God And Chickens: Perhaps PETA is onto something?
Well, I am sitting here feeling sorry for chickens, thanks to a video I just watched...and some concerns that have been there just beneath the surface for a while.
I'm a meat-eater. But I will have to admit that, sometimes when I think about what I am consuming, and I think long and hard enough, it can make me sick.
Consider an egg, for example. Enough said.
My wife is much more health conscious than myself. She likes for us to eat meat with no chemical additives, and free-range chicken. I do not know a whole lot about the differences. It does taste a bit better, and cost a good bit more. I think the meats that she buys come from animals that supposedly have been treated humanely, raised in a healthy environment, and are free from additives.
Of course, they're still dead.
Video
Here's a little video I came across.
“45 Days In Hell: The Life And Death Of A “Broiler” Chicken”
I admit this is endorsed by PETA, and there is an agenda behind it.
But I believe it is truthful. Check it out, and give me some feedback.
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=45_days&" title="http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=45_days&" target="_blank"http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup...;Player=qt&speed=_med
All you and I see are the finished products, shrink-wrapped, deep fried, clean and appetizing.
Consider the treatment of these animals.
It might make you sad. It might make you sick.
*Because of growth-promoting drugs, they now reach slaughtering weight at less than half the time it took in the 1950's. This makes me wonder what kinds of chemicals are being ingested with the meat. Is it healthy?
*These animals spend their entire lives inside chicken houses. They eat an unnatural diet, including manure and the remains of dead chickens.
*Ammonia level rises above twice that of accepted standards of safety for humans.
*Often they become physical freaks, having grown so rapidly the body and lungs cannot adequately support the remainder of the the body.
*At 6 weeks of age they are loaded onto trucks and transported to slaughter plants. There they are hung upside-down in shackles, and throats mechanically cut. Many are missed by the knives, but then drown in the scalding tanks.
8 billion chickens are slaughtered in the US every year!
Another 1 billion other animals are systematically and mechanically raised and slaughtered for the sake of our appetites.
When I Was A Kid...
I remember as a little boy going to my grandparents's house. They were not farmers, but they were “country”. They had chickens that roamed around in the yard, and laid eggs in the barn and in various corners of the property. I used to love to hunt eggs, always wary of the irate rooster. I can remember my grandmother strewing meal to the chickens, as they would come running to her call of “Here, chick chick chick chick.....Here, chick, chick....” Sometimes we would have a chicken dinner. Uncle B would go out and catch a chicken, to it's great protest. He'd chop off it's head with an ax, or grandma would “ring it's neck”. I didn't see that as violent; just part of the natural process of things. I guess those were free-range chickens, before the term was popular. They actually had a pretty good life. And we would sit on the porch, and talk, and watch the chickens with their broods and hear the rooster crow. And we had a pretty good life, too.
God And Chickens
Is it a sin to eat a chicken? You may consider such to be a silly question. Think about it...
Adam and Eve were vegetarians, and that is part of God's concept of Paradise. In the Heaven yet to come, the Bible describes it as a place where “the lion will lie down with the lamb”- i.e. no meat-eating.
It was because of the original sin that the first animal(s) were slain, as God made cover for the naked Adam & Eve as they left the Garden.
The levitical laws of the Old Testament, quite detailed, make pretty good sense even today as far as healthy eating is concerned.
I am not unreasonable about this. As a Biblically-defined Christian, I understand that such scriptures as Romans 14:14 and I Timothy 4:4 allow us to make a careful decision to eat meat or to abstain from meat, both of equal validity.
Some questions that I am pondering:
(1) Many of us find it unacceptable to treat dogs and cats this way. Why not chickens?
(2) Does the sterile, mechanical, and stoic apparatus that kills 9 billion animals every year say anything about our society?
(3) Would you be willing to pay more for meat, if it meant the animals were treated humanely and the meat was more healthy?
(4) Does God expect us to be kind to animals?
(5) Can a vegetarian be something other than a “weirdo”- like, a thoughtful and sincere and reasonable person?
Well, I've got to go now. I feel nausea from the meatloaf I had for lunch. Maybe my last meatloaf?
04.24.06 (6:03 pm) [
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posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
04.24.06 (2:10 pm)
Good post... I'll comment more later.
posted by:
mimi (
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post date:
04.24.06 (3:52 pm)
agreed! i don't know if i can actually watch...i once watched one and it has been with me since! but i am leaning more and more toward the concept of vegetarian...i just have to learn how to get over the physical withdrawl..like any other addiction...
posted by:
cherryblossmgrl (
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post date:
04.24.06 (4:30 pm)
Over Lent, I gave up meat partially because of videos like these that I'd watched. My boyfriend's family raises pigs and cows, and soon chickens to slaughter. At first, I couldn't eat the animals because I "knew" them. But when I think about it now, is it okay to eat this meat that I bought from the store where the animals were treated so inhumanely? Or would I rather eat meat from an animal that I know was treated well and enjoyed it's life - but I'm still cutting it's life short? Should I just give up meat altogether? This was a great post.
