organs are burning, or being lowered head first into electrical bath, or having a bolt fired into your skull to pierce your brain, or being stuck with electrical tongs? All of these are the standard methods of stunning used for animals in this country.

Plus, all of the above often fail to render the animals unconscious due to faulty equipment, human error, and the animals' instinctive panic upon entering the slaughterhouse, where the stench of blood is overwhelming and the shrieks of other animals can be clearly heard. Consequently, this means many animals are fully conscious, in agony and thoroughly traumatised, when they are strung up and their throats are finally slit.

As A Christian, Please Consider This

If farms and slaughterhouses are the will of God, then surely it will be easy to watch the videos and documentaries we have included alongside this text. To not be able to do so would be to deny God’s will, would it not? And if you cannot bear to face these videos, after all, perhaps take a moment to ask yourself why. If this is how it was supposed be, if this is the natural order of things, then why do you feel such overwhelming empathy and anguish upon seeing these animals suffer?

As a Christian myself, I wholeheartedly know that animal agriculture is the result of the devil’s influence upon mankind, not God’s intention. And that doesn’t mean to say that we - because, remember, I formely believed in free range farming as a non-vegan, too - or farmers, or even slaughterhouse workers are necessarily evil.

Are there men and women who chose to work in those industries because they thoroughly enjoy harming animals? Of course there are. We’ve both heard a lot of graphic detail from them over the years. They thoroughly relish their jobs. But equally, lots of people who work within these industries are themselves exploited. Many are refugees who cannot speak a word of English and are being paid far below minimum wage.

Statistically, slaughterhouse workers face a significantly higher risk of addiction, PTSD, and violent behavior due to the traumatic nature of their work. Regular exposure to killing animals leads to emotional distress, desensitization, and psychological trauma. To cope, many workers turn to substance abuse. Additionally, the normalization of violence within slaughterhouses contributes to increased violence in their communities, including domestic violence.

It’s also worth noting that livestock farming is highly water-intensive, requiring about 1,799 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, compared to 226 gallons for soy and 132 gallons for wheat​. Currently, over 50% of the world's grain is fed to livestock instead of humans, a quantity that could otherwise feed billions of people..

Animal Farming has a significant impact on developing countries. Approximately 82% of starving children live in regions where food is grown for livestock consumed by Western nations, creating an imbalance where the nutritional needs of poorer regions are compromised to supply meat to wealthier countries​.

So, even if you’re not an animal lover, perhaps question the impact we’re having upon our fellow human beings with our demand for animal products.

Ultimately, none of us are blameless in this. Yet, equally, none of us are beyond redemption, but we must take responsibility for our actions. Once we have knowledge of what atrocities are taking place due to our own needless demands, morally, we must do all we can to turn away from it and encourage others to do so, too.

Fish

The fishing industry is also a significant source of animal suffering. Every year, 2.7 trillion fish are caught globally, amounting to an astonishing 5 million fish per minute. Once caught, they die from suffocation, extreme distress, or they’re crushed, blugeoned or hacked to pieces whilst still alive.

The massive scale of fishing not only depletes fish populations but also results in significant bycatch, where an estimated 650,000 non-target species such as whales, dolphins, seals, and sea turtles are unintentionally caught and killed. Approximately 40% of all fish caught are discarded, leading to the unnecessary death of these animals. The pacific Blue Fin tuna, for example, has been fished to the brink of extinction, with only 3% of its population remaining.

Fish farming, which now accounts for 50% of the world's seafood, subjects fish to severely overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. These conditions often lead to high mortality rates, with up to half of farmed fish dying before they reach the plate. Farmed fish live in their own excrement and suffer from diseases such as anemia, lice infestations, and heart disease.

In worth noting that seabird populations have also plummeted by 70% since the 1950s, largely due to overfishing, which disrupts the food chain and reduces the availability of fish for these birds.

In essence, the fishing industry’s impact is catastrophic; it kills more animals in a single day than the Deepwater Horizon oil spill did over several months. Scientists predict that by 2048, our oceans will be practically devoid of fish, and consequently, devoid of other marine life as well.

With abundant plant-based food options available today, we must question the necessity and ethics of continuing to consume animal products. Genetic modifications and artificial insemination of animals, driven by industrial demands, further deviate from natural and ethical principles, constituting a crime against God’s creation.

Dairy

Dairy products are produced primarily from cow's milk. Though, of course, there is some demand for goat's milk, too. Both of these animals have strong maternal instincts and carry their babies for many months—cows actually carry their calves for nine months, the same as humans, and the milk they produce, just like all mammals, is intended for their babies.

In the dairy industry, most cows are impregnated through artificial insemination—a highly distressing process that involves farmers restraining the cows and inserting their whole arm into their rectum. Their calves are taken away shortly after birth, in order to maximize milk production. After being separated, both mother and calf experience tremendous grief and anxiety, with farmers freely admitting that they cry out for one another for days, if not weeks, afterwards.

