[May 21st, 2022]
It amazes me that people look at illustrations & paintings of Jesus gently holding a lamb, and then also think him cutting the throat of that lamb would also be true to life. Jesus is the Good Shepherd of men, and he told fishermen to leave their boats & nets to become fishers of men; he was replacing violent activities with higher nonviolent activities.
"But God approved animal sacrifices and eating animal flesh, neither are really bad." People are so sure that God, who is love, approves of abuse, which is the direct opposite of love; and why are they so sure? Well, because some words on paper tell them so. To quote particular words on paper that support abuse and ignore others that don't, is a flawed morality, it's the moral position of "The good is whatever particular words I choose on paper says is the good." The true morality is comprehensive love (again the complete opposite of abuse), the true moral Law is the Greatest Commandments and Golden Rule, not a mix of rules, some being abusive and others not (as Leo Tolstoy and many other writers/commentators have rightly said over the years).
If you look outside of Empire-approved texts (and the Empire/rulers corrupting/omitting original texts/testimonies really shouldn't be a surprise), you'll find that Jesus wanted to abolish the animal sacrifices (Recognitions of Clement 1:54), and God never wanted animals to be sacrificed or to be killed at all (Homilies of Clement 3:45, plus canonical Genesis 1:29 & Isaiah 1:11). The Ebionite gospel in fact has Jesus declaring, “I have come to destroy the sacrifices” and Jesus rejects eating the Passover lamb flesh as well (Epiphanius, Panarion 30). This fits with Jesus repeatedly saying in the more ambiguous Empire-approved scripture: “I require mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7, Jesus quoting Hosea 6:6).
Killing baby lambs shows no mercy, it is the cruel, twisted murder of innocent and beautiful creatures, it is most certainly not pleasing to God, especially when it's completely unnecessary for your survival or health.
I believe in the Law of Love given by Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah; I believe God did not create humans in a way that requires them to murder sentient beings (again, Genesis 1:29). Why seek verses to support unnecessary abuse that violates the true Law? If I asked a child "Why don't you hurt animals?" they'd probably say "Because that's not nice." Then people grow up and believe logical fallacies, like Appeal to Authority (e.g., to some "authoritative" scroll/letter/dogma), and Appeal to Tradition, and think they're wiser and more pleasing in the sight of God than the nonviolent child. "But I like these verses better that tell me it's okay to be blood-thirsty and heartless toward animals." Again, that's not a sound moral position. If Yeshua asked you "Why didn't you just leave animals alone?" you think selective pro-abuse verse-picking is going to be a satisfactory reply to Him?
When you read books like 'Disciples' and 'The Lost Religion of Jesus' by Keith Akers and related research, you'll discover that Jesus was, as shouldn't be a surprise, loving & nonviolent, and his teachings were hijacked and distorted by so-called apostles and various Bible editors. Those original teachings that show Jesus was completely against animal sacrifice and flesh-eating can thankfully still be read, again in large part currently thanks to those two excellent books by Keith Akers, 'Disciples' & 'The Lost Religion of Jesus.'
God's original plan for humans was a nonviolent one (Genesis 1:29); trust that it is also His plan for us now and the future (Isaiah 11:7) as well. Letting go of Paul as an idol is an excellent start to aligning with the true teachings of Jesus/Yeshua, but don't let certain verses in scrolls be a different misleading idol. Don't forget, the Golden Rule is simple, and "love others" should logically include animals since they are also sentient, have emotions, feel pain and want to live.
Yeshua wasn't killing animals in his spare time, as made clear by all the "unapproved" historical texts, like The Gospel of The Holy Twelve. Yeshua was actually completely against animal sacrifice and animal flesh eating. It's not God's way to support unnecessary violence toward sentient beings, to say so is blasphemous; again if you do a little research, you'll discover Yeshua is recorded as saying: "I've come to abolish the [animal] sacrifices," and you should re-read Isaiah 1:11, Hosea 6:6 & 8:13, Micah 6:8, and Jeremiah 7:21 as well to reinforce that.
I have zero doubt that killing and eating lambs (and chickens, et al.) will be something you'll be very glad you stopped doing, the sooner the better. Imagine the living animal right in front of you, and/or go to a farm or animal sanctuary, and notice, the Holy Spirit is not going to tell you to kill them.
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Please also see this video playlist (various content-creators) on Vegan Christianity as well.
