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   From: alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com   
      
   Dr. Jai Maharaj posted:   
   >   
   > Vegetarianism and Meat-Eating in 8 Religions   
   >   
   > While religions around the world share a quest for   
   > spirituality, they vary in their perception that   
   > respecting all forms of life is integral to that quest.   
   > In the following 13 pages, we focus on the subject of   
   > compassion as it is practiced by the adherents of eight   
   > religions -- four East and four West -- and reflected in   
   > their choice to eat meat, or not.   
   >   
   > By Jane Srivastava, South Carolina   
   > Hinduism Today Magazine, hinduismtoday.com   
   > April-May-June 2007   
   >   
   > All religions of the world extol compassion, yet they   
   > vary in their commitment to expressing this virtue   
   > through nonviolence and vegetarianism. A growing number   
   > of today's vegetarians refrain from eating meat more for   
   > reasons pertaining to improved health, a cleaner   
   > environment and a better world economy than for religious   
   > concerns. Even those whose vegetarianism is inspired by   
   > compassion are oftentimes driven more by a sense of   
   > conscience than by theological principle.   
   >   
   > In this article we briefly explore the attitudes of eight   
   > world religions with regard to meat-eating and the   
   > treatment of animals. It may be said with some degree of   
   > certainty that followers of Eastern religions -- like   
   > Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism -- generally agree in their   
   > support of nonviolence and a meatless lifestyle. But such   
   > a collective stance among followers of Western religions --   
   > like Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- may not be   
   > asserted with the same confidence. Many deeply religious   
   > souls in the West eat meat because it is sanctioned in   
   > their holy books. Others refrain for a variety of   
   > reasons, including their sense of conscience that it is   
   > just not right, regardless of what scriptures say.   
   > Certainly, many scriptural references to food and diet   
   > are ambiguous at best. The issue is complicated.   
   >   
   > Good Jains are exceptional examples of nonviolence and   
   > vegetarianism. Jainism, a deeply ascetic religion mainly   
   > centered in India, mandates that adherents refrain from   
   > harming even the simplest of life forms. Jains even   
   > follow dietary codes regulating the types of plants they   
   > eat.   
   >   
   > Over the ages and around the world, Hindus have followed   
   > a variety of diets predicated on geography and socio-   
   > economic status. Although vegetarianism has never been a   
   > requirement for Hindus and modern Hindus eat more meat   
   > than ever before, no follower of this oldest of world   
   > religions will ever deny that vegetarianism promotes   
   > spiritual life.   
   >   
   > The dietary standards of Buddhists also vary in   
   > accordance with time and place. Although the cessation of   
   > suffering and an earnest commitment to nonviolence are   
   > central to Buddhist Dharma, most of the world's Buddhists   
   > are not vegetarian.   
   >   
   > In Judaism, the oldest of the Abrahamic religions, there   
   > has long been a debate over whether meat should be eaten,   
   > with the view predominating that God allowed meat-eating   
   > as a concession to human weakness and need.   
   >   
   > Muslim cultures are predominantly nonvegetarian, though   
   > abstaining from eating meat is generally permitted if the   
   > devotee acknowledges that such abstinence will not bring   
   > him closer to Allah.   
   >   
   > Modern-day Christians may eat meat without restriction.   
   > Even though many Christians of the Middle Ages were   
   > vegetarian, a meat-eating interpretation of the Bible has   
   > slowly become the official position of the Christian   
   > Church.   
   >   
   > Here follows a study of perspectives on vegetarianism and   
   > nonviolence in these eight world faiths.   
   >   
   > This article continues at:   
   >   
   > http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1541   
      
   The Meat-Free Life   
      
   Download Now   
   Released: Thursday, May 28, 2009   
   File Size: 1.98 MB   
      
   http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/wfdownloads/visit.php?cid=2&lid=69   
      
   Description:   
      
   Five Reasons to Be a Vegetarian & Ten Arguments Against   
   Eating Meat   
      
   There are more than a few hindus today who guiltily   
   abandoned the vegetarian ways of their own parents and   
   grandparents when they decided to be   
      
   Hinduism Today Magazine   
      
   http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/wfdownloads/singlefile.php?cid=30&lid=69   
      
   Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi   
   Om Shanti   
      
   http://bit.do/jaimaharaj   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)