Female calves endure the same fate as their mothers, while male calves are typically killed just days after birth, often in a brutal, violent way, or kept for several months before being slaughtered for veal, as there is far less demand for males within the industry. Both sexes are, however, denied the right to drink from their mother and placed onto a weak formula and kept in solitary confinement for prolonged periods.

For the mother cow, this cycle repeats until she is no longer capable of producing enough milk. When that happens, she is slaughtered for cheap meat, usually at around 4-5 years old, despite her natural lifespan being around 20-25 years.

Eggs

Before human intervention, in their natural environment, hens used to lay around 12 eggs per year, like many other wild birds. However, the egg industry has now selectively bred hens to produce up to 350+ eggs. This intensive egg-laying cycle severely strains their small bodies, leading to numerous health issues such as osteoporosis and prolapses.

To maintain the population of productive hens, hatcheries incubate eggs to produce new chicks. Both male and female chicks hatch from these eggs, but the males, being unable to lay eggs, are considered useless by the industry. Consequently, male chicks are killed shortly after hatching, often by methods such as grinding them alive or suffocation. In some cases, they are discarded in garbage bins to die slowly.

Throughout their lives, most hens in the egg industry are confined to small, crowded cages where they never experience sunlight or fresh air. They are unable to perform natural behaviors like spreading their wings, perching, or foraging for food. This extreme confinement leads to significant behavioral issues, including aggression and frustration among the hens. To mitigate these issues, the industry often resorts to de-beaking, a process where over a quarter of a hen’s sensitive beak is cut off, all without the use of painkillers. This procedure causes long-term pain.

The use of the words “Free-range” and “organic” were created to make the consumer feel better about their purchase. But the sad reality is, whether factory farmed, free-range, or organic, the egg industry still depletes hens of their calcium through the removal of their eggs, and still sees male chicks as waste products to be disposed of.

When hens are no longer productive enough, they are sent to slaughter. Many die or suffer agonising breaks on the way to the slaughterhouse, as they are crammed so tightly into tiny crates.

Animal Skins and Fleeces

From a Christian perspective, supporting the wool, leather, down, and fur industries is deeply deplorable, due to the extensive cruelty inflicted on animals and the broader environmental harm associated with these practices. These industries stand in stark contrast to core Christian values of compassion, stewardship, and respect for all life.

Wool Industry: Shearers, often paid by volume, work quickly and carelessly, leading to frequent injuries. Investigations have revealed workers punching, kicking, and stomping on sheep, causing severe wounds that are stitched without pain relief. Practices such as mulesing, which involve cutting chunks of flesh from lambs' hindquarters without anesthesia, result in painful, bloody wounds that often become infected​.

Leather Industry: Animals used for leather, including cows, pigs, goats, and exotic animals, are often subjected to brutal conditions and inhumane slaughter methods. For example, snakes are sometimes nailed to trees and skinned alive, while alligators are clubbed to death. The process of turning animal skins into leather involves hazardous chemicals that pose significant health risks to workers and nearby communities​.

Down Industry: The down industry involves the painful plucking of feathers from ducks and geese, often while the birds are still alive. These birds are kept in cramped factory-farm conditions, causing immense suffering and environmental harm due to runoff contaminating local water supplies​.

Fur Industry: The fur industry is notoriously cruel, involving the trapping, confinement, and inhumane killing of animals such as mink, foxes, and raccoons. Animals on fur farms live in tiny cages and are often killed through painful methods such as gassing, anal electrocution, and neck-breaking. Investigations have revealed animals suffering from untreated wounds, cannibalism, and severe psychological distress due to confinement.

Supporting these industries is fundamentally at odds with Christian teachings. The Bible emphasizes stewardship of creation (Genesis 1:26-28), compassion for all living beings (Proverbs 12:10), and the sanctity of life. By endorsing practices that inflict severe suffering on animals and harm the environment, Christians fail to uphold these core values. Ethical and sustainable alternatives are now widely available, so why on earth would we continue to contribute to such suffering when presented with the choice not to?

Honey

Modern honey production involves the exploitation of bees, which are sentient creatures capable of experiencing pain and distress. In commercial beekeeping, bees are often culled post-harvest, by fire. Queens also often have their wings clipped to prevent them from leaving the hive, and colonies can be artificially inseminated, which is a stressful process for the bees. Additionally, during the extraction of honey, bees can be inadvertently crushed or killed​..

Bees produce honey as a food source to sustain their colony through the winter months. When humans harvest honey, it disrupts this natural process, depriving bees of their vital food supply. Beekeepers often replace the harvested honey with sugar water or corn syrup, which lacks the essential nutrients found in honey. This substitution can weaken the bees' immune systems and make them more susceptible to diseases​.

Harm to One’s Own Health

“Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf filled with hate." Proverbs 15:17

You might not know it, but a significant shift is occurring within the medical community, with an increasing number of doctors advocating for plant-based diets, due to their profound health benefits and potential to prevent and manage chronic diseases. A recent article in The Independent reported on doctors calling for the UK government to stop promoting meat and dairy as essential for health. They argue that such recommendations are misleading and do not align with the latest scientific evidence.

