Strictly speaking, vegetarians do not eat meat, poultry, or seafood. In that case, the debate between meat eaters and vegetarians could stop right there if both groups, meat eaters and vegetarians alike, were willing to concede to the notion that people have free will and, therefore, eating or not eating meat is also part of the exercise of their free will. Not only do humans have free will to choose what they eat, but the Bible’s stance on eating meat gives however many choices, which may surprise everyone, particularly vegetarians who cannot get rid of this conflict of their mind. For many, being an animal lover and a meat eater are two irreconcilable adjectives.
However, it is safe to admit that all vegetarians at some point had to balance sometime between their freedom of choice and their inclination to eat meat. This is crucial to understand because an individual must have the opportunity to act with autonomy and select his choice between two available options without any external constraints. Scriptures tell us, “…If you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning” (Rom. 14:23 NLT).
In that event, one can assume that not all vegetarians become vegetarians for the same reasons. Some are vegetarians for moral reasons, some for intellectual reasons, and others are vegetarians by mere cultural influence. However, with media involvement, vegan activists, and organizations, it seems there is a plan to turn everyone into a vegetarian (Aha!). There are many campaigns to give up eating meat and switch to a vegan diet. In essence, vegetarianism, meatless Mondays, and most vegan activists often depend on scare tactics and verbal and psychological violence with gruesome images to feed the existing separation, discrimination, and conflicts between vegan and non-vegan groups. With this approach, rather than encouraging both groups to compromise, it is expected to see more tension between them because usually indifference can only beget indifference (to continue…)
