Commoditization and Veganism

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

A few vegan products

Commoditization is all around us. Health care is being commoditized, media is being commoditized, and even veganism is being commoditized. Is this a problem?

Actually, yes, it is a big problem.  Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetarianism / Veganism | 2 Comments

Are Humans Naturally Vegetarian?

Posted on April 21, 2012 by

Kathy Freston recently published a blog on the Huffington Post which argues that “humans are natural vegetarians.” She wants to combat the perception that “eating meat was an essential step in human evolution.” The evidence she cites is actually quite good.  She mentions the China Study, noting that substantial genetic modifications only occur over the space of tens of millions of years, and the fact that we are anatomically closest to species (past and present) which are vegetarian.

There are several significant problems, though.  What do we mean by “human” and what we mean by “natural”?  Unless we separate out what we mean by all this, the arguments will be endless and unresolvable.  And there is one key issue, megafaunal extinctions in the past 100,000 years or so, which can most easily be explained on the basis of the dominance of hunting, and which is very related to human evolution. Continue reading →

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Too Smart For Our Own Good

Posted on April 20, 2012 by

Too Smart for our Own Good: The Ecological Predicament of Humankind.  Craig Dilworth.  Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Wow, what a book! Craig Dilworth, a Canadian professor of philosophy, has written a significant new book on our ecological predicament. I hope that everyone who is interested in any sort of environmental issues, including and especially vegans, should take a look at this book. Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth | 2 Comments

Why Isn’t “Peak Oil” Catching On?

Posted on March 22, 2012 by

Oil rigOil discoveries have been declining for decades.  We now consume much more oil than we discover.  Despite the fact that the price of oil is now over $100 a barrel, oil production hasn’t really budged since 2005.  There’s an obvious explanation for all this: we face an imminent peak in world oil production because of fundamental geological limits.  The implications of this for our society are enormous and unprecedented.

And yet there is only minimal awareness of “peak oil” in the general public, and zero political discussion.  Why isn’t “peak oil” catching on? Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth, Peak oil, Politics, or the lack thereof | 4 Comments

“Disciples” — coming this fall

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

My new book on vegetarianism in early Christianity, Disciples: How Jewish Christianity Shaped Jesus and Split the Church, will be published in the fall of 2012 by Apocryphile Press.

A book about the disciples of Jesus would typically start with Jesus himself: first there was Jesus, then he had disciples.  This book suggests a fundamentally different story: first there was a movement, then Jesus emerged as its leader. This movement is known to history as “Jewish Christianity” — Jews who followed both the Jewish law, as they understood it, and also followed Jesus, as they understood him, and persisted in this even after the rest of Christianity became a gentile religion.

Vegetarianism is an integral part of this story.  One key belief of Jewish Christianity, dropped by the later church, was its objections to the Jerusalem temple.  Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Literature / Publishing, Vegetarianism / Veganism | 4 Comments

Slaughter as Art — update

Posted on February 27, 2012 by

UPDATE Feb. 29: the “slaughter for art” project has been cancelled. Local activist Judy Carman met with Amber Hansen (the artist), her partner Nicholas, and KU professor Elizabeth Schultz on Monday. Amber will still display the empty coop and there will be a public dialogue at the end of the project.

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There have been some new developments in the Spencer Museum’s proposal to slaughter five chickens as part of an art project in Lawrence, Kansas. Continue reading →

Posted in Animals and ethics, Backyard livestock, Politics, or the lack thereof | 2 Comments

Is the Gospel of Thomas Vegetarian?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

Blessed is a lion that a man eats,
because that lion will become human.
Cursed is a man that a lion eats,
because that lion will become human. (Gospel of Thomas 7)

The Gospel of Thomas, discovered at Nag Hammadi, doesn’t contain anything obviously vegetarian.  In saying 12 Jesus advises the disciples to follow “James the Just” after he is gone.  Saying 71 has Jesus saying, “I will destroy this house,” which reminds us of the gospel sayings about the temple being destroyed.  Both of these hint indirectly at vegetarianism.  Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Nonviolence, Vegetarianism / Veganism | Leave a comment

Slaughter as Art

Posted on February 16, 2012 by

A beautiful creature

“The Story of Chickens — a Revolution” is an art project sponsored by the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas.  The stated purpose of the project is “to transform the contemporary view of chickens as merely ‘livestock’ to the beautiful and unique creatures they are, while promoting alternative and healthy processes of caring for them.”  So far, so good!  This is something I might actually be able to get behind.

The kicker, though, comes at the end: the chickens will be publicly slaughtered, and then fed to participants at a potluck. Continue reading →

Posted in Animals and ethics, Backyard livestock, Nonviolence, Politics, or the lack thereof | 2 Comments

Increased Support for the “Livestock and Climate Change” hypothesis

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

Livestock is not just an important factor, but the key factor driving climate change.  Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang put forward this idea in their 2009 WorldWatch article “Livestock and Climate Change,” and it is now receiving increased support and attention.

In 2006, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations had said that livestock contribute about 18% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) — which isn’t anything to be sneezed at.  But, actually, argue Goodland and Anhang, the real figure is even higher; at least 51% of all human-caused GHG emissions are due to livestock.  More than half of all GHGs due to livestock?  This totally changes the climate change debate. Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Vegetarianism / Veganism | 6 Comments

The Fish Stories in the New Testament

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

One of the big problems that people have with the idea that Jesus was a vegetarian is the “fish stories” in the New Testament — stories in which Jesus distributes fish as food to people, or in one case actually eats fish.  If Jesus was a vegetarian, then what are these stories doing in the New Testament?

We can get an important clue as to what they are doing in the New Testament if we take a quick look at what their effect is and has been.  From the point of view of a meat-eater, these fish stories are very convenient.  Jesus ate fish, therefore eating meat must be all right.  Continue reading →

Posted in Animals and ethics, Christianity, Ebionites, Historical Jesus, Vegetarianism / Veganism | 3 Comments