Why I do not eat meat

Front matter

Class _2

Book

CcpightN .

Preface

It may be that this volume, dealing as it does with man's depravity, will not be very enthusiastically received, especially by those who have been long accustomed to eating animal flesh. It is not easy to break up old habits where the appetites are involved, in fact, it often takes a life and death struggle to do so.

In presenting the remedy of a fleshless diet for many of the ills to which humanity is heir, opposition is expected, but we have the satisfaction of knowing that the truth will triumph in the end. John 8 : 32 says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free/' There is no possible way to bring about reforms and withhold the truth. It should go forth, however unpalatable it may be. In the titanic struggle of nations, outraged humanity is demanding reparation for the many ills they have had to suffer, and the result is, great religious and reform movements are sweeping over the earth. Old things are rapidly passing away and the hands on the dial point to a new dispensation.

PREFACE

As the dispensers of God's word, the learned •divines have failed, and the great need of the hour is for some one with Scriptural understanding to enlighten the people. The truth alone will stand when the sledge-hammer of God's w r ord is battering down the fortresses that have stood for centuries.

The subject of a fleshless diet, however it may be ignored by some, is of vital importance, and will play its part in bringing about a new era. It behooves those who are inclined to hold to their old theories and practices not to be too hasty in passing judgment before the facts are presented, lest they should be found later in an embarrassing position.

A carnivorous appetite is one of the results of the fall, and the Scriptures teach that the curse must be lifted off both man and beast, and also from the earth, which God said He had cursed for man's sake. Isaiah 1 1 : 7-9 says, "And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. * * * They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

The Author.

Contents

CHAPTER I Man Originally not Carnivorous Moral and Spiritual Issues — "Commanding to Abstain from Meats" — Flesh not Originally a Part of Man's Diet — Message of the Apostles to New Converts — Vegetables Build Up, Meat Tears Down — Lower Animals not Carnivorous before the Fall — Millennial Conditions — Poisoned by Eating Chicken — Foot and Mouth Disease Among Cattle — The Hog an Unclean Animal — Awful Crime of a Butcher's Child.

Chapter II

Cain and Abel — Noah and His Family — "As it was in the Days of Noah" — Man's first Permission to Eat Flesh — A great Price Paid — Story of Entombed Miner and His Craving for Flesh.

CHAPTER III Sacrificial Offerings Christ, the Better Sacrifice — Blood of Beasts Could not Atone for Sin — The Fallacy of Transubstantiation — The last Passover — The Bread and Wine of the New Covenant — Why Man was Permitted to Eat Flesh— The Rent Veil— Priesthood Forever Abolished — Erroneous Teachings of Roman Catholics — "Be not deceived."

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV Israel Cried for Flesh in the Wilderness A Nation set Free— The "Mixt Multitude"— Manna Given — Israelites preferred Slavery Rather than to Deny Their Appetites — The People Cry for Flesh — The Border-land Experience — Scenes on Ocean Liners — Flesh is Fuel that Feeds the Flames of Passion — Sentiment Against Slaughtering Animals Growing — Flesh of all Kinds of Animals on Sale.

CHAPTER V

Daniel Refuses the King's Meat

A Diet of Pulse and Water — Interpreting the

King's Dream — God Always has People to Whom He

can Speak — The Secret of Daniel's Success — Daniel

in' the Lions' Den — The Lion Nature.

CHAPTER VI How the Lord Spoke to Me Great Revivals — Convicted for Eating Flesh — A Vision and what Resulted from It — Opening of Bible School — Visit to Packing-house — Thanksgiving Turkeys.

CHAPTER VII Flesh Gradually Eliminated Meat and Fish Donated — Meat Markets of London — Modern Preachers do not tell People to Restrain Their Appetites — The Lenten Season — Beginning of the Meat Controversy — The Sons of Eli — Experiences in Denver — Light from Heaven.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER VIII Putting Up the Standard A Remarkable Service — Money Given for London — Experiences on the Ocean — Beginning of a Revival — Back to America — The Revival Spreads — Standard put up on Meat — Another Trip to London — Experiences in Eating Fish — Suffering with Rheumatism — Fish eliminated — London Property Purchased.

