Biblian lessons part 1 (aka God wants you to go Vegan)

Being in a very catholic environment inspired me to do some (very specific) biblical research. What follows is a critical opinion, I do not present facts. Please do not take any offense in reading this. It is written for two purposes, the first one is to give you some philosophical food for thought and the second purpose is commedy. 

One of the many reasons I can not Concorde with one of the classical religions, is that they are dogmatic and base themselves for this dogma on ancient scriptures as they were written by God himself. It doesn't take an Einstein's brain to figure out that these holy books are very inconsistent and unclear. With inconsistent I mean that you can use them to prove whatever you want to prove, you just select the passages that are fitting to your view and you interpret them (metaphorically or literally, as your preference) the way you like. In the name of most Gods wars have been fought as well as peace has been declared. And that is the biggest problem I have with classic religions, it is okay for me that some questions are unanswered, but it is not okay that you call yourself a moral compass but leave the message up to the interpretation of the reader. A moral compass should be clear on some points and should be honest about the fact that it cannot answer everything. If you used a compass to find your way to an exact location but it depends on your interpretation if you should go south, north, west or east, you would call that compass "broken" or "badly engineered". 

To give you an example, I have done this exercise with the Bible. I will not give any interpretation, I don't want to be accused of misinterpreting the texts. I'll leave the interpretation fully to the reader. Following passages all are written literally in the Bible. Please do let me know (I prefer in the comment section of this blogpost) what you think is the actual meaning/interpretation/message of these texts. I think the message is pretty clear. 

Genesis 1 verse 29 Then God said, “I give you (mankind) 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."

Exodus 20 (chapter is called "the ten commandmants") verse 13 "You shall not murder." and verse 15 "You shall not steal.". 

In Isaiah 11 verse 6 to 9 we read: 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORDas the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 66 verse 2, 3 and 4: 2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. 3 But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; 4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.”

The book of Numbers chapter 11 verse 32 until 34 reads: 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

Also in the book of Numbers we find in chapter 22 a story about Balaam and his donkey: 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” [...] 32 The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. [...] 34 Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

I think the message is even stronger in the book of Daniel, chapter 1, verse 8 untill 15: 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

I want you to remember that hese are not my words, I only copy-pasted from the Bible. Listen to God!

Amén.

B. Supertramp