Vegetarianism: why it's holy and why it's not

There are very good religious reasons for a Christian to be a vegetarian. And a vegetarian Christian will never have any problems justifying her stance from scripture and church history. I am a Christian pescatarian due to both ethical and religious reasons. 


In Genesis there are two references to the diet of mankind. Before Noah and the Deluge, mankind were not permitted to eat meat. God only gives them vegetable matter:

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. (Gen 1:29).

This part of scripture has been recognized by the church throughout history, and that's why not eating meat is the most common form of penance during times of fasting. It is an attempt to at least partly restore the lost paradise of Eden. So, all vegetarians rejoice! You've obviously got the moral high-ground by imitating the paradise in the Garden of Eden! Truly, you're the scions of the righteousness of God unlike those gluttonous carnivores! 

Well, except that you're not. In fact, one of the ways that God shows his mercy towards mankind is that after the Great Deluge, he allowed Noah to take animals as food (Gen 9:2). Carnivores can in this case be just as smug as vegetarians can, but only because they rely on the mercy of God.

I am, quite frankly, disturbed at how in our affluent society, the moral integrity of a person is measured by what she consumes. A good person nowadays is someone who consumes ecological vegetable produce and consumes fair-trade. Consumerist ethics is, as far as ethical perspectives go, a fairly crappy one. It is highly problematic that we put ethical value-judgements in consumption behavior, for that is just part of that cruel religion that is materialism, where Mammon is worshipped. It is part of the Christian gospel that we are not what we buy, or what we consume, our identity comes not from consumption habits but from our relationship with God. Our identity as believers and moral agents comes not from what we buy, but from who we belong. The righteousness of a Christian comes from the righteousness of Christ and nowhere else. It is in our co-servitude with him that we can find an ethical perspective that is both effective, humane and dare I say it - holy!  We can not buy our righteousness by being vegetarians, or by buying ecological or fair trade goods, for it is the Christ Jesus only who is our righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Cor 1:30).