CHAPTER IX A New Epoch Home Again — Two Farms Purchased — Danger from Living in Large Cities — Jesus Fed the Multitudes — The Disciples Went Fishing — Did not Jesus eat Fish? — The Question Answered — Experiences at Zarephath.

CHAPTER X

A Bridge Between Judaism and Christianity —

Perplexing Questions Settled — Offerings to Idols —

Woman's Ministry — Meat and Liquor Curse must go

— Peter's Vision.

CHAPTER XI How to Reduce the Cost of Living Economic Measures being Forced upon the Nations — Great Suffering Among the Poor — "Blessed are the Merciful" — The Gadarenes Choose Hogs Instead of Christ — The Cruelty of the American Indian — Sufferings of Cattle on the Western Plains.

ADDENDA

ILLUSTRATIONS

Mrs. Alma White, ------ Frontispiece

PAGE

"And a Little Child shall lead Them" - - - 17,

The Man and the Hog -------- 24

These must face the Assassin and Surrender their

Noah Receives the Dove -------35

"His Couch was a Bed of Straw in a Manger" - 39

Christ Ended Sacrificial Offerings - - - - 53

Israelites Gathering Manna ------- 72

The Children of Israel Weeping for Flesh - - 77

Devouring Decaying Flesh ------- 81

Binding the Strong Man -------84

"The Flesh of all Kinds of Animals is on Sale in

ILLUSTRATIONS

Daniel in the Lions' Den ------- 102

"And Behold, an Hand Touched Me" - - - 106

"The Lord does not Want You to have It" - - 112

The Hogs were Stuck and Thrown into the Boiling Water ---------- 118

The First Victim was an Innocent Looking Cow - 122

The Fish Became Burdensome - - -. - - 128

Going to the Slaughter --------130

Priests Taking out Meat with a Fleshhook - - 135

"Perhaps You can use This Somewhere" - - 145

Scores Wrestled with God and Obtained "the

For Days we were in a Terrible Storm - - - 159

He Reached the Shore in a Pitiful Plight - - 172

Bridging the Gulf Between Judaism and Christianity - ---------- jyy

A Western Dairy Herd -------- 193

A Band of Indians Moving ------- 200

Cattle on the Western Plains ------ 205

CHAPTER I Man Originally not Carnivorous

In this age of progress, the question of eating flesh, from economic and hygienic points of view, is being widely discussed. In this volume it is my purpose to dwell more on the moral and spiritual issues involved, taking the Scriptures as the basis for argument.

Some renderings in the authorized version are misleading, among them those with reference to meat. More modern translations give a better understanding of the original meaning of these passages.

Weymouth's version of the New Testament, which is growing in favor, almost discards the word "meat," and uses "food" instead. This throws light on i Tim. 4: 3, which is often quoted in defense of meat. "Commanding to abstain from meats," should read, "Insisting on abstinence from foods which God has created to be partaken of, with thankfulness. * * For everything that God has created is good," instead of "every creature." Much stress has been laid upon "creature," which we find is incorrect.

"Everything" means the articles of food that God has made to be eaten. Flesh was not originally a part of man's diet. He was given the fruits of the ground on which to subsist. Genesis i : 29 says, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

There is no animal flesh here. The fruits of the ground were sufficient to sustain life then, and so they are today.

In the 15th chapter of Acts, we have an account of a message sent by the apostles and elders from the church at Jerusalem to the Christian converts atAntioch,Syria andSilicia. With the desire to put' no unnecessary burden upon them, they said, "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things ; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well." The correct translation is, "You must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. Keep yourselves clear of these things" (Weymouth). The 30th verse says, "They, therefore, having been solemnly sent, came down to Antioch, where they called together the whole assembly and delivered the letter," and then follows, "The people read it, and were delighted with the comfort it brought them."

There was no protest from these heathen converts against the restrictions that had been put upon them. They received the message with joy. Of course the Gentiles were accustomed to the eating of meat, but after they embraced the Christian faith, there were radical changes in their habits and customs. Nearly 2,000 years have passed, and with all the light that has come down the ages, we find many professed Christians in greater darkness today than they were in the days of Paul.

Anything that dies of itself is virtually strangled. Fish, or the gill-bearing vertebrates are suffocated when taken out of the water, and what can be the difference between the two?

