And now that the relevant Bible passages have been clarified , let us ask – in all fairness : what if those who believe in this myth are actually correct ? What if Jesus did indeed encourage the eating of fish &/ or did eat fish himself ?
Well , I guess we can start by noting the obvious – that if Jesus truly was a pescatarian ( i . e . a vegetarian who also ate fish ), then we can know thereby that he was clearly not yet aware of the needlessness of that act , much less the immense suffering that fish endure when they are killed & eaten by humans . Please understand that this factual revelation doesn ’ t make Jesus “ unholy ” or even “ a sinner ”, merely – like so many other pescatarians today – very poorly informed . It is actually quite easy see the Truth that imprisoning & murdering any sentient life form is in no way in harmony with Jesus ’ professed standard of perfection when it comes to Loving & Respecting all life forms (“ even the sparrows ” – see Matthew 10:29 ). Indeed , it is patently hypocritical to preach Love unconditional while consuming any sentient creature – and Jesus was most certainly not a fan of hypocrisy ( see Matthew 3:8 + Matthew 7:15 + Matthew 15:8-8 + Matthew 23 et al ).
Well , maybe he was a fish-eating hypocrite and maybe he wasn ’ t – maybe he was a courageous reformer of Judaism – and maybe he wasn ’ t as well … Personally , I choose to see Jesus as a man who was both well-informed and fully compassionate ; a choice which undeniably would have made him at the very least a ( still partially ignorant ) honey-eating vegetarian . And this view is indeed not at all farfetched , as the vegetarian sects of Judaism in Jesus ’ day did in fact preach baptism for forgiveness of sins in place of animal sacrifice .
In conclusion , while no Biblical argument can ever hope to be fully irrefutable , the evidence in the Bible that Jesus was at least a “ honey vegan ” is quite strong , and the knowledge that he would most certainly be a full-fledged vegan today is rock-solid . After all , would a man who fully comprehended and openly preached a Love that is perfect and without condition ever engage in , encourage or even mildly condone the needless suffering that animals endure both while being confined before slaughter or during the brutal killing act itself ? Of course he wouldn ’ t ! And for modern Christians to say anything less is to do nothing less than thickly taint the image of their own Lord & Savior …
In essence then , Christians would do well to stop using the Bible to justify their own petty , selfish and cruel meat-eating & dairy-consuming habits , and start choosing instead to see Jesus as a truly perfect example of the perfect Love and the selfless Compassion and the gentle Justice that we all can become .
Amen … Let it be so !
Current status of this Myth : Lustrated Justification it provides for eating animals : NONE
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