Genesis 9:3

"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything"

Meat consumption has become a topic lately. It is destructive in every way, from deforestation to water shortage, to ocean pollution, to greenhouse effect, to animal cruelty, to obesity, and the such. I would say that meat makes about one sixth of my diet, which is a small portion of an already minute appetite. Still working on minimizing the consumption~

And my pastor brought up this interesting topic to light: people before Noah were vegan. Our sins collected over many generations to the point where meat consumption is necessary and God must allow it. Not sure how it came to be biologically, but sin is as physical as it is spiritual, in the same way that Adam and Eve became mortal.

Today the crave for meat is greater than ever. Despite all the notices for environment, humanity and health, very little people are ready to give it up. In fact, most people are in denial at the severity of its effect (especially when shutting the livestock business is not quite economical). Sin is so deeply rooted in our flesh that meat has become an artificial necessity.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that God really has provided everything for us. Skeptics point at the starving people of today and ask: "Where is God?". God has already given, but we meat eaters have taken more than our share. We give crops to livestock when crops could easily feed the world. There is in fact plenty for all if we would give up our cravings for meat.

Let me clarify: the wrong is not in the meat itself but in how we came to want meat, and in recent times, how we disregard immoralities that come with our meat. If meat was sinful, God would not have permitted it.

Meat is economical. Meat is sociable. Meat is not environmental. The social and economical interest often outweighs the environmental concern, and that is the way I often thought of this. But meat consumption is a spiritual fight as well. Only when we are alleviated of our sins are we freed from our bondage to meat. Nobody is going to be immaculately clean of sin, but it will take more than campaigns and reforms to cut meat consumption to a significant minimum. It takes God.