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
04.24.06 (4:33 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
As always, looking forward to what you have to write.
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
04.24.06 (4:36 pm)
Reply to: mimi
I'm not ready to make that leap. Eating is such a part of our culture, and at least where I live meat is the centerpiece of the meal. And I do enjoy a good steak, etc. But I know we can be quite healthy, probably more so, with a careful diet that excludes meat.
My thinking has been that vegetarians and especially PETA were most likely strange folks with strange logic. With this post I am say I have more respect for a person with a thoughtful and sane position on this.
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
04.24.06 (4:39 pm)
Reply to: cherryblossmgrl
In the Old Testament animals are often used for sacrifice to God. Obviously an animal life is not equated with a human.
I know we eat too much meat in America. And animals needlessly suffer because of our appetites. We can do better.
Your boyfriend sounds like they treat animals with respect. That is a big point I am trying to make. Every living creature deserves respect.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.24.06 (4:40 pm)
Reply to: cherryblossmgrl
In the Old Testament animals are often used for sacrifice to God. Obviously an animal life is not equated with a human.
I know we eat too much meat in America. And animals needlessly suffer because of our appetites. We can do better.
Your boyfriend sounds like they treat animals with respect. That is a big point I am trying to make. Every living creature deserves respect.
posted by:
Cuz (
reply)
post date:
04.24.06 (5:50 pm)
Weird. Carla and I were sharing stories the other night in an email and guess the topic? I was telling about the chickens at grandmothers home and how I loved the day when they'd gather the chickens and chop their heads right off and the old chicken's body would run around all crazy without its head. I thought that was sort of cool. Told her about the mean old hen that was always hidden in the corner up under the porch and how it would flog us when we tried to get the eggs. I still love my chicken fried, baked, broiled or boiled. Mammaw and Pappaw would be so glad to know we both turned out so well. I'll have my vegies on the side.
posted by:
Cuz (
reply)
post date:
04.24.06 (5:57 pm)
By the way I do remember our grandmother and uncles teaching us that the way they killed the chickens was the most humane because it was a quick death.
Good thing they seemed to like the two of us well enough. You'll have to tell about the milk cartons someday in one of your ramblings.
posted by:
midnightepicure (
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post date:
04.24.06 (8:22 pm)
interesting. i will watch the video later.
whats most interesting is my undeniable faith in something greater, and my unexplained pull towards vegetarianism. your post makes me ponder their relationship.
i never knew that adam and eve were vegetarian. im sure there are physical reasons, but surely god is responsible for them. i was waiting for a good reason other than instinct to stop eating meat. this may be the answer i was looking for. thanks.
however, did christ not eat fish? my, what a tempest you have stirred. if the need should arise, a carniverous animal would eat a human. i wonder.
until i make a desicion, i will continue to enjoy red meat, white meat, and everything else that animals give us. but, as far as the treatment of animals goes, until people realize how much they dont need meat, they will have to deal with the fact that they support their maltreatment, or pay the inflated price of "freerange." ever tried kobe beef? its phenominal.
ps- pastor, you speak of things you have dubbed as "strange" in a negative way. the dictionary defininition of the word is basically "different." if god did not enjoy the wonderous variety of man, hitler would have succeeded, and we'd all be the same. can you imagine how boring life would be if everyone were conservative? everyone would agree with you- how boring. no tblog debates, no presidential elections (though this past one was a "lesser of two evils" type of deal) and no restaurant menus, because everyone would just order the same thing anyways. you shouldnt put down liberalism. without liberalism, conservativism wouldnt have a name, because it wouldnt need one.
pps- this really is going to be a difficult desicion. i love meat, but something keeps telling me not to eat it. anyways, its bedtime. good post.
posted by:
mom's heart (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (3:08 am)
There are two GENERAL classifications of vegetarians:
total vegetarians avoid all foods which comes from animals--including eggs, milk products and honey; while the lacto-ovo vegetarian are those who eat eggs and consume milk and milk products. There are other sub categories, but it's easy enough to research the info.
And according to the New Testament meat consumption is alright. Meat alone is not our real problem. It is the amount we consume, the way we prepare it that has gotten us into trouble with our digestive systems and waistlines. Add the sedentary lifestyles to the equation and viola.
posted by:
JT (
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post date:
04.25.06 (6:58 am)
I know I won't be able to stomach the video (pun partially intended) and I already have guilt about being an omnivore. However, I don't like or tolerate meat substitutes well enough to give up the real thing entirely. I do, for both health and humane reasons, try to buy only free-range, organic, etc. meats and poultry. (In fact, I often try to get kosher meats and poultry, not only because we're Jewish but the way everything's handled is supposedly more humane.)
