An Argument For Being a Mormon Vegetarian

The following article is written by Nicole Loumeau

I get asked “Why are you a vegetarian?” almost every time I attend an LDS church function with food involved.  In order to avoid a long debate, I usually respond” “I have found many reasons to not eat meat and not one reason to eat it.”  And almost always the questioner will humorously respond, "Because it tastes good" and then I fake a laugh and change the subject.  

Six years of being asked the same question has given me time to articulate my thoughts on the matter. In this gospel, there are what I like to call "black and white commandments”.  With these we are very clearly told what is right and wrong without having to debate it (i.e. gay marriage, abortions, murder, adultery, etc.).  And then there are issues where God hasn't given us a direct commandment from the pulpit because He wants us to use our own discernment and judgment to help us grow.   I would say eating meat is one of these issues.

I always say, “Every reason to be a vegetarian is a good one.”  The one reason that no one will argue is my personal taste; I find eating dead flesh disgusting.  It’s all those other reasons that seem to be an issue.  I believe being vegetarian makes me a healthy person with strong moral and religious convictions.

1. Health Reasons - I've read many studies on the subject.  Everything I've read (including the Word of Wisdom) has drawn me to conclude that the optimal diet is plant based and that animal products are not essential.  All research I’ve seen that says otherwise has been countered by more recent discoveries. 

2. Moral Reasons - I do not believe that the spirit resides in today’s meat market.  I am opposed to the gluttonous abuse and murder of artificially manufactured animals.  Not all, but most of the meat we eat comes from a corrupt industry.  I cannot witness what goes on in these places and pretend that's how God "ordained" man to treat His creatures.

3.  Religious Reasons – I believe abstaining from meat is a higher law.  In the Garden of Eden, God commanded, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat”(Genesis 2:16).  Since there was no death in the Garden, we know they ate a vegetarian diet. Likewise, we are told in the millennium, lion will lie down next to lamb. If the lion won’t need to eat meat, neither will we.  Will we eat anything in the Celestial Kingdom? We will not need food for survival, but neither did Christ after His resurrection and He still ate. There will be no death/ meat in the next life.  Therefore, eating meat is only a temporal thing of this world.

One of the blessings of this gospel is modern day revelation.  We are not always asked to decipher the ancient Bible to explain our modern lives. God does not change, but the world changes and He gives us commandments to help us along the way.  Our most recent health code, the Word of Wisdom, is organized like this: First he says things we shouldn't have (alcohol, tobacco, etc.).  Then he talks about meat.  And then he talks about things we should eat (grains and plants).  Meat is that weird vague thing in the middle. 

He mentions meat three times; "Flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly”.  He continues, “And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine". And then again when he's talking about how grain is meant for man and animals, he reminds us that animals "hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger."  (Doctrine and Covenants 89: 12-13, 15)

So, are animals ordained for the use of man? Yes.  But only when we need them.  Do I need to eat meat in my sunny home in San Diego just blocks away from the store? No.  

There are a few other scriptures that say animals are for the use of man. These should be read with perspective and in conjunction with all the revelation we have. The Doctrine and Covenants was given in a time with different challenges from what we face today. With the pioneers dying of sickness and starvation, would it be right for them to reject food God provided? Of course not. The scriptures say that man is God's greatest creation. No person should risk their own life to spare that of an animal. If I were in a situation where eating meat would save my life, I would. But right now, that is not the case. So I choose to not eat meat.