As to what is involved in abstaining from blood, we leave our readers to be the judges. Is there not blood in all kinds of flesh? Where is the line to be drawn? Was the blood to be taken out of the meat before it was eaten? If so where are the professed Christians who are doing it? As yet we have not seen or heard of them. The meat that is eaten is usually bought from butchers who are under no restrictions whatever. They slaughter animals as the heathen did centuries before Christ, — the old barbaric practices are still in vogue. The wheels of time are rapidly bringing us to a new epoch, the light is flashing from the sacred page, and sentiment is being crystalized that is destined to bring about a revolution in the practice of slaughtering animals to be consumed upon man's lusts.

If animal flesh were absolutely necessary to man's existence, there might be some argument in favor of its use, but it has been too often demonstrated that most of the physical ailments with which humanity is afflicted result from a carnivorous appetite. Dead flesh is taken into the system, and for a time it serves as a stimulant, but later saps the vitality and leaves the physical powers weakened and in a deteriorated condition.

Fruits, vegetables and cereals build up the tissues, whereas meat tears them down. As a result of eating an undue amount of meat, the reaction often causes a ravenous appetite, which nothing but more flesh can satisfy. The more one eats, the more he wants, and he will often sacrifice principle and virtue to obtain it. The moral standard of those whose diet consists principally of flesh is usually low. Experience has demonstrated the fact that such persons are never spiritual. If they should get salvation, it is difficult for them to keep it, unless their carnivorous appetites are conquered.

"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat" (Gen. 1: 30). This shows that not even the lower animals were carnivorous until after the fall, and many of them do not eat flesh now. Man, in some respects, is on a lower plane than the animals.

The world has been under the curse of carnivorism for nearly six thousand years, and it is time for her deliverance. The price of her redemption has been paid at infinite cost, and every revolution she makes in her orbit brings her nearer to the time when Isaiah's prophecy will be fulfilled: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fading together ; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. THEY SHALL NOT HURT NOR DESTROY IN ALL MY HOLY MOUNTAIN : for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." This shows conclusively that the time is coming when both man and beast shall be delivered from their carnivorous appetites. Who will take the responsibility of helping to continue the curse, saying the time is not yet?

If the millennium is ever brought about, there must be a beginning, and a willingness to accept the truth when it presents itself. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Those who meet the conditions by which actual sin is destroyed from their hearts are rewarded by getting a millennial experience. Then why not cease to slay and eat flesh, inasmuch as it is a part of the curse which must be put away?

James says, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye' may consume it upon your lusts." This shows the depths of depravity to which man has fallen. He asks for those things which are not to the glory of God, that he may consume them upon his lusts, and his requests are not granted.

There is much dross to be consumed after people obtain salvation. In fact the refining just begins when spiritual pollution is removed, and unless there is submission to the whole will of God, His presence cannot be retained.

Our civil governments are just what the people make them, and therefore transformation must begin with the individual. If those whom Christ has accepted remain in a half-barbarous state, those about them can rise no higher. The Church is the pillar and ground of truth, and she should be like a city set on a hill whose light cannot be hid. To kill and devour is inconsistent with the spirit of Christ, who said, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." He also said, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of. * * My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4: 32-34). One of the most conclusive signs that we are living in the last days, is the way people eat.

Before wars shall cease, men will have to stop killing animals and devouring their flesh. While murderous propensities are fostered and the brute creation continues to be sacrificed to satisfy the cravings of men, they will slay one another. The principles of murder are deeply seated in the lower and baser nature, and when conditions are such as to favor their development, crime will be the result. Men who ruthlessly slay animals, under certain conditions will slay one another. They have become hardened to suffering, and it matters but little to them where pain is inflicted. The lowing of the cow, or the bleating of the sheep that is being lead to the slaughter, fails to awaken sympathy in them, and when they give place to anger or revenge, little do they care for the wounds of their fellowmen.

Man was created in the image of God and a little lower than the angels, but oh, the depths to which he has fallen! Lucifer, the star of the morning, hurled him down the precipice by working through his fleshly appetites, and he grovels in the dust and filth of this world. Christ would fain lift him up, wash away his sins, and make him whiter than the driven snow, but he refuses to let Him do so, and continues to live in barbarism.

At this writing 300 persons who have been poisoned by eating Chicken at a church supper at Batavia, N. Y., are under the care of physicians. Their ailment is diagnosed as ptomaine poisoning.

