Fresh Start

I've always been a "healthy" eater, there's no doubt about that but about 4 weeks ago, I was exposed to what so many people attribute to their becomming vegan: Earthlings.  I thought I would watch it like I watched other "heartwarming" videos in the past, vow to make a few changes, and then quickly revert back to my old ways.  Well, first off let me begin by saying that Earthlings is ANYTHING but heartwarming..... secondly, my life was changed from the moment I pressed play. 

So let me go back in time a little bit here (and by little bit i mean... EXTREMELY recently)....I was a vegan hater.  I was the one who thought that Vegan views clashed with the teachings of the bible (yes i'm a christian), I thought they were overreacting to a nonexistant problem, and I thought their diets were EXTREMELY restrictive. Also, i thought it was unfair that they were wasting soo much time focusing on the treatment of animals and not enough (or any) time focusing on providing just wages to workers, fair trade, and other "people" centered causes. I was wrong. <-- mark those words in your calendar because they dont come out very often :-P. seriously though, I was incredibly WRONG! 

I watched "Earthlings"  and here is what happened: my heart broke.  Literally it broke in half.  I was conflicted!  I HATED veganism... thought it was bogus and now I was considering becomming one of them.  Ay.  Well, in addition to the struggle of "become vegan" vs "ignore the problem exists" I also found myself struggling with were I fit in as a Christian in all of this.  After about a week of INTENSE reflections... I found my place as a christian in the vegan tradition and lifestyle so here it is:

• I firmly believe that animals were put on this earth by God as a source of nourishment for the human body (except eggs and milk... I just dont think thats right).. I also believe that God EXPECTS and REQUIRES that we treat his people, animals, and land with the utmost dignity and respect.  If Earthlings taught me one thing, its that we are NOT treating the beautiful animals of this earth with dignity and respect.  Additionally, through factory farming we are not treating our earth with respect either (pollution from animal feces etc). While I believe that we are SUPPOSED to eat animals, I acknowledge that factory farming is not what God had in mind.  If we could go back to the days when Jesus was alive and fish and farm during those times.... heck, I'd be on board with eating meat.... but that is not the case.  We have polluted our waters, soil, and air.  I decided to go vegan not because of "animal rights" per say, but because of "animal welfare and dignity".  As the intellectually advanced creatures on this planet, we have an obligation to the plants, water, and animals we share the earth with.  We have an obligation to appreciate them, treat them with respect, and use them wisely and sparingly--> we do none of the above

•   So then, what about hunting and fishing you ask? I dont have a real reason for giving up venison other than just going black and white on the issue so as to not be called hypocrytical.  And fishing, i fricken love fish! .... literally, i could have LIVED on fish and only fish... but heres the deal: we RUINED our waters!  with water, humans have an "out of sight out of mind mentality"......our waters are so poisoned that we CANNOT EVEN EAT SEAFOOD WHILE PREGNANT.... im sorry, but if i cant feed it to my unborn baby seafood because a potential murcury poisoning.... i certainly dont want to feed it to myself. 

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
By contributing to the abuse and disrespect of God's creatures, land, and people and then consuming the food that comes from abused animals, and purchasing items made at the expense of human hands.... I am not Glorifying God... I am saddening him.  I believe that it breaks his heart to see us abuse the majestic creatures he placed here for our wellbeing.  By ingesting or wearing products that lived in hatred, were treated with hatred, and died with hatred.. we are NOT glorifying God through our bodies. 

So yes, I have officially become vegan! I'm excited and proud!  I've been vegan for a month now!  wow!  I've only had 3 dairy products and thats because I had them left from before I was vegan... and in my opinion, the only thing WORSE than participating in animal cruelty is wasting/throwing away foods that contain animal product.  In that way, not only are you NOT appreciating/respecting the animal in its life, but you are also abusing it in its death.  I am NOT judgemental of people who's opinions regarding this issue differ from my own.  I am willing to talk with anyone about my beliefs but will not impress those beliefs on anyone else.  This my own path and I am on it by myself (of course it would be great to get others on board).  I also refuse to see veganism as something totally seperate from fair trade, organic, etc.... I believe it is equally my obligation to respect and cherish human life and plant life as it is to respect animal life.  I have made decisions in regards to fair trade to shop predominantly for used clothes because once again.... the only thing worse than purchasing clothes may by sweat shop labor is WASTING clothes already made by the hands of sweatshop labor.  I will value my fellow human being by NOT purchasing items made in sweatshops fresh off the shelf.  I will recycle clothes that others have already worn so as to not contribute to the use of natural resources or continued sweatshop labor.  I will talk a little bit more about the specifics of my vegan lifestyle in my next post.  Thanks for reading!