He is a very loving and trusting little dog. And strange as it may be he makes me think of all little animals and whether I should be eating them or not.
I am not a vegetarian but I do eat a mainly plant based diet for health reasons. After reading The China Study by T Colin Campbell and Thomas M Campbell I was convinced that a plant based diet is definitely more healthy.
I used to think that it was meat that had made humans more intelligent but now it is generally accepted that it was beginning to eat cooked food. So many more nutrients could be consumed in a smaller time. (http://www.businessinsider.com.au/human-evolution-cooking-food-2012-10 ,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8543906.stm )
Meat is not necessary to survive. My daughter is a vegan and has survived very well on a vegan diet for the last 16 years.
Veganism or vegetarianism has nothing to do with Biblical teaching although Seventh Day Adventists are vegetarian. This was introduced as an emphasis on wholeness and health by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the 1860's, rather than as a result of strict biblical teaching. And studies do show that Seventh Day Adventists do live longer than their meat eating counterparts. (http://news.adventist.org/en/archive/articles/2013/06/04/u.s.-study-of-adventists-finds-vegetarians-live-longer)
In fact after the flood God gave Noah permission to eat animals. (Genesis 9:1-5)
When I eat lamb or veal I am eating a baby animal. A little creature just like Jasper.
If I had to see that animal slaughtered would I want to eat it? That is questionable. I like all my meat wrapped up in plastic bearing no resemblance to the original live animal.
This video, Their Future in Your Hands is really interesting.
Their Future in Your Hands
http://vimeo.com/groups/166612/videos/41915532So basically I am still undecided. If I had a partner who was vegetarian then it I would become vegetarian immediately. This may seem like I cop out.
I don't know, but just loving a little animal, like Jasper, has certainly given me food for thought.