We're trying to switch to organic dairy as well, but it is SO expensive! With three boys in the house, I must buy two to three gallons of milk every week. Going from $2.29 per gallon to $6.49 per gallon is just too hard for us... I wish more industrial dairies would find a way to stop using growth hormones etc. so that the price could come down and more people could be healthier!
posted by:
kaikai (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (7:15 am)
Great post PastorDave!
I am fortunate enough to be able to buy free range meat, fowl and dairy from the farm. It is more expensive but it is the only way I am comfortable eating it. Sometimes there is a difference in taste, sometimes there isn't.
I like to buy rare breed meat from animals raised as naturally as possible (I have a thing about biodiversity as well as sustainability), and the farms I normally buy from have local abattoirs (staying local helps my region as well as reducing the stress on the animals as they are transported).
Buying meat from supermarkets has always spooked me a bit, and with BSE, Salmonella, Bird flu and all the scares in between, I like to be able to trace my food to its source.
As I said, I am fortunate. I only buy food for myself, so the price difference doesn't hit me so hard.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (5:31 pm)
I've always considered myself too weak to give up meat. I like it. I know it's not good for me, and I certainly should give it up along with my other vices, but I haven't and probably won't. My failing and my loss, I know. I won't dwell on it for the same reason I don't dwell on the rest of my shortcommings. It's simply too depressing. This isn't to say I don't recognize them for what they are.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (5:44 pm)
Reply to: Cuz
You know, come to think of it, you've always found the happy aspect of the pain of others- chickens, cousins, T-bloggers. You're a strange bird.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (5:50 pm)
Reply to: midnightepicure
Many good points, and I appreciate your considered interaction. I agree, "strange" does not mean inferior.
And, I'll give you this personal preference: given the choice between a narrow and inflexible conservative, and a thoughtful and conversant liberal, I'll spend the time with the liberal any day. Generally, a liberal makes for better company. Really, whatever the philosophical bent, an open mind is always the best way to approach life. And, matters of faith.
By the way, I'm not a vegetarian. But, I'm not really a good Christian, either. Just a struggler.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (5:54 pm)
Reply to: mom's heart
You are right. God does not require that we be vegetarians. But, I think, God expects us to eat healthily and to take care of our bodies. I think we could all get by more adequately without hamburgers, fried meats of all kinds, pork, hot dogs, etc. Maybe eating would not be as fun, but we'd live longer. Probably, for the last fifteen years, we'd be eating bran flakes. But, heh.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (5:56 pm)
Reply to: JT
Meat substitutes? I'm familiar with some of those, thanks to my dear wife. Ever tried "Bongo Burgers"? You can get them at the health food store. Don't. How about fake bacon? It even fries...and tastes like cardboard.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (5:59 pm)
Reply to: kaikai
Obviously, you are serious about this subject. And, we all admire and salute you. You have put your efforts and money where, basically, I am just writing. I appreciate a true believer.
I've heard it said that, even when we decide to take a new course in life, we will generally fail about a dozen times before we find success. Some of us are just starting to dabble with with a meatless or reduced-meat diet. I imagine you are quite healthy because of your chosen lifestyle. Way to go.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
04.25.06 (6:00 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
I tell you what: Take care of all the other vices, then come back and work on this one. And, I guess this means by next year you should be a vegetarian?
posted by:
bacardibreezer (
reply)
post date:
04.26.06 (4:35 am)
I've been a vegetarian since the summer of 2000. Last year, I started eating some chicken, but I always feel horrible when I do it. That might be because I went so long avoiding meat. I will probably stop eating chicken again, and actually I've enjoyed being a vegetarian. I get made fun of sometimes, I don't understand why, but I like it. It was very easy for me to stop eating meat. I hope to someday be a complete vegan, and not eat any animal products, but I can't afford that stuff yet.
posted by:
genuinejessie (
reply)
post date:
04.26.06 (10:56 am)
I wonder if this is related to the much younger onset of puberty and obesity...
Every animal (and person) should have the unquestionable right to be treated humanely and live a life free of pain. If we as humans are "stewards of the earth" then we're doing a pretty awful job at it.
I just moved to NYC and I can see why so many people are vegetarian out here, than in my native Southwest Missouri. Out here, the "organic" meat is SO much more expensive... and the regular meat tastes like cardboard.
I find myself eating less meat if only because of the expense and poor taste.
Very thought provoking post and interesting blog.
posted by:
scubadiva (
reply)
post date:
04.27.06 (2:57 am)
As I've just gotten thru my 2nd annual wings festival without having eaten a single wing in my life. The smell of all that fried food - ick.
The food we eat - whether meat or pesticide-laden, irradiated, genetically-modified veggies, fruits, and grains and the overly processed stuff - none of it's a pretty picture. I'm surprised we all aren't walking around with 3 heads.