Less than half an hour after the supper was served a score became ill. By midnight the number had crossed the hundred mark, and later reports showed that the entire company had been stricken.

The chickens were purchased from a local dealer who declared that he had obtained them from farmers especially for the supper.

We scarcely look at a daily paper without finding an account of meat poisoning. At the present time the dreadful foot and mouth disease is spreading with such rapidity that at least fifteen States have been quarantined, and the government is slaughtering many thousands of animals that are affected. The present outbreak started at Niles, Mich., the infection having been brought from Argentine with a shipment of hides to a tannery there. "Foot and mouth disease is caused by a germ so small that it passes through the finest filter and cannot be seen with the most powerful microscope. In this respect it is similar to hog cholera germs. Cattle are the most susceptible, swine next, and sheep and goats to a considerable less degree. The disease is virulent, highly contagious and spreads rapidly. The first symptoms — sore, blistered mouth and sores between the toes — appear from a few hours to two or three days after exposure, as a rule. * * No remedy for the disease has ever been found. * * Foot and mouth disease exists in all the cattle-raising countries of Europe, and it causes extensive losses every year. From Europe it has spread to other countries."

There are many other diseases prevalent among cattle, and diseased meat is being sold everywhere. Thousands of tubercular hogs are being placed on the market, but of course only a few cases are being brought to light.

When a child I was greatly interested when my mother read aloud from the newspapers. The Cincinnati Enquirer came to our home, and in almost every issue there were accounts given where individuals or families were poisoned by trichina in pork, which often resulted in death. Many times I resolved to eat no more pork, but when it was placed before me, it was difficult to let it alone.

I often stood by the stove when pork was being prepared for the meal, and insisted upon its being well cooked for fear destructive germs might be left in it. I wondered why my parents did not dispense with the use of it altogether. But there was not much light in those days, and they continued to eat it.

There is nothing more filthy than swine. They will eat all manner of flesh, including reptiles. The female will even devour her own offspring. I have seen this with my own •eyes.

In the old dispensation, an embargo was placed upon the hog. A Hebrew who ate swine's flesh was guilty of the greatest misdemeanor and was cut off from his people.

There are hygienic reasons why swine's flesh was pronounced unfit to be taken into the human system, and conditions have not changed. The swine is the same filthy beast today that he was thousands of years before the Christian era. Little verification is needed to show that pork is unwholesome. Medical science, the experience of many thousands of persons and the teachings of the Scriptures should be sufficient.

If swine's flesh was unfit for the Hebrews to eat in the old dispensation, how can we make that which has survived the ravages of cholera, hog fever, trichina, and so forth, suitable for a Christian?

Dr. James C. Jackson, from information obtained from hog dealers, declares that ninety-five hogs in one hundred have ulcers on their livers from the size of an ounce bullet to a hen's tgg.

Cancer is closely related to pork, and it is said that our Lord, so far as the record gives, did not heal people of cancers. The word Carcinoma is the Greek word for cancer, and does not occur in the New Testament. The fact is, cancer was unknown to the Jews, and the reason is they did not eat swine's flesh.

The Israelites were not only prohibited from eating the flesh of swine, but were prohibited from touching their dead carcases.

There are certain species that are vicious and when at large are often the dread of whole communities. They will turn on their pursuers and fight with desperation. When killed in the heat of passion, there is a peculiar flavor in the meat that makes it unpalatable.

Those who are familiar with the Scriptures naturally associate demons with hogs. Unclean spirits seek a place of habitation, and on one occasion at least, when a legion of them were cast out of a human being, they begged to go into a herd of swine, and the result was the whole herd rushed down a steep place into the sea and were drowned. The swine had no power to resist the demons, neither have unbelievers and apostates, of which swine are a type. When a person's moral character is not what it should be, he becomes an easy prey for evil spirits.

With thousands of years of history back of the hog, and nothing good ever having been said of him on the pages of Holy Writ, one would think this sufficient to bar him from the menu of the civilized world. But the presumption of man is often beyond comprehension. He challenges the Almighty by disregarding His laws, and when he is afflicted, accuses Him of being unjust.

