Sparrows
Sparrows
False Assertion
Jesus says that we are worth more than many sparrows, so anymals are not as important to God as we are, and we may eat anymals and anymal products.
Matthew 6:25-26 (also Luke 12:22–24)
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Luke 12:6-7 (also Matthew 10:29-31)
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight…. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Sparrows
Counterpoint #1
Scriptures also elevate some humans beings over others.
Four New Testament passages elevate humankind above sparrows, ravens, or birds more generally (Matthew 6:26 and 10:29-31, Luke 12:6-7 and 12:22–24). Other Scriptures elevate some human beings over other human beings. The people of Israel are exalted above other human beings: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; it is you the LORD has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 14:2). Priests are set apart and above the larger community (Numbers 16); kings are granted a privileged status (1 Samuel 24), as well as firstborn sons (Deuteronomy 21:17). The New Testament gives men authority over women (1 Corinthians 11:3 and 1 Timothy 2:12) and owners authority over those they enslave (Ephesians 6:5, also Exodus 21).
Deuteronomy 7:6
You are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
If we accept the supremacy of humans over birds, we must also accept other hierarchies established in Scripture. Alternatively, Christians can recognize these passages as nothing more than a record of the hierarchy and values of the day, where one’s own tribe was most important, where religious elites and kings were elevated above commoners, and where the wealthy lorded over the poor, men over women, and humans over anymals. But these passages are not moral dictates. These passages record the facts of the time, and Christians do not generally maintain these archaic social hierarchies–except where anymals are concerned.
Choosing not to maintain social hierarchies of biblical times is consistent with core Christian ethics that affirm the value of all of creation, through God, and coincide with the egalitarian teachings of Jesus. Jesus refused to accept any human being as beneath his care and attention, whether they were impure outcastes or the downtrodden poor, he overtly rejected the social hierarchy of the day, leading Paul to teach that “we, who are many, are one body in Christ” (Romans 12:5).(For more on Christian ethics, see Sacred Texts).
Galatians 3:28
There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
The social hierarchy of the day is described and even affirmed in various Scriptures, but these descriptions are contrary to core Christian ethics. While the bible records the customs of the day, we need not sell five sparrows for two pennies, enslave other human beings, favor the eldest male child in our families, or view songbirds as lower and lesser than human beings. Instead, we can do as we have been instructed and shown in the life of Jesus: We can humbly serve God amid God’s creation by helping those who are marginalized by today’s hierarchy, including anymals.
Everything that exists is God’s and we respect God by respecting all that God has created, and like Jesus, by showing special attention to those who are marginalized, downtrodden, and exploited by the powerful.
(“The Creation,” artist unknown, United Kingdom, c. 1190, The Getty/Science Photo Library)
Sparrows
Counterpoint #2
Scriptures reject hierarchies and teach social justice.
Scripture is liberatory. While reflecting social realities of the time, again and again the arc of justice pushes beyond domination, hierarchy, and oppression, siding with the enslaved, the poor, the displaced, and the vulnerable. In the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites are liberated from bondage and slavery in Egypt (Exodus) and the prophet Isaiah states that God has sent him to aid the oppressed and free captives (61:1). Biblical law protects the vulnerable:
Exodus 22:21
You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien….Exodus 22:22
You shall not abuse any widow or orphan.Leviticus 19:34
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself….Deuteronomy 27:19
Cursed be anyone who deprives an alien, an orphan, or a widow of justice….Isaiah 61:1
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners…
to comfort all who mourn….
God liberated the Israelites from the oppression of the Egyptians. (“The Exodus from Egypt,” Jan Sadeler I, Flemish, 1585, Wikimedia Commons)
In the New Testament, Jesus carries the arc of liberation forward, inverting hierarchies and centering those marginalized:
Luke 14:13 (also see Luke 14:7–11)
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
Mark 9:35 (also Mark 10:44 and Matthew 19:30)
Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.
Matthew 20:25–26
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them… It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.
Luke 6:20 (also James 2:5)
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Matthew 20:16
So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
Jesus spoke up on behalf of the downtrodden and refused to comply with social norms of marginalization and exclusion. Jesus modeled inclusive love. He walked right through cultural barriers that rejected lepers, slaves, the poor (especially poor women), and those hailing from culturally distinct communities, healing all who came to him. He even broke the barriers that forbid healing on the Sabbath in order to help those who were marginalized, whether the blind, the paralyzed, or those who were ill.
Jesus healed those others would not touch because they were considered impure and treated as outcasts. (“Christ Healing the Paralytic at Bethesda,” Palma il Giovane, Italy, 1592, Wikipedia)
Sparrows
Counterpoint #3
Christians are called to assist those who are marginalized.