Did you know that the Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of The World Health Organisation (WHO), has emphasized the necessity of transitioning to plant-based diets to improve both human health and environmental sustainability? He pointed out that food production, particularly animal agriculture, is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and the global burden of disease​.

And did you also know that two of the largest and most respected nutritional organizations, The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the British Dietetic Association, affirm that vegan diets are suitable for all stages of life? These include pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and older adulthood, and they can provide all necessary nutrients if properly planned​, just like all diets.

Many people might, understandably, be sceptical about switching to a plant-based diet, especially if their general practitioners (GPs) have traditionally recommended meat for iron and dairy for calcium. However, it is worth remembering that many regular GPs receive minimal nutrition training—often only about 24 hours throughout their entire education.

One major example of the ignorance of doctors is, as we’ve just mentioned: dairy. It’s no coincidence that the countries with the highest dairy consumption also have some of the highest rates of osteoporosis. I know, right? How can this be, when doctors are so vocal about dairy being essential for bone health?

Absorption Issues: While dairy products, for instance, are rich in calcium, the human body does not efficiently absorb it. According to Harvard Health, only about 30% of the calcium in dairy is absorbed by the body. The consumption of all animal protein, be it dairy, meat, or eggs, causes your body to leach calcium from your bones, which is then excreted through urine. This is because animal protein is too acidic for our bodies. Because of this, it has to find a way to neutralize that acidity and fast, and our bone density is the cost, putting people at higher risk of developing conditions like osteoporosis and developing sometimes fatal fractures in later life.

It can feel so scary, having lived your whole life believing in one thing, believing in the knowledge of certain individuals, only to be told something completely contradictory. You feel betrayed, confused. We get it. Every vegan has been there, and it is indeed terrifying. But these are the very real facts, and very real consequences of consuming meat and other animal products.

Please see our Health page for further details.

Land Animals

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire transportation sector (13%). Livestock and their byproducts produce 32,000 million tons of CO2 annually, accounting for 51% of all worldwide emissions. Methane from livestock is 25-100 times more destructive than CO2 over 20 years, with 86 times the global warming potential. Livestock also emits 65% of human-related nitrous oxide, which is 296 times more potent than CO2 and remains in the atmosphere for 150 years. Emissions from agriculture are projected to increase by 80% by 2050, potentially exceeding sustainable limits by 2030 even without fossil fuels.

Water Consumption: Consumes 34-76 trillion gallons of water annually. Producing 1 pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water, 1 pound of eggs needs 477 gallons, 1 pound of cheese requires 900 gallons, and 1 gallon of milk needs 1,000 gallons. This sector is responsible for 20%-33% of all fresh water consumption worldwide.

Land Use: Livestock and their feed occupy one-third of the Earth's ice-free land, leading to significant habitat destruction, species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and land degradation. Livestock operations contribute to desertification and are the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon, accounting for up to 91% of destruction.

Waste Production: A farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces waste equivalent to a city of 411,000 people, contributing significantly to pollution and environmental degradation.

Ocean and Rainforest Impact: Responsible for over 500 nitrogen-flooded ocean dead zones and the clearing of 136 million acres of rainforest, leading to the loss of up to 137 species daily.

Humanity and Resource Allocation: Although enough food is produced to feed 10 billion people, over 50% of grain is fed to livestock, contributing to global hunger. Feeding a person on a vegan diet requires significantly less land, producing 37,000 pounds of plant-based food per 1.5 acres compared to 375 pounds of beef.

Fish

Oceans as Carbon Sinks: Oceans absorb four times more CO2 than the Amazon rainforest, but only 5% are protected, and 90% of MPAs still allow fishing. Overfishing and destructive practices are devastating marine ecosystems.

Fishing Industry: 4.6 million commercial vessels deploy enough longline gear daily to encircle the planet 500 times. Scientists predict that 90% of coral reefs will die by 2050 due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Bottom trawling destroys marine habitats, while farmed fish suffer from various health issues and environmental impacts.

Shrimp Farming: Responsible for 38% of global mangrove deforestation, further exacerbating climate change and habitat loss.

Fish Contamination: Fish are often contaminated with heavy metals, mercury, plastic compounds, and other toxins, posing health risks that outweigh their omega-3 benefits. Algae, not fish, produce omega-3 fatty acids.

Fish Carbon: Fish help stabilize the climate by absorbing excess heat, but their depletion threatens this function. Runoff from animal agriculture contributes to oceanic dead zones. Loss of ocean carbon stores is equivalent to emissions from 97 million cars.

Plastic Pollution: Up to 50% of ocean plastic pollution comes from discarded fishing nets. The fishing industry receives $35 billion in subsidies, promoting unsustainable practices.

Environmental Benefits of a Vegan Diet

A vegan diet can reduce a person's CO2 emissions by 50%, oil consumption by 1/11th, water use by 1/13th, and land use by 1/18th. Daily savings include 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2 equivalent, and one animal's life.