Vegetarianism

Scripture

Old Testament

It seems that some vegetarians take the commandment against murder in Exodus 20:13 as a prohibition of all killing of any kind. It is easy to demonstrate that the People of God never understood that commandment against the taking of innocent human life to include the taking of animal life. All of the Ten Commandments were imposed on pain of death, especially the prohibition of murder: "Anyone who sheds the blood of a human being, by a human being shall that one’s blood be shed; For in the image of God have human beings been made" (Gen 9:6). Immediately after giving the Ten Commandments, God required Moses to offer animal sacrifice: "An altar of earth make for me, and sacrifice upon it your burnt offerings and communion sacrifices, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be invoked I will come to you and bless you" (Ex 20:24).

If "Thou shalt not murder" meant that all taking of human or animal life was prohibited, then the execution of murderers and animal sacrifice would have been outlawed by the commandment. The fact that execution of murders and animal sacrifice were required by the Torah shows that the commandment against murder is of limited scope.

Although the second chapter of Genesis suggests that Adam and Eve were vegetarians, in the third chapter, God Himself gave them leather garments to wear: "The LORD God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them" 3:21). Thus God implicitly authorized the killing of animals to obtain their skins for human use.

The ninth chapter of Genesis explicitly authorizes eating meat (9:3-4):

³ Any living creature that moves about shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants.

⁴ Only meat with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.

Many passages in the Torah required the killing and burning of animals in many offerings for sin. So, for example, on the annual feast of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest was required to sacrifice a goat and a bull for himself, his family, and the people (Lev 16:1-28).

The Torah has many food rules which define which meats may be eaten (kosher) and which are prohibited because they are unclean (tref).

On the original Passover night, the Israelites were commanded to kill a lamb, mark their homes with its blood, and consume it completely in the evening meal (Ex 12:1-20).

Killing and eating a lamb was the central feature of the annual feast of Passover.

The claim that Christians must take the Old Testament commandment against murder as a prohibition against meat-eating is therefore absurd.

New Testament

Jesus declared all food clean (kosher) in Mark 7:14-19:

¹⁴ He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.

¹⁵ Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

¹⁷ When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable.

¹⁸ He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,

¹⁹ since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Peter had a vision of "all the earth’s four-legged animals and reptiles and the birds of the sky," and a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat" (Acts 10:12-13). When Peter objected that, as good Jew who kept the kosher rules in Torah, he could not eat any meat that was not kosher, the voice said to him, "What God has made clean [kosher], you are not to call profane [tref]" (10:15).

Jesus sent Peter to catch a fish in order to obtain a coin to pay the Temple tax (Mt 17:24-27).

Jesus ordered His disciples to prepare the Passover meal Mt 16:17-19), which involved the ritual killing and cooking of the Passover lamb.

There are two accounts of Jesus telling his disciples where to cast their fishing nets (Lk 5:4-9 and Jn 21:6). In John's gospel, Jesus cooked fish for his disciples and gave it to them for breakfast (Jn 21:9,13).

From these and other such passages, it is evident that neither Jesus nor His disciples understood the commandment against murder to prohibit killing and eating animals.

Catechism

Respect for the integrity of creation

2415

The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.

2416

Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.

2417

God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives.

2418

It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.

Reflections

From the standpoint of biology, carnivorous activity seems to be natural among the animals. To the extent that we participate in animal nature--we are a rational animal, and we are also omnivores--it is natural for us to eat the flesh of other animals.

Accepting the fact that we are omnivorous does not give us any right to torture animals. We must treat animals humanely not because they are human but because we are human.

God is the creator of the universe. Nature comes to us from His hand. In the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, the books of Moses), a distinction is made between animals that are legal (kosher) to eat and those that are unclean (tref) and therefore prohibited. Besides endorsing eating the meat of animals, the Torah also ordered the ritual killing and burning of animals in Temple sacrifices.

Therefore, it would be against the scriptural tradition to think that killing or eating animals is intrinsically evil.

Animals are "sentient" beings in the strict sense of the word. They have senses like ours. They can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. They feel pain and very evidently have feelings like ours (joy, sorrow, fear, anger). But they do not have a spiritual nature like ours. That is what sets us apart from animals.

God gives us an immortal personal identity at the moment of our conception through the gift of intellect and free will. This is why we may be held responsible for our actions in a way that no other animal can be. We alone have the freedom to decide whether or not to follow the impulses suggested by our animal natures. Animals have no such freedom of foresight, insight, abstract reasoning, and decision; they also do not have rights on par with human rights. That metaphysical, spiritual difference generates different codes of ethics for the treatment of humans and the treatment of animals.

Some vegetarians believe that the fifth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," refers to all animal life. The English translation of the commandment is beautiful but misleading. I love the sound of "Thou shalt not kill" because of the four forceful monosyllables, but the correct translation is "Thou shalt not murder." Murder is the taking of an innocent human life. The scriptures that define the commandment make a clear distinction between that kind of killing and the kind of killing necessary for sustenance and for Temple worship.

We know that Jesus ate fish and lamb. He celebrated the Passover with His disciples and cooked fish for them at the seashore (Jn 21). He ate a piece of fish to prove His bodily resurrection (Lk 24:42). He could not have done so if eating flesh were intrinsically evil.

Having said that it is permissible for Catholics to eat meat and use animal products for other purposes, it is not the case that the Church commands anyone to act as a carnivore. Since we are omnivorous, anyone who wishes to be a vegetarian may choose that way to sustain life.

The Church reprehends cruelty to animals, but does not and cannot forbid killing and eating them. Writing proper regulations for the humane treatment of animals is the responsibility of citizens, who have the obligation to form prudential judgments that lie outside the scope of the Church's teaching authority. No pope or council of the Church is going to write a code for the treatment of cows, pigs, chicken, salmon, turkeys, goats, alligators, or the like. That is the job of local civil authorities and citizens.

Those who treat animals cruelly degrade themselves. They ought to be prohibited from doing so. Bear-baiting, dog fights, and rooster fights spring to mind as things that can and should be outlawed. How and where to draw the line between licit animal husbandry and illicit torment of animals is different. It is something about which reasonable Catholics of good faith may reasonably disagree. In defending the rights of omnivores to eat meat, I am not in any way defending the abuse of animals. The Church will never issue detailed codes for animal husbandry. Developing local codes is a job for politicians and citizens, not for the Magisterium.

The glorious freedom of the children of God

Nothing in the Church's tradition requires eating meat or prohibits the free choice of vegetarianism. Those who judge that this is good for health of mind and body, good for the nation, and good for the whole earth may choose any form of diet that they think is best. If they teach that animals are no different from human beings or if they teach that eating meat is intrinsically evil, they depart from the teachings of the Catholic Church and place themselves outside of communion with her.