> > APn 11/21/98 Turkey-No Thanks > > Copyright, 1998. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. > By RICHARD N. OSTLING > AP Religion Writer > > Let other Americans enjoy turkey dinners on Thanksgiving Day. > > The centerpiece on Richard Alan Young's table in Waco, Tex., will > be his > tofu lasagna with "cheese" sauce that isn't really cheese. On New > York's > Staten Island, Richard H. Schwartz will feast on vegetarian nut loaf. > And in > upstate New York, Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette will whip up some > vegetarian risotto della certosina. > > > These turkey-shunners don't want to be killjoys. They simply > believe that > vegetarianism is the ideal religious regimen for Christians and Jews. > > Their attitude has different roots from those of Hindus and > Buddhists, who > shun meat because living creatures may be reincarnated human souls. > But Jewish > and Christian vegetarians agree their diet is good for physical, moral > and > spiritual health. > > Their modest movement has been gaining followers, but Schwartz says > it's an > uphill battle. > > For one thing, most people prefer real meat to meatless loaf, > gardenburgers > or tofurkey. Then there's a roasted flesh tradition to overcome in > both > Judaism (consider all those kosher rules) and Christianity (after all, > Jesus > fed the 5,000 with fish). > > Given that history, what fault could God find with eating a turkey > dinner? > > Young, who teaches New Testament at the devoutly conservative > Temple > Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, Tenn., argues first that in biblical > times, > agriculture was vastly more humane. Today, he says, most turkeys "are > raised > in crowded buildings on factory farms, are genetically engineered, > rarely get > a chance to exercise outdoors, and are given drugs to counter disease > and > increase production." > > He believes these techniques -- and methods used in raising other > livestock > for meat -- violate the Bible's injunctions against cruelty to > animals. In his > new book, "Is God a Vegetarian?" (Open Court) he also makes the case > that > meat-eating opposes Scripture by being unhealthy for humans. > > Along with those concerns, Schwartz contends that animal husbandry > violates > biblical commandments about preserving natural resources such as land > and > water. > > He also says world hunger is exacerbated when it can take several > pounds of > grain to produce one pound of edible meat and America's grain harvest > is > largely fed to animals for slaughter. > > > Schwartz, a mathematics professor, had a secular upbringing and > embraced > Orthodox Judaism as an adult. He wrote the influential 1988 book > "Judaism and > Vegetarianism." He recruited 66 fellow Jews to endorse a packet of > information > advocating vegetarianism and mailed it in September to all 3,650 > rabbis who > lead North American congregations. > > Early this month, the top North American leaders of the liberal > Reform > branch of Judaism mulled the ethical case for vegetarianism during > their > annual caucus. > > One speaker, Fred Greene, is a vegetarian who estimates that a > tenth of his > fellow Reform rabbinical students in New York City forgo meat. > > It was Rabbi Richard Levy of Los Angeles, the president of Reform's > rabbinical conference, who put diet on the agenda. Levy himself has > cut down > on meat for health reasons but has doubts about vegetarianism. "It > seems that > God authorized humans to eat meat for a purpose," he says. "In the > Talmud, > there is no proper celebration without meat." > > Schwartz says the Talmud's meat-eating commands were tied to temple > sacrifices that no longer pertain, and he cites Orthodox rabbinical > rulings > that meat is not mandatory at festivals. > > The path to vegetarianism lies through the stomach more than the > mind in > the case of Brother Victor-Antoine, a French-born gourmet chef and > Catholic > monk. He has just published his fourth cookbook of vegetarian recipes, > "Fresh > From a Monastery Garden" (Doubleday). > > The 5th century Rule of St. Benedict restricted monastics to fish, > fruits, > and vegetables. Brother Victor-Antoine, who prepares meals at Our Lady > of the > Resurrection Monastery in Millbrook, N.Y., agrees, holding that total > vegetarianism is best for the spiritual life. > > "A simplicity that follows the Gospel," he says, "is not only > healthy but > part of the uncomplicated monastic style." > > Outside monastery walls, Christians rarely preached vegetarianism > until > Ellen G. White received an anti-meat vision in 1863. White, the > founding > prophet of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, soon joined forces with > Sylvester > Graham and John Kellogg -- known for Graham crackers and corn flakes, > respectively -- in advocating vegetarianism on grounds of health. > > The Adventist church recommends vegetarianism but does not require > it. > > "Our bodies are not our own. They're God's by creation and > redemption, and > we ought to represent him and not destroy the temple he has given us," > says > Stoy Proctor, chief health educator at Adventist headquarters in > Silver > Spring, Md. > > The Proctor family's entree this Thanksgiving? "Mock Turkey." It's > shaped > like a bird and roasted with an oval of dressing inside, but it's > really brown > rice, pecans and onions. > > Then there are those who say "Jesus Was a Vegetarian." > > That's the slogan of a campaign launched last month by People for > the > Ethical Treatment of Animals, complete with newspaper ads, T-shirts > and a Web > site. > > And in "Food for the Gods: Vegetarianism & the World's Religions," > vegetarian writer Rynn Berry says Jesus was most likely a leader in a > vegetarian sect. > > Protestant author Young says writers like Berry seek to reconcile > Christianity and vegetarianism by rewriting biblical history. "It is > doubtful > whether the vegetarian Jesus hypothesis will ever catch on in the > larger > Christian community," he says, because it subverts the church's > tradition. > > While allowing that Jesus ate fish and would have consumed meat at > the > Jewish festivals along with everyone else, Young simply thinks that > today > biblical principles require different dietary decisions. > > Both Young and Schwartz argue that God prescribed the ideal diet -- > a > vegetarian one -- in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:29) and once again > after > the Fall (Genesis 3:18). God permitted meat-eating only after the > Flood > (Genesis 9:3), which they interpret as a concession to base human > impulses. > Schwartz notes rabbinical speculation that vegetarianism will return > when the > Messiah comes. > > As for the American Thanksgiving Day, Schwartz thinks his outlook > contributes to the sense of celebration because "it's hard to be > thankful if > you're not in good health and vegetarianism helps that. And we can be > thankful > that vegetarianism can help feed far more of the world's people." > > End Adv for Nov. 21-22 =========================================================================== /`\ /`\ RABBIT INFORMATION SERVICE: _ _ (/\ \-/ /\) P.O.Box 30, Riverton, Western Australia 6148 (.\_/.) )6 6( http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm \6 6/ >{= Y =}< VEGETARIAN PAGE =\ /= /'-^-'\ http://www.geocities/RainForest/4620 /O\ / (_) (_) / \ ( | . | U U ) | |} Pity the human race its illusion of permanence (| |)/ \_/^\_/ w'-'w ===========================================================================