While there were social hierarchies in Biblical times, as seems to be the case in every age, Scripture teaches that this is not a license for exploitation or further marginalization but a call to work for change. Jesus renounced social hierarchies in word and deed: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45).
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed….
Imitating Jesus, Christians are to serve the downtrodden. Scriptures that describe the marginalization of anymals are not a call to be cruel and indifferent, but to stand against this cultural norm, to lift up the oppressed and free the captives. Anymal exploitation demands a righteous response: Protect the vulnerable; heal the injured; release captives.
Jesus with a dove. (Tina LeCour, Fine Art America)
Sparrows
Counterpoint #4
Jesus identifies with the marginalized.
Matthew 25:40
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these… you did it to me.
Jesus identified personally with those considered lowly and lesser, with outcastes and the impure, with those suffering and downtrodden. To harm anymals is to work against God. To help the downtrodden is to work with and for God: “just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:45). When we help the oppressed, we work with God and when we open our hearts to the oppressed, we open our hearts to God: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Matthew 18:5).
A hen rescued from the egg industry is well cared for and handled respectfully at a vegan anymal sanctuary in Australia. (We Animals Media)
Matthew 25:35–40
“…I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it…?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”
Whatever we do for those in need, whomever “those” might be, we do for and with God. When we serve the needs of anymals, we serve God.
Sparrows
Counterpoint #5
These passages have nothing to do with food ethics.
Scriptures record the marginalization and enslavement of songbirds but nothing asserts that we are therefore entitled to maintain this marginalization and oppression–on the contrary. Straight to the point, nothing about these passages speaks to food ethics. Nothing gives license to eat songbirds, let alone cows, pigs, dogs, or emus. In fact, nothing in this passage entitles human beings to oppress any anymals in any way. These passages merely record the norms of the day, which were disrespectful toward God’s little birds–the least of these (Matthew 25:40).
The point of each of these passages about birds, whether sparrows, ravens, or birds more generally, is to bring assurance and hope to humankind, to remind the faithful of God’s attentive, loving care: If God feeds every songbird, then we need not fret and worry because we, too, fall under the protective care of a loving God. In these passages about the cultural devaluing of birds, there is clearly no intent to entitle or further empower humankind to harm or exploit God’s little birds. These Scriptures show that God cares for those whom we consider unworthy, and therefore we might be comforted that we will not be forgotten.
These teachings of God’s expansive and attentive love, which mention birds, have too often led humankind to a haughty sense of human superiority, but scriptures warn of such arrogance: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). (For more on humility, see Sacred Texts and Discord.)
Psalm 84:3
Even the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
In Malta, an anymal activist holds a small bird rescued from an illegal trap that was set to capture songbirds, who are eaten and enslaved as pets in many places around the world. (We Animals Media)
Summary:
A Scriptural Call to Vegan Living
James 4:17
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.
Six scriptural arguments frequently surface among Christians who hope to defend eating meat, dairy, and eggs, but each argument is defeated by a number of strong scriptural counterpoints. Even without these strong counterpoints, for those who know what occurs behind the closed doors of anymal industries and who are devout, it would seem irreligious to argue for or choose omnivory or vegetarianism—to defend or further such indifference to the sufferings and deaths of God’s living creatures. (To learn what occurs behind closed doors, seek undercover footage taken in anymal facilities in the nation where you live or view photos taken on site at We Animals Media.)
John 8:32
…you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
To move toward vegan, look online for recipes and locate vegan shops and restaurants with clearly marked vegan options. Check for vegan options in local stores or find recipes online for vegan versions of familiar foods—cheese and sausages, hamburgers and lasagna, or cookies and pies. Be sure to check social media sites for a local vegan group: You can probably also find a local vegan to take you shopping and show you the ropes for choosing plant milks, alternative cheeses, and vegan meats.
Bon Appétit!
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Rescued piglet Patsy reaches up to eat fresh green leaves in dappled sunshine, safe at a vegan anymal sanctuary. (We Animals Media.)
Image Credits
Genesis Diet:
Sacrifice:
Peter’s Dream: Domenico Fetti, “Peter's Vision of a Sheet with Animals.” (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
Jesus - Fishes & Fishing: Ernst Zimmerman, “Christ with the Fisherman” (1852-1901). (Courtesy of Anthony’s Fine Art/Antiques.)
Swine of Gerasene: Visoki Dečani. “The Demons and the Swine” (14th century). (Image courtesy of Pravoslavie.)