The curse of sin has turned the world into a slaughter pen. The first man born was a murderer, and his posterity fills the whole earth today. Take a look into the slaughter pens, and you will be shocked at cruelties akin to murder. Millions of helpless creatures are crowded into the stock pens,ihemmed in so closely they can scarcely move, awaiting the fatal blow, which is the beginning of a process that is soon to land them on the butcher's block to be dealt out to those who have no scruples against eating that which has had to suffer and die, to be sacrificed to the cravings of their lower natures.

The sheep, which is the most perfect type of the Son of God, must face the assassin and surrender its life. Once in his power, there is no way of escape. It must be delivered up and its flesh consumed without the power to protest.

A person once remarked to a friend, "How can you eat a thing that looks out of eyes?" and from that time the person addressed declared that he could . never sit down , to a table where there was mutton, without seeing a pair of gentle eyes turned toward him, and he could not touch the meat. Isaiah 53 : 7 says, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

A child was born, whose father was a butcher. The mother of the child helped to kill the animals. She took a knife and cut the throats of the sheep and no doubt had become hardened to their suffering. When the son of these parents reached the age of maturity, he proved to be a murderer. On one occasion, he took a small boy into the woods, tied him to a tree, cut out his intestines, and wrapped them around the body and the tree. He had tortured other victims in a similar manner. When questioned as to his motives, he said, "I like to hear them scream."

When the matter was investigated it was decided that his condition was due to the propensities of his parents for slaughtering animals.

Wherever flesh is in demand, somebody has to do the killing, and those who eat of it, however high their standard of morals may be, cannot escape the penalty of being participants. They suffer not only physically, but morally and spiritually.

The animal nature in man is stimulated by a diet of flesh. It is a fuel that feeds the flames of passion and that leads to many diversions from the path of virtue. The so-called civilized nations of today will be looked upon by future generations as having been half-barbarous or savage, and not far removed from cannibalism. And until they suppress this organized, systematic taking of life to satisfy the desires of the flesh they may expect to see their subjects slaughtered in just such wars as are now raging between the great powers.

Let restraint be removed and the flames of passion will break loose and demonstrate to the world what is deeply seated in man's inmost being. From the theater of war comes the news that soldiers have suffered the loss of ears, eyes, hands, and even their tongues, at the hands of those who have laid aside all the rules of so-called civilized warfare in order to take revenge upon their foes.

Fish, as well as animals, are affected with varieties of tapeworm. Think of some of the bait used in catching fish, — angle-worms, grasshoppers, flies, etc. The parasites transmitted by the bait, after the fish is cooked, bore their way through the blood vessels and imperil life.

Oysters are a fruitful source of typhoid. The most productive oyster beds are found in the neighborhood of sewers, — in the immediate vicinity of the great seacoast cities. Anything that lives in beds of mud is unwholesome, even though such beds be removed far from human habitation.

Tapeworm, Rright's disease, and epilepsy, are due to eating flesh. Physicians have done much to enlighten the public on the subject, but so few people can control their appetites there is but little progress made toward a fleshless diet. The statements of physicians are not strong enough, it is a matter in which appeal must be made to man's conscience and his religious nature, i Cor. 3: 17 says, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy/'

CHAPTER II Man Under the Curse

When Adam and Eve plunged the human race into sin, God cursed the ground for their sake, and said, "In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thdu return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen. 3: 17-19).

Before the fall, it was not necessary to till the ground, for there was nothing to hinder the growth of vegetation. Thorns and thistles, and all useless vegetation was unknown. Great was Adam's punishment. He had to reap what he had sown. The curse was the result of his disobedience, and his posterity has been under the same inexorable law ever since.

After Cain slew his brother, Abel, the blood he had shed cried out from the ground against him, and God said, "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength," The earth is a desert with an oasis here and there, only a small portion of ground being tillable for want of water or because . of other conditions. And after man has done his best, the ground that is under cultivation does not yield its strength, and thus God withheld what he might have had and enjoyed, had it not been for his disobedience. In many instances where every effort is put forth to cultivate the ground, the result is partial or total failure, and thus man is continually faced with the penalty of sin.

The subject that concerns most people today is that of labor. It is agitated in every avenue of political and social life. There' are endless discussions and divisions that often result in bloodshed. People not only have to toil for their daily bread, but the great problem is to find something to do. Millions are in the strife for existence. The industrial systems are becoming more and more complicated, and the cry is ever heard from those who claim to be under the heel of the capitalist.