Being a vegan isn't always socially acceptable. Being a vegan in the church is certainly no exception. A few years ago, I was on staff with your everyday non-denominational mega-church, and never had my non-animal-eating ways been so challenged by so many people. Some of the arguments, comments, and rebukes included the following:
- "Meat is the reason God put animals on this Earth."
- "But God gave us dominion over the animals … refusing to eat them is disrespectful to our creator."
- "You know, fish was Jesus' favorite food."
- "You'd better start eating meat if you want to play on the softball team this year!"
Don't get me wrong—no one was especially rude or disrespectful. After a while, they even started making sure that there were vegan alternatives for me at every staff event. So have faith—if you're struggling with being vegan at church, hang in there. People do come around.
"People at my church are saying I can't be vegan …."
Church helps people of the same belief system come together to practice their faith in fellowship. But when any one part of that collective refuses to participate in something that is normal to the rest of the group (i.e., eating meat), well … it makes waves. A lot of Christians are inclined to believe that we are supposed to eat meat and that God wants us to kill and eat animals, and that makes it difficult for them to understand why someone like you would choose not to.
But be ye not afraid, brethren! 
Being that it's almost Christmas, lots of folks are reflecting on their faith this holiday season, and we couldn't think of a better time to begin a series discussing the challenges of being both a Jesus freak and a crazy animal rights activist. We'll cover how to deal with people in your church and dominion over animals and what that means. We'll examine God's love of all creatures and whether the ultimate wavemaker—Jesus—would eat a vegan meal with us (or eat factory-farmed meat). And we'll take a look at vegetarian heroes in the Bible (what does the Bible say about eating meat, anyway?), and more!
Send your questions peta2@peta2.com, and stay strong!
For all creatures great and small,
hahahahahaha that's just stupid!! I'm Christian, a strong one too, and the Bible says NOTHING about eating meat is bad.. that's why God gave us OPTIONS! We can eat whatever we want, wether it be meat, veggies, fruits, etc.,
it is definitely not a sin to not eat meat, dairy, etc. 
and also, what about people with weak stomachs? are they condemned to hell as well? no! of course not! God would never let someones destiny be hell.. yes, God gave us dominion over animals, which also means not just to kill them and eat them (I wanna make it clear that I'm
vegetarian (; ) but to also not be afraid of them [Which I hope most of us animals lovers aren't afraid of them] So remember that, God gave us OPTIONS!
@TokyoGalaad – dude; the bible does say it is bad to eat meat (i know this I and I am not christain). I am pretty sure at the start God made up Veggies..then man became evil and started eating meat. Remember the word meat is in fact latin, as the bible is written in latin meat doesn't mean meat as we know it. Meat is food…I am sure it says God gave us plants as our meat at the start of the bible.
In case anyone is interested, in the Bible, in Genesis chapter 9, verse 2, is when God said that all the animals would be scared of us…and in verse 3, God says we can eat meat. This was after Noah's ark rested on dry land after the flood. Before this point in time, it appears that people ate veggies. Now, Abel (Adam & Eve's son) was a "keeper of sheep" but what is recorded in the Bible is that Abel gave God an offering of a lamb. Also, the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (that is what the authors were that wrote it). It was later translated into Latin. Just some info I wanted to share. Oh, by the way, I am a born-again Christian and a strict vegetarian (I won't eat any type of meat or living creature).
I think that if Jesus saw what was going on in the factory farms, he surely would not want us to eat meat! Or, lets put it this way, God sees all, and knows what is happening to the animals, AND HE DOES NOT LIKE IT !!
1.Jesus never ate fish in the bible. He cut it up and served it to others, sure, but he didn't have any himself.
2.One of the testaments is "Though shall not kill", is it not? That should include animals.
I'm not Christian, so forgive me if I have my facts wrong.
Twice Jesus helped Peter catch abundant amounts of fish (Luke 5:4-7 and John 21:5-11). Luke 24:41-43 clearly shows that Jesus ate fish with His disciples in their presence. In the Parable of the Lost Son, Jesus talked about the father killing the fatted calf to celebrate his son's return (Luke 15:23). When Jesus instructed His followers to take communion, He used the phrase “eat My flesh” (John 6:53) when referring to the bread representing His body. If Jesus totally opposed meat eating, why didn't He use different wording?
I do agree that the Bible commands man not to deliberately abuse animals. Proverbs 12:10 (NIV) says, "A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal." But animals do not have equal status with humans. Jesus said in Matthew 10:31, “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” The Lord also said in Matthew 12:12, “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?"
In Jesus´ day, some people valued the lives of animals more than the welfare of humans. In Mark chapter 5, Jesus delivered a demon-possessed man and allowed the unclean spirits to enter into a herd of swine, which ended up drowning. The pig farmers didn’t rejoice when seeing the demoniac set free. They were more concerned about losing their “deviled ham” and told Jesus to go away.
Today’s animal rights advocates misuse Scripture to condemn meat eating but neglect more important matters like people's eternal destinies. This is a prophetic fulfillment of 1 Timothy 4. Verses 4 and 5 from this chapter goes on to say, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”