September 9 2023
Veggies for humans; rights for animals.
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29.
In paradise, God prescribed a special diet for Adam and Eve: strictly vegetarian. Jumping from the first chapter of the Bible Genesis 1, to the very last one, Revelation 22, describing the New Creation, or, the restored Garden of Eden, I read something similar: “the Tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit every month”. Again vegetarian!
What does this mean for us?
It has long been my thesis that our present existence is a proving ground for the REAL life in the new creation, a theme that dominates the Scriptures. I sincerely believe that a vegetarian life is the Biblical option: It has been mine for many decades.
But…
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were vegetarians, eating only from the plants and trees. Later, with Noah, this changed. It seems to me that meat was then used on special occasions: Abraham provided (Genesis 18:7) the Lord with meat from a calf, tender and good. The same happened when the Prodigal Son re-appeared. Jesus ate fish. So, what do I conclude?
For me, the likely benefits of being vegetarian, both for my health, the environment and reducing animal suffering, outweigh the minor inconveniences. So, perhaps optional: no black and white situation.
There also is that Job text.
But ask the animals, and they will teach you; or the birds of the air and they will tell you; or ask the plants of the earth, and they will instruct you. Job 12: 7-9.
The above text points to integration, points to intimate relations with ‘the natural world’. Yes, we are a unity: soil, animals, humans: they belong together. That’s why many people are convinced that animals are sophisticated mental creatures who have beliefs and desires, memories and expectations, who feel pleasure and pain and experience emotions, and like us, animals have a basic moral right to be treated in ways that show respect for their independent value.
As an aware Christian I believe that we should welcome the days when chickens revert back to their natural pecking order and contended cattle roam the vast expanse of the prairies where they belong.
But back to my question: Do animals have rights? Yes, they do. Do chickens and other incarcerated animals deserve rights? Yes, they do. Just as the people in Bangladesh and elsewhere have the right to be housed decently, and live comfortably, so, if my Bible is true, animals too have the right to exercise their freedom of movement. Job’s words thousands of years ago are still relevant today. What we have lost is the wisdom animals can teach us. We no longer have the ability to understand what the birds are trying to tell us. We no longer know how plants can enlighten us. We are paying lip service to the knowledge that in God’s hands are the life of every living being – animal, birds, plants – and the breath of every human being.
Does that include trees? Do they have rights?
Some time ago I read Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I was struck by one sentence, “I entreat you, brothers (and sisters), remain true to the earth”. Another sentence stayed with me: “To blaspheme the earth is now the most dreadful offence”. I wonder, “Is that the sin against the Holy Spirit?”
So how about trees?
I have long maintained that our original sin included taking fruit from a tree without asking permission. I too, when I accidently brush against a tree, I ask the tree for forgiveness. I see trees as my neighbors, and love them as such. Trees really matter: no trees, no LIFE. Dying trees mean death for humans. Forest fires indicate the approach of hell. Nietzsche was right: “By killing creation we are killing God.”
It always strikes me that, when in Genesis 2 trees are described, the beauty aspect is mentioned first (Genesis 2:9). That also points to our original mandate of beautifying creation. It is my considerate opinion that the early humans mentioned in the Bible lived so long because the main cover of the planet was trees, breathing out super-rich oxygen.
Luther once said, “even if I knew that the Lord would come back tomorrow, I still plant a tree today.
We need ever closer contact with creation. Dying trees, forest fires, earth quakes, violent storms indicate a broken relationship with creation.
The Bible tells us that God, creation and the human race form an organic whole. That wholeness includes animals and trees.
Yes, animals and trees